“The most essential part of the change is explaining its why”

After being an Architect for 7 years, Amina Farhat (34) decided to restart her career in technology back in 2017 when she joined the Data & AI team of Accenture. After that, she moved to the Tech FS team, where she could focus on her delivery lead role in the financial services industry. Building on her experience, she is now Team Leader of the Tech FS team. “In addition to my client role, I am also involved in the Accenture community by being the people lead of many colleagues, mentor of young ladies, part of the sales FS Data team and supporting in recruiting our next new talents!” 

You restarted your career at Accenture, but we can not neglect your strong Scrum Master/delivery skills. In what way did your background help you in this job? 

I think you could say I was an experienced hire, even though my experience was in another area. As an architect, I was no stranger to project and people management. So when I switched and joined Accenture, although the content is different, I could leverage my experience to bring another vision, a different way of working, to the team. 

That must feel very satisfying. But with that comes great responsibility. How would you describe Accenture making a difference in the market?

Accenture has very big clients in financial markets. And we have a team of real experts with strong experience in Belgium and all around the world. What sticks out at Accenture, is that every proposal, every project, is backed up by another project that has already been completed with a team we can connect to and get insights from. This is a very valuable asset. Not only is it a huge global company, but almost every FS company in Belgium is a client. 

For example, one of our important expertise, is in helping companies to become data-driven. They have a huge amount of data and we’re helping them to unlock the value in data, get insight from it and propose customer centric products.

Can you tell us a story where you really had an impact on your client?

Well, a year ago a client asked us to join a very complex team that requires a lot of change management, people management and follow-up on the delivery due to the big scope. As part of a partnership we had with the client, we were responsible to bring improvements in the team and in the whole department. So change management was very important, but difficult to implement. As I was involved from the start, from the proposal, I could use my experience and understanding and work with the team to successfully bring improvements and agility.

Nice! You and the team brought real changes to the table. What do you think is your most powerful asset to do so?

Sometimes, it’s simply a question of explaining “why” something has to change and working with the individual. I’m told I have strong communication skills which are invaluable to the work I do. And because I was on the work floor, I understood the challenges and could come with ideas, proposals that were tailored to the client and the team.

You look happy with the career change you made. What gives you the most energy on the job?

New challenges and new responsibilities, with the possibility of growing within a project. And being with people, being proud of projects we could delivery, all of that thanks to a great team where everybody is helping each other a lot and not just only doing their own job.  

So no stressors?

Naturally, there are stress triggers too. There are a lot of meetings and then of course, there are the deadlines. Sometimes you have a difficult agenda to manage. I’m learning everyday to do it.

How would you describe your wanted new colleague?

It would be someone who is enthusiastic, energised, positive, with a passion for learning and growing. Someone who is proactive and who brings their own experience with them, which I can then learn from.  

Also I would say, if you’re an atypical profile, don’t let that put you off applying. One person in my team came to Accenture with Marketing working experience, nothing to do with Technology. Today, he’s a top performer!  

Inclusion and diversity are important here at Accenture. And it’s not only gender diversity, but diversity in the whole sense. We are working hard on it and that’s amazing!

Learn more about our FS practice