Gabriela is exploring new territory

Gabriela is a Senior IT Treasury Business Analyst at Deutsche Bank’s Technology Centre in Bucharest. What’s unusual about that? She had no technical background when she joined the bank.

Deutsche Bank is on a journey to build a bank that stands for more. A bank that’s embracing change to radically transform the future of financial services. Gabriela brings a fresh perspective to her job, opening new paths in the exciting world of finance technology – and the fact she didn’t start out in a technical field is one of her strengths.

Gabriela built her career in treasury, developing useful finance industry skills like liquidity management and the foundations of financial products. But she always knew that understanding tech would become key to what treasury does. “What motivated me to join the tech industry was understanding the details of the data and the big picture of how different processes fit together,” Gabriela says.

“Having equal opportunities within a company is very important when choosing a new path,” she says. When she was looking for jobs, Deutsche Bank’s Technology Centre in Bucharest not only stood out because of the opportunity to learn about technology, but also because of the bank’s commitment to create a gender-equitable future in Technology, Data and Innovation.

When Gabriela started at Deutsche Bank, she didn’t know anything about software or technology. So, challenges were inevitable. “I had to learn new technologies from scratch. Every project I’ve worked on used a different programming language like Python or Java. I could learn those by completing trainings that Deutsche Bank offered to anyone interested in growing their technical capabilities.”

One of the things that made a difference to Gabriela was finding what she calls “tech allies”. Across the bank, colleagues stepped up to share their knowledge: “I was lucky to find new allies on every project and get the answers to all the questions I had,” she says. She also made sure she went to every technical meeting possible to become familiar with the tech vocabulary. “Not taking any shortcuts is what gained me the respect and trust of the tech team.”

Gabriela believes that people who come from a non-tech background have an advantage when they break into tech: they can offer an outsider’s perspective. “Outsiders bring a special awareness and unique ideas to the table.” Innovation is about seeing from a fresh perspective and doing things differently. Gabriela’s advice to anyone interested in transitioning to a tech role: “Embrace your outsider advantage. Make the most of your opportunities by being curious. And have realistic expectations as the learning curve is not always steep and you will need to invest time, energy and learn from failures along the journey.”

Deutsche Bank is a place of constant change and constant learning, creating more possibilities for all employees to grow and make a positive impact. If you’re up for the challenge like Gabriela is, Deutsche Bank is here to back you up every step of the way.