Meet Joanna Ostrowska, Managing Director of IT Strategy, Architecture & Governance, Polska
“My job is like planting seeds that grow into fruit trees”Joanna likes to think of her position as a Digital Organic Gardener, building the technology landscape in the Bank. Just as a gardener cultivates fertile ground for plants to grow, she makes sure the different banking technologies (like mobile banking, online banking, payments etc.) are working and remain interconnected. She must also protect the technological landscape from any external parasites that may attempt to wreak havoc on the ecosystem.
What’s one unexpected aspect of your job that people may not think of?
Joanna: We have to deal with a lot of unexpected situations. As the Managing Director of IT Strategy, Architecture & Governance, my job is basically to make sure the banking system works efficiently, whatever happens. For example, when the war in Ukraine started, there were a lot of new requirements: exchange currency, new products for refugees who did not speak the language or have identification documents, etc.
Could you name one key skill needed in your job?
Joanna: The ability to adapt is the key skill for this job. We constantly need to adapt, whether to threats or to opportunities. It is one thing to monitor security, but we also must react in the smartest way for the benefit of our millions of clients. The goal is to react, to observe but also to anticipate.
Hence the Digital Organic Gardener?
Joanna: More and more, Banking is embedding itself into the day-to-day processes of customers, enabling them to use our tools more fully and with no additional effort. We aim to increase accessibility and availability of financial products, to make it simpler for our customers to choose which ones they want to use, while emphasizing the importance of sustainability. Like planting seeds that grow into fruit trees, I make sure that the BNP Paribas’ tools are planted in our customer’s daily lives, so that they can see their finances flourish.
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