From Telecommunication to Banking

Fresh out of college, I joined AT&T. Like a lot of college graduates at that time, I was attracted to the company due to Bell Labs and their invention of UNIX and the C Programming language.

The position that I started with was a System Engineer in the Billing Planning team for Long Distance Services. The main role for this position was analysis and planning.

After about 6 years with the company, an exciting opportunity came up for me to work for Goldman Sachs. The reason I was hired obviously was my UNIX and C++ programming skills.

I ended up spending my next 12 years with the company, acquiring all the business knowledge that I need in the fascinating Prime Brokerage business, servicing hedge fund clients.

Each person's career journey is unique. For me, looking back, every step along the way prepares me for the next challenge and helps me appreciate them more.

AT&T / Lucent Technologies Bell Labs
In order for me to write requirements to introduce new enhanced long distance services, I learned about all the high level network architecture, 4ESS/5ESS network switches, Call Detail Recording message layouts. I did not fully appreciate the work initially. However, this position gave me a unique early career big picture perspective.

I moved on to work on software development for the Digital Cross Connect system. I was excited to work on the Database and concurrent data access using various locking schemes. I then transferred to the Hybrid Fiber Coax system, doing C++ coding, using a real-time OS.

Goldman Sachs
I remember my excitement, with a little bit nervousness when I started with Goldman Sachs. It was nothing close to what I had been doing, including company culture. I settled down quickly and a new opportunity came up. I was asked to work on the client-facing website for Prime Brokerage. It was the early days for the Internet. I studied all the latest technologies - HTTP protocol, CGI, HTML, authentication, PGP encryption and successfully released the first firm wide integrated offering. The new technologies enabled reporting and analytics for our hedge fund clients, many still using dial-up connections to Goldman Sachs.

Fast forward to last few years, I learned about Contract For Differences, Credit Default Swaps and many other financial products, and how we can integrate all these products to the core Prime Brokerage offerings. I was also the first in the organization to lead an offshore India development team in delivering the core offerings.

All of these roles are very different. That's the beauty of it. I used previous experience and mastered more new knowledge along the way. Like a snowball that grows bigger and bigger with much diversified skills inside.