Good Morning Tech companies aren’t the only ones scrambling for top software talent. For example, major banks, insurance companies, and retail companies are also aggressively recruiting to bring in tech talent.
I was in Houston last week to attend several sessions at the annual AfroTech conference, hosted by Blavity, Inc. was created by , a digital media company founded by Morgan de Baun, who is the CEO. The event connects black tech professionals and students with major companies from across industries for networking, career opportunities and panel discussions on topics such as AI and cybersecurity.
During a CFO discussion at AfroTech on November 14 about the evolving role of finance in the digital age, the topic of talent came up.
“I’m competing with everybody for tech talent,” said Maurice Coquindol, CFO of group insurance at Fortune 500 company Prudential Financial. Fintech people need finance and actuarial skills, Kokendol said. “But our tools are advancing so quickly, and the amount of data we’re trying to wrangle to get financial results, means I’m often looking for people who straddle both worlds. Those who have technical skills and financial skills,” he said.
Kuykendoll also provides a means to interact with young technical professionals in the company. “They teach me what they’ve been working on, what they’ve just learned,” he explained. And in turn, “I help them understand how the business actually makes money,” he added.
Vince Adams, CFO of retailer Everlane, oversees a tech team and likewise believes that leveraging data to gain critical insights is critical. “When it comes to AI applications, they need to make sure it’s a tool that will create value,” he said.
“The worst thing that can happen,” Adams said, “and I’ve seen it before, is we get excited about something, we bring it up, and then we have this tool that we ultimately Not used,” Adams said. He said that making finance teams more tech-savvy requires professional development opportunities and upskilling.
Whenever AI investments are discussed, Erica Troutman, VP and CFO for data management at Fortune 500 company Wells Fargo, said it’s her job to make sure it aligns with the company’s overall goals. is compatible with, and to assess whether this will increase performance over time. . It’s important for tech professionals to have storytelling skills, “so we can own that narrative for you and help drive financial goals,” Tautman said.
Today, finance professionals have some insight into tech, he said. “But 10 years ago or seven years ago, we had no knowledge of the technology,” he said. Tautman added that she is looking forward to speaking with some of the tech talent at AfroTech.
According to CompTIA’s October report, finance and insurance are among the top five industries for tech job postings. As I walked around the exhibit hall during AfroTech, I passed the booths of big tech companies like Google, Apple, Microsoft, and Nvidia, along with Wells Fargo, among other big banks like JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs. , and Morgan Stanley had a presence.
It will be interesting to see how the financial services industry will attract tech talent who may have thought they would pursue a career in Silicon Valley.
Cheryl Estrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com
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Leaderboard
Erica Smith Promoted to the position of CFO of an Israeli security software company. Cyber Arch (NASDAQ:CYBR), effective Jan. 1. She will succeed Josh Segal, who will transition to a consulting role after 13 years as CFO. Smith joined the company in 2015 and was appointed deputy CFO that year, part of a leadership team that oversaw its $1.6 billion acquisition of cybersecurity firm Venafi. Previously, he served as the company’s SVP of Finance and Investor Relations, FP&A, Investor Relations, and ESG.
Anand Gandhi was appointed CFO of Eventbrite (NYSE: EB), a ticketing and marketing platform for live events, effective Nov. 19. He will succeed Lenny Baker, who has served as finance chief since joining the company in 2019 and will continue in the role of COO. Gandhi arrives from TripAdvisor subsidiary Viator, where he was CFO. He previously held the same position at online learning platform Skillshare and has held leadership roles at The Walt Disney Company, 21st Century Fox, Viacom and Time. He began his career in investment banking at Morgan Stanley.
Big deal
Fifteen percent of businesses report being far ahead of their peers when it comes to leveraging AI to maximize value in their business, which IBM refers to as “AI Leaders.” The remaining 85% of respondents were classified as “learners”.
AI leaders were more likely to report that their C-suite was fully engaged with IT leadership about what it would take to achieve AI maturity (72% vs. 36% of learners). The study also found that AI leaders were 80 percent more likely to invest in four use cases: customer experience, IT operations and automation, virtual assistants and cybersecurity.
Go deeper
America does. Budget deficit The issue Deloitte’s chief global economist Ira Kalish is examining is whether Concerns The firm’s latest weekly global economic has been voiced by a number of business leaders. Update. The answer, he says, is both yes and no.
Heard.
“So apparently, when kids eat fried chicken, they eat it with mashed potatoes.”
– Joey Watt, CEO of YM China said during 2024 good luck World Forum. KFC is one of the many fast food brands of the China company, which includes Taco Bell and Pizza Hut. Watt sat for hours and watched customers eat. This leads to popular menu items.
