In this episode of Oracle Academy Tech Chat, we welcome Shashika Ramsany, Oracle Consulting Sales Director for Banking & Insurance in the Africa Region. Shashika shares insights from her career journey at the intersection of technology and financial services, offering a unique perspective on the evolving landscape of fintech. Listeners will gain valuable firsthand knowledge about the pathways, challenges, and opportunities available to tech professionals in the dynamic world of financial services.

------------------------------------------------------------

Episode Transcript:

00;00;09;02 - 00;00;28;29

Welcome to the Oracle Academy Tech Chat. This podcast provides educators and students in-depth discussions with thought leaders around computer science, cloud technologies, and software design to help students on their journey to becoming industry ready technology leaders of the future. Let's get started.

00;00;29;02 - 00;01;06;00

Hello! Welcome to Oracle Academy Tech Chat, where we discuss how Oracle Academy prepares the next generation's workforce. I'm your host for today, BigQuery Amazon. In this episode, we will be discussing building a tech career in financial services. Our guest, Shashi Karam Saini, is consulting sales Director, Banking and Insurance for the Africa Region in Oracle, and she will be sharing valuable insights on the most exciting and in-demand roles in the sector today.

00;01;06;02 - 00;01;36;25

And she would also discuss how these positions as shifted with technological advancements. She explores the essential technical and soft skills students and aspiring professionals need to succeed, and offers actionable advice to educators aiming to prepare the next generation for trends such as artificial intelligence and blockchain in finance. I guess Shikha has deep experience in the financial services industry.

00;01;36;27 - 00;02;26;05

She has supported commercial and retail banks in rethinking their operations, customer engagement and decision making processes through strategic data and AI transformation initiatives. How work has spanned process optimization, customer analytics and regulatory reporting, which enables institutions to unlock the value of their data assets and move towards intelligent, insights driven operations. She has helped bridge the gap between business objectives and emerging technologies, guiding clients through complex transformations and in an increasingly data centric world which is now being led by idiotic AI for various business objectives.

00;02;26;08 - 00;03;02;20

As a consultant in synergy, which is a line of business in Oracle that is laser focused on the financial services industry. Shashi specializes in crafting and implementing overarching solutions across enterprises, which includes data and AI strategies that creates measurable impact from designing enterprise data architectures to enabling predictive analytics, machine learning, intelligent automation to driving operational efficiencies, governance and regulatory requirements.

00;03;02;23 - 00;03;38;01

Her approach combines industry knowledge with hands on understanding of technology ecosystem, thereby helping clients navigate change while remaining compliant, competitive and customer focused. Whether she's advising on data governance, I use cases of scalable implementation frameworks. She brings clarity and momentum to transformation programs within the financial services sectors. So join me to welcome Shikha, who has, by the way, such a rich profile and we are so glad to have you join us.

00;03;38;05 - 00;03;42;23

Shikha, thank you for being a guest on the Awful Academy Tech Chat.

00;03;42;26 - 00;03;44;03

Thank you so much for joining me.

00;03;44;07 - 00;03;51;19

Can you share your career journey and what led you to work at the intersection of technology and financial services?

00;03;51;21 - 00;04;17;04

Man, when you ask me, that's that's quite an interesting question because my journey over the past 40 years of my career has brought experiences that were not only overwhelming, but stuff that I hadn't even envisaged. So where I landed up was not what I had anticipated or even seemed to be in an at times, situations that presented themselves to me seemed to be overwhelming and I stayed focused and persevered.

00;04;17;10 - 00;04;43;09

You know, when you think about where I started, I actually started working at a bank fresh out of school. And and that's where that's where my career started. Being in a state in that industry for at least about 18, 19 years and then found myself going into, into technology, starting off in a very focused, technology platform, solutions for contact centers and customer experiences.

00;04;43;11 - 00;05;10;15

And then 2 or 3 years later, just kind of moving into a space that covered all of technology solutions. When I joined IBM and, and, and the rest of history, you know, I'd never seen myself moving into a space, you know, we I'd be advising customers on how to leverage their technology architectures and platforms to drive business outcomes.

00;05;10;18 - 00;05;25;25

So so a very interesting turn of events in my life where I thought I, I studied psychology and ended up being in IT consulting for financial services. Very interesting turn of events.

00;05;25;27 - 00;05;47;07

Well, that's interesting to know. From psychology to I.T. consulting. Thank you for sharing your background with us, Jessica. Now, what are some of the most exciting roles for tech professionals in the financial services industry today? And how have these roles evolved over time?

00;05;47;09 - 00;06;15;12

Yeah, I tell you, we're at the cusp of change at every turn, and the industry is putting pressure, or customers are putting pressure on the industry to rise up to the challenge in terms of what the triggers are from a customer perspective, a regulatory perspective. So some of the most exciting roles for technical professionals in financial services, I would I would look at where the trends are now and then and see with confidence.

00;06;15;17 - 00;07;05;18

Data scientists, cybersecurity analyst, cloud engineers AI, machine learning specialists I mean, these roles are at the forefront of transformation and actually will play an active role in how financial institutions operate, how they operate. They offer new innovations in personalized banking, how they respond to fraud detection capabilities, and automated digital experience capabilities for customers across the value chain. And over time, we've also seen these positions have evolved significantly from traditional IT support roles that are focused on maintaining infrastructure to strategic and innovative, driven roles that directly impact business outcomes.

00;07;05;21 - 00;07;46;06

And with the rise of fintech, blockchain and digital assets, tech professionals are now driving competitive advantage. They are reshaping customer experiences and they are ensuring regulatory compliance through advanced technologies with a changing AI capabilities. Blazing the trend in the space. So lots of exciting things happening in the technology space. And you know, I'm sure everyone will agree with me that this evolution reflects the industry's shift towards digital first strategies in an increasing reliance on real time data automation and resilient infrastructures.

00;07;46;08 - 00;08;10;16

So I mean, that's what I've seen. And as we move into, the adoption of, of AI capabilities and creating very flexible and scalable, resilient technology infrastructures, those are the rules that are going to be playing a huge role in ensuring that we step change this industry to where it needs to be. From a banking perspective.

00;08;10;18 - 00;08;29;22

Thank you for sharing. Shashi Cloud, it's very interesting to hear the evolution of tech roles in financial services industry. Now, what key technical and soft skills you believe are essential for students aspiring to enter the financial technology sector?

00;08;29;24 - 00;09;01;12

In all of my career in leadership roles, even when I was in the financial services sector and managing operations and customer experience environments, the most critical, critical skill that I would, I would say everybody should have is a positive attitude. Attitude surpasses everything. If you have a positive attitude and you look at everything from a positive mindset, everything falls into place and everything you touch turns into gold.

00;09;01;14 - 00;09;38;11

So off the cuff that that is a it's a non-negotiable for me. But also, you know, to talk to, to other areas, the students that are aspiring to enter the financial services technology fintech sector, they need a strong blend of technical and fast skills to succeed in this fast paced, innovation driven industry. On the technical side, you need proficiency in programing languages like Python, Java, SQL, a solid understanding of data analytics, familiarity with blockchain, cybersecurity, and cloud computing.

00;09;38;13 - 00;10;07;11

I think those are essentials from a technology standpoint, because they also tend to have in driving customer transformation strategies, cloud adoption strategies, data transformation strategies, and then of course, AI capabilities that sit on top of that knowledge of financial systems and algorithms, particularly in areas like digital payments, risk modeling and algorithmic trading, is also a highly valuable skill to to.

00;10;07;13 - 00;10;39;05

And equally important, like you mentioned, soft skills such as problem solving, adaptability, communication, collaboration as a fintech professional often works in a cross-functional team because you know, even though all of the financial institutions that I've worked with and in enterprise accounts and they have various lines of businesses that need to collaborate across those pennies. So you need to be able to collaborate.

00;10;39;07 - 00;11;07;06

Communications have got to be strong. Listening skills have got to be equally strong because you need to be able to analyze, to listen carefully, understand what the requirements are. Analyze it in a way that that you can then effectively translate translated to a technology solution and technology concepts into business solutions. So you know that that goes without saying.

00;11;07;13 - 00;11;42;01

And then a curious mindset is also important. And a willingness to continuously look is just as critical. Because when you look at it, given the sector's rapid evolution and constant technology, technological disruption, I mean, I heard years back that we're talking about disruptive technologies. We are being up. We are there now. It's on us. How do we how do we face that and say, hey, I'm ready and I can take on this challenge and drive the outputs that my that the bank that I'm working for is looking to achieve.

00;11;42;03 - 00;12;11;18

Thank you. Thank you so much for sharing. Shashi. Yeah, I know how you mentioned about how positive attitude is one of the strongest, skills that's essential for students you know who want to enter into the field of financial technology. You also mentioned technical skills such as risk management, cloud computing, also blockchain as some of the important skills for students to acquire when entering into the financial technology sector.

00;12;11;21 - 00;12;21;25

How can educators help prepare students for emerging trading, such as artificial intelligence and blockchain in financial services?

00;12;21;27 - 00;12;55;03

Yeah, that's that's that's a double loaded question. Very, very interesting. However, educators can play a pivotal role in preparing students for these emerging trends like artificial intelligence, blockchain in financial services. And the way they can do this is by integrating these technologies into the curriculum through hands on, industry relevant learning experiences. And that's what I found. You know, you can you can have almost all of the knowledge in your head coming out of textbooks.

00;12;55;05 - 00;13;23;21

But if you haven't learned the skill to apply that knowledge in a in a real life situation, it really means nothing. And I always focus on experiential learning. So educators that now start focusing on experiential learning, taking real life situations from the banking industry, what customers are looking for, what regulators are looking for, what business operations are looking for and embed that into the curriculum.

00;13;23;23 - 00;13;55;09

Giving students an opportunity to put their knowledge into play and actually see it play out in real life, that that could be one way. And this also includes offering interdisciplinary courses that blend finance, computer science and data analytics, as well as incorporating real world case studies, simulations and projects that reflect the current market challenges that will really give.

00;13;55;12 - 00;14;26;01

Because, you know, a lot of these students are learning and then they try and get into the industry and they say, well, you don't have experience. And that's only because they have knowledge and not experience. And these these if the educators incorporate experiential learning, these can be some of the experiences that they can talk to us, be it within a learning environment, but it gives them that insight into what is what is happening out there.

00;14;26;03 - 00;14;59;04

Another way of looking at it is we, educators can partner with some tech companies who get lectures for internships and mentorship opportunities. They can also expose students to cutting edge tools and practices. Additionally, what they can also do is focus on fostering critical thinking, ethical reasoning, and adaptability, which will help students navigate the complex regulatory and societal implications of AI and blockchain.

00;14;59;06 - 00;15;34;22

Because these are new concepts, they are taking the world by storm. And if we don't provide the context to why this is happening, how it's happening and how banks can respond to it, the students are going to be very overwhelmed without having that that context. And it's important to emphasize both technical proficiency and strategic thinking. Educators can equip students with the skills and the mindset needed to thrive in a rapidly evolving financial landscape.

00;15;34;24 - 00;16;03;28

It's all on us and and these are the small things that the educators can do that would have a huge impact not only on how the students experience the learning so through the institutions, but how they utilize these case studies to adapt it and to understand exactly and even experience it, or be it from a second hand perspective, experience those real life cases.

00;16;04;00 - 00;16;08;06

I believe, you know, going through the institutional phase of the offline learning.

00;16;08;08 - 00;16;32;19

Thank you very much, Jessica. Thank you for sharing very valid points around how educators can help prepare students. But I particularly like the point you made around experiential learning, which is very critical for, you know, students to have in this time, an age. So now, very quickly, I know that time runs so fast. We are having great conversations like this.

00;16;32;22 - 00;16;57;23

And I tell you the this conversation has been very eye opening for me, and I'm sure that it would be the same for our listeners. So lastly, I would like to ask, what advice would you give students on building a global career in financial services, including navigating cultural and regional differences?

00;16;57;25 - 00;17;43;13

The first thing that I would that I would say to anybody that's that's looking to embark on a a journey first, take some time to understand yourself, find out who you are, know who you are, understand what it is that drives you, that motivates you, that excites. What is it that you enjoy doing? Then find something in in any career and stuff that people like don't only exist in one career path because it's so diverse culturally and in so many ways that your passions can be explored in various career paths.

00;17;43;16 - 00;18;17;10

So when you're looking at a technology career path within financial services, there are specific things that drive you and tell me, who doesn't appreciate, seeing a project go go life and things turning out to be successful. So whatever you do, find something about that career that lights a fire with you, that propels you to want to be a part of it, to want to be contributing to the success of the organization that you just choose to work for.

00;18;17;13 - 00;18;44;22

Don't see it as a job. See it as a career, an opportunity for growth in every aspect of your life, not only financially, but in maturity from a psychological perspective, an emotional perspective, something that that keeps your mind busy, something that that's really enlightened for you and inspires. But stay true to who you are when you choose these career paths.

00;18;44;24 - 00;19;15;01

Because remember, you are going to be the catalyst for driving innovation, for for ensuring that the banks are constantly, consistently aligning to the trends out in the market. And can you know that these are the things that that drive you, that make you excited? The other thing that I'd like to to also highlight is be grateful for the opportunities that you face, even though they are presented to you as challenges.

00;19;15;04 - 00;19;45;12

It's an opportunity to learn and grow as you constantly evolve into the best version of yourself. That's the journey that you will take a lot of people when you look at it. And culturally we are shifting. Mindsets are shifting. People are starting to look at themselves more critically. They are starting to want to, you know, so take that first, which is great because if you don't take care of yourself, you can't take care of anyone around you.

00;19;45;14 - 00;20;15;10

So do that. Be mindful of things that drive, that excite you, that help that inspire you, that you can also use to inspire others and make choices that serve you. Do what makes you feel good. Focus on the outcomes and not always on the challenge. Because in a career, and when you look at where we are with technology within financial services, it's such an exciting place to be.

00;20;15;13 - 00;20;48;06

We not only are, you know, solving socio economic issues in countries, we are we are incorporating a cultural diversity into the organizations. There are various skills when we talk about diversity. It's not just about race kind of in creed. It's about diversity, the knowledge, diversity and backgrounds, diversity in ways of thinking. And all of that coming together makes for an awesome race that can only bring assets to the financial services industry.

00;20;48;12 - 00;20;55;20

Reflect, assess, and grow. Here's what I'd like to leave you with. Thank you.

00;20;55;23 - 00;21;09;13

Thank you for a time, Shikha. You have been a fantastic guest. It's such a pleasure to have you share from your wealth of knowledge. Thank you very much. Once again.

00;21;09;16 - 00;21;10;05

Thank you. Became.

00;21;10;12 - 00;21;38;11

Yeah. You're welcome. And our listeners, thank you for tuning in. Remember to visit our website academy.oracle.com to learn more about Oracle Academy's linear resources. Subscribe to our podcast, share with your friends and you can also follow Oracle Academy on X, Instagram and Facebook. Till next time, bye for now.

00;21;38;13 - 00;21;45;03

That wraps up this episode. Thanks for listening and stay tuned for the next Oracle Academy Tech Chat podcast.