My career decision took root early for me as I was inspired by my mother. When I was young, I thought she was an economist, but actually she was a chartered accountant. Fast forward to the present, and I can say I achieved my aspirations as an accounting professional, now with over 15 years of consulting experience. I spent eight years with EY Business Advisory in Romania, where I gained my ACCA qualification, before joining consultants Genpact in 2012.
What I enjoy most about my role is the redesign and optimisation of finance and accounting processes, which gives me great satisfaction. In this field I discovered an unexpected level of creativity, which, combined with technical knowledge, can add significant value in organisations. I have also gained extensive expertise in the design of processes, blueprints, models and improvements, which I have then successfully implemented. While challenging at times, this is also a rewarding experience.
I have built a safety net through my family and flexible working, and I always assess how much change I can take
I step out of my comfort zone with each new client. I am conscious about this and try to make the best of these opportunities. However, I have built a safety net through my family and flexible working, and I always assess how much change I can take in a specific period, especially as I am a parent. To me, it is about controlling the balance of my business and private life.
The impact of artificial intelligence (AI) is not in the future, but is a reality of the present, and companies are recognising this. At Genpact we have already deployed training programmes, and employees are encouraged to get certifications in generative AI. Accounting may not be the pioneer in adopting AI, but the profession will follow quickly. Reconciliations or predictive forecasting and reporting, powered by AI, will reach the next level of efficiency and automation.
However, I believe that despite AI, the human approach plus the experience and knowledge of accountants cannot be easily replicated by the technology, at least not in the near future. AI is an augmentation tool for our capabilities, making humans and AI partners in work. By automating the repetitive processes, AI reduces errors, releases capacity for analysis, and will improve our work-life balance.
What might have seemed at the time as a complete failure actually pushed me to make changes
The mantra I like to apply in my life is: ‘I am learning from each person I meet’. This encourages me to promote inclusion and humility in my thinking. This is now even more valid, given the huge opportunities to learn with the internet and digitalisation.
I take pride in being happy and fulfilled where I am today, and I feel a sense of achievement. This is based on many years of big and small achievements but also failures as well. What might have seemed at the time as a complete failure actually pushed me to make changes, which often proved to work much better in the end.
I am happy to be a citizen of Europe, where the legal system has a long history of protecting the rights of people, but there is always room for improvement. What I wish for is to see increased enforcement and adoption across European states. I would also like to see our best practices being exported outside Europe to make a better world for all of us.
I do believe I can learn and could do many other things. However, I think that finance and accounting is so rich in opportunities that any other job I pursued would still be connected to the accounting world.
In my spare time, I like cooking for my family and friends. I enjoy being inventive and trying different recipes from various cuisines.
