Meet the team: International Women’s Day 2018 Special Edition

Ségolène Darut is Auriga’s Marketing & Communication Manager, based at our French office in Paris.

Q. Tell us a bit about yourself and your role at Auriga
I’d consider myself hyper-dynamic, I love challenging situations and intercultural aspects. I’m ever the optimist, driven by progress, I recognise when things go wrong but I want to see actions to address the issue and get things progressing again. I value facts and actions rather than speech! I’d say I’m highly analytical and organised, even if I may be too organised and unyielding sometimes!

I’ve already been at Auriga for more than 8 years, time is flying so fast. I am now based at Auriga’s French office after 4 years at the Headquarters in Italy where I was on the front line in trying to develop the sales and business development activities in France. I am responsible for International Marketing & Communication activities and much more; I see my role as the constant “glue” between the French branch and the Italian head office in order to ensure the progress of activities and the international growth of the company.

Q. What do you like about this industry?
It is so nice and stimulating to be part of an industry which is constantly changing and with lots of new competitors and new entrants. Everything is moving so fast and even new business models are emerging which add an exciting new dimension.

At the same time, this is really challenging as you have to be aware of the latest trends and how to push towards constant innovation within the Company even if we are “selling” what people incorrectly think of as an old-fashioned anti-sexy channel as the ATM.

I love learning every day and being involved in tackling difficult/challenging situations: once I stop learning on a daily basis, that’s when I know I need to change something! Auriga is such a great place to work, we have more than 250 employees but still with a flexible start-up spirit, that’s a unique combination. Things can move fast and decisions can be quickly taken without an inflexible hierarchical process getting in the way, this is so important to remain innovative and competitive in the banking industry.

Q. Do you have any predictions for the banking industry over the next couple of years? Any exciting trends you have identified?
I do not have a crystal ball (I wish!) but Cognitive Computing/Artificial Intelligence and a move towards “Platformisation” as a business model, are certainly aspects which will dramatically change the way we will bank tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. However, from my Psychologist background, I would definitely stress that the industry needs to keep the “human” at the heart of everything we do and not forget the importance of the human relationship and psychological aspects around it.

Q. Is there anyone you feel has been important in helping you get to where you were? (e.g. a mentor, an inspiration, friend, colleague) – anyone you’d like to thank?
I graduated in Work Organizational & Personnel Psychology, and although my job is far away from my initial background and education, the scientific aspect of my degree as well as the intercultural sensitivity of my education has applications to every aspect of my work.

I have been completely self-taught and “trained on the job”, and I am really thankful to all my colleagues who help me in understanding all the complexity of the business and IT. Thanks for your patience, and for putting up with my constant curiosity and desire to learn all the technical aspects in every detail possible. Also, I owe a lot the managers who trusted me and believed in my capacity to grow and explore new changes in how we do things, this is such a nice experience and has allowed me to flourish in my role!

Chiara De Felice is a Delivery Manager for Auriga’s Virtual Banking products.

Q. Tell us a bit about yourself and your role at Auriga
I work as a Delivery Manager on the Virtual Banking products side of Auriga. My role involves managing and creating a synergy between the software factory, on one side, and the customer, on the other side. It is vital that what we create meetings customer expectations, their requirements and that our products are at the cutting edge of technology.

We undergo continuous improvement, always listening to the market to improve and upgrade our product features.

In my free time I’m in charge of managing the local section of the NGO Informatici Senza Frontiere (Computer science without borders) which promotes using technology to fill the digital divide and promote growth, improvement accessibility and the access to knowledge.

Q. What do you like about this industry?
Making banking open to everyone is a really important issue for the industry. I’m proud that at Auriga our corporate teams pay a lot of attention to accessibility standards of each product and cares a lot about the customers – product related – issues.

Moreover, in Auriga, lots of management roles are handled by women.

Q. Do you have any predictions for the banking industry over the next couple of years? Any exciting trends you have identified?
Lots of disruptive innovations are taking place in technology field, but also more generally in people’s lifestyle. All these changes are influencing the world that banks are operating in.

At the moment however, end users and customers are not yet comfortable or expert at getting the most out of all these new tools, so the technology needs to have an educational role, showing customers how to obtain the best from them and make their banking lives easier.

Of course, one of the most exciting field is the one dealing with AI, Artificial Intelligence. I think that almost all our products can benefit of the research in this field.

Q. Is there anyone you feel has been important in helping you get to where you were? (e.g. a mentor, an inspiration, friend, colleague) – anyone you’d like to thank?
The greatest inspiration is to work in a collaborative environment, in harmony with your team. I thank all my colleagues with whom I’ve worked and work with every day, for the mutual respect and passion.

Giuliana Guglielmi is Auriga’s Head of Software Factory, and with almost 25 years at the company is an Auriga and industry veteran.

Q. Tell us a bit about yourself and your role at Auriga
I’ve work in Auriga for a long time, since 1993 which means I joined right at the beginning of our story. It’s certainly been quite a journey!

For most of my time here I was working on virtual banking solutions, making sure the technology is innovative, cutting edge and most importantly solving the problems that our customers face. Four years ago, I started a new role, as the head of the software factory. This has brought many new challenges and opportunities but it’s a fascinating job and I wouldn’t change it!

Q. What do you like about this industry?
Unusually for a big company, working at Auriga makes t is easy to express our values and be appreciated, like being in a small company.

I’ve been in the banking industry for a long time now, and the rapid changes we’ve seen over the past years make it a great industry to work in.

Q. Do you have any predictions for the banking industry over the next couple of years? Any exciting trends you have identified?
The rapid evolution of technology and the reduction of personnel costs to banks will increase the autonomy of users and the demand for self-service machines. This will all result in a better experience for customers, as long as banks remember to keep the human touch at the centre of their digital transformation.

Q. Is there anyone you feel has been important in helping you get to where you were? (e.g. a mentor, an inspiration, friend, colleague) – anyone you’d like to thank?
I have to thank myself for believing in this company, since when I started it was made up of 6 people and it was located in a garage in Rome.

Mostly, I have to thank my university colleague, now CEO of Auriga, who asked me to be part of this “adventure” many years ago.

Maria Ludovico is Auriga’s Head of Delivery & Support.

Q. Tell us a bit about yourself and your role at Auriga
When I graduated about 12 years ago, I was looking for a dynamic, young and ambitious company. I found it with Auriga.

My role in Auriga is Head of Delivery & Support area of all Italian and foreign customers. The primary objective is to provide constant support to customers, to be proactive at every reporting or release activity in progress. Every person in my group must be responsible and have a team game and therefore be reliable, to be invincible to every situation that presents itself.

Q. What do you like about this industry?
The sector in which I work is really fantastic and dynamic, every day there is a new challenge to face and a new technology to learn. The goal is to maintain high levels of service, always be available to customers. Customer satisfaction is truly rewarding.

As Einstein said, “Every day there is a new challenge to be faced with a single group ready to overcome it without obstacles”

Q. Do you have any predictions for the banking industry over the next couple of years? Any exciting trends you have identified?
In my opinion, it will always be more in a “virtual” world without the use of cards, but dynamic and reactive. Auriga, as always, is already in line and in step with new technologies and this always allows it to satisfy any customer or banking needs, to find continuity solutions from the online bank to the branch, passing from the ATM terminal and ATM to the mobile banking.

Q. Is there anyone you feel has been important in helping you get to where you were? (e.g. a mentor, an inspiration, friend, colleague) – anyone you’d like to thank?
I would like to thank all the Auriga executives who have believed and believe in me and the colleagues who deal with in a professional way, every day, the challenges and opportunities that this job offers.

Rosa Sarcina is a Technical Account Manager at Auriga, based at our Italian headquarters in Bari.

Q. Tell us a bit about yourself and your role at Auriga
I work in the team of Professional Services in Auriga, my role is both to support the account manager before sale, and to provide high-level technical support to project teams and customers. This gives me great insight into the minds of our customers and I really enjoy helping them get the right solution for their end users.

I work in the head office in Bari, but I travel for work which is a great bonus, and I lived in UK for two years.

Q. What do you like about this industry?
It’s fascinating to be part of a company which is taking on some of the biggest challenges facing the banking industry and which can really improve the lives of consumers.

I’ve worked at Auriga since 2014, I like the enthusiasm of this company, the way to face with passion new challenges every day, the wish to grow and get involved!

Q. Do you have any predictions for the banking industry over the next couple of years? Any exciting trends you have identified?
What I see from my customers, especially those based outside of Italy, is the change in the used technologies, moving from legacy system to a more modern cloud-based approach.

This means that cloud is going to be essential to the bank branch over the next couple of years, something which Auriga has superior expertise in.

Q. Is there anyone you feel has been important in helping you get to where you were? (e.g. a mentor, an inspiration, friend, colleague) – anyone you’d like to thank?
For me, it’s not a specific person, but the whole company. The inspiration and opportunities I’ve received comes from the approach I’ve seen Auriga take since I’ve been working here.