The Intersection of Architecture and Product

Tech on Deck Podcast Episode Title: The Intersection of Architecture and Product Episode Description: As Head of Digital Capability Technology at Fidelity, Veronica Grigoras, leads teams of innovative technologists developing architecture for wealth management solutions, and product owners for contributory savings, cash and cards, and retirement platforms. In this episode, we'll learn more about Veronica’s career journey, her dual role as a Chapter AND Product lead, and how to set yourself up for success when transitioning to a new role. Maureen Olejarz Welcome to Tech on Deck podcast brought to you by Fidelity Investments. I'm your host, Maureen Olejarz, Domain Leader software Engineering and. Adam Ely Adam Ely, Chief Information Security Officer. Adam Ely Each episode takes listeners inside the walls of a fintech industry. Maureen Olejarz Anything from cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, cloud and crypto to the intersection of product and technology. Adam Ely Teck on Deck breaks down the topics top of mind for technologists today. Maureen Olejarz Plus, we'll give you insight into the exciting and challenging careers in FinTech. Maureen Olejarz Thank you so much for tuning into this episode of Tech on Deck. I'm Maureen Olejarz, Head of Software Engineering at Fidelity. Adam Ely And I'm that Adam Ely, Chief Information Security Officer at Fidelity. Adam Ely Today, we're excited we're here with our guest, Veronica Grigoris, Head of Digital Capability Technology at Fidelity. Maureen Olejarz So, Veronica, welcome to Tech on Deck. Maureen Olejarz I’m glad to have known you for the last several years, having come here with, you know, a phenomenal background in technology. But Maureen Olejarz we always like to hear from our guests. Tell us a little bit about your journey and Veronica Grigoras Thank you for having me. Maureen and Adam, very excited to be here. Veronica Grigoras I am a leader in personal investing. I lead architecture for wealth management solutions as well as a Veronica Grigoras product owner for cash and retirement platforms, as well as cards. Veronica Grigoras An area that I'm very, very passionate about. Adam Ely We can double click on your current role a little bit later. But in the meantime, can you tell us a little about your career Fidelity? Because I think this is not your first role at Fidelity, if I'm not mistaken. Veronica Grigoras Yes, absolutely. I joined Fidelity in 2015, actually, and I accepted an architecture role for account opening. And at the time, account opening was quite an interesting journey because it was the beginning of digitization. They were the beginning of a modernization journey. So Veronica Grigoras I had the opportunity to actually create some of the first APIs, and one was called at the time the digital platform, and I was very, very excited about it. Veronica Grigoras It was time also when Fidelity released the Fidelity “Go Mobile” application and the first robo advisor. So I was a part of that journey and I really, really enjoyed that alongside with Maureen actually we had some quite a fun time during, during that period. Veronica Grigoras So Veronica Grigoras yeah, I had an interesting journey and actually evolved from there. Veronica Grigoras Then in 2018 I had the opportunity to take what was under a Spotify model, a chapter leader role for wealth management solutions, and my career kind of went off from there. Adam Ely That's amazing. And I think Adam Ely I heard something about a role in Fidelity's cognitive platform and maybe something about a solo role. Can you can you talk about that a little bit? Why was that so amazing? Veronica Grigoras Thank you for asking. Yes. Veronica Grigoras so artificial intelligence and machine learning is something that I'm passionate about. And up until then, I never had a chance to explore a role in that in that area. So I have studied in AI and AML. I have few certifications, but I never had it all before. So I did have a chance to join what was at the time cognitive platform Veronica Grigoras and cognitive platform was forming itself. Veronica Grigoras So it was one of the very first sort of STEM members and we worked on incredible solutions there for conversational AI Veronica Grigoras for our customers. Veronica Grigoras One of the solutions that I worked on is actually currently a patent and Fidelity, and I'm very, very proud and humble about it. Adam Ely Oh, so you as a working in that role, you, Adam Ely you know, invented something that Fidelity actually took on to patent. Can you I think a lot of our listeners enjoy because I think a lot of people don't know what it is to develop something to get a patent. And do companies support, you know, people in doing that? Adam Ely Can you talk about that experience a little bit? I think that'll be interesting. Veronica Grigoras Fidelity has long supported its employee’s innovation and inventiveness and establish an official patent program in 2011 to actually help recognize those accomplishments as a result of Fidelity's patent portfolio, I think has about 300 issues patents. Veronica Grigoras I am proud to say that I'm a listed inventor in one of those Veronica Grigoras patents. Veronica Grigoras I actually worked with Veronica Grigoras few of other of my colleagues back in 2017 and with the support, the Fidelity patent program, Fidelity filed a patent application for one of the products that I worked on, and the patent was issued, I believe, in 2020. Maureen Olejarz love to hear about the soul. So you came to Fidelity, right? And you had a career journey, you know, at other firms before you came here. So, Veronica, when you were talking about your soul and the patent, I'd like to try and connect the two of those things. So what what makes it different for you in Fidelity here? Maureen Olejarz Is it that exploration? And Veronica Grigoras yeah, I think Veronica Grigoras Fidelity is Veronica Grigoras a company that allows employees to grow, involve themselves in multifaceted ways, I think, Veronica Grigoras and you can bring that innovation to life. Any day. Right. We have a lot of solutions currently in the market that are extremely innovative. So for anybody who has a passion for technology, has a passion for engineering architecture, in my case product, I think Fidelity creates pathways, creates growth, frees place of culture, leads a culture of innovation and a space that I hear. Veronica Grigoras You know, I personally highly encouraged anybody to to join. Especially for me being a woman in technology. You know, Fidelity allowed me Veronica Grigoras to develop myself in a multi-faceted way who allowed me to continue to grow. It allowed me to have that growth mindset that I always nurtured. Maureen Olejarz So, Veronica, thanks so much for what you've been sharing here with this dual role. And as we think about as you move forward in your career, Maureen Olejarz what are some things that you would talk about in that transition? Right. You know, how did that feel? Maureen Olejarz What did it look like? Veronica Grigoras fundamentally, I think, Maureen, what's different about the role that I had in the past couple of years? I think it challenged me in different ways, right? I always knew how to, you know, to run architecture, how to be a leader in that space. But in the past couple of years, adding product and product delivery to it, basically Veronica Grigoras you, you are pretty much forced to understand, or ideas interact and how they should interact. Veronica Grigoras It allowed me to pivot my thinking more. It allowed me to think in a much more optimized way, right? I run a portfolio that's, you know, multi-billion line items of code over 80capabilities, right? That kind of puts things into perspective and it puts you into an execution piece. Veronica Grigoras That's fast. Veronica Grigoras It also Veronica Grigoras keeps us accountable for everything that we deliver every day. You know, we are challenged with stability. We have to continue to run this platform in a very stable way. Veronica Grigoras There is no room for mistakes in them, basically. So every mistakes Veronica Grigoras So there are multiple there are multiple challenges and opportunities in in being a product owner for a motorization portfolio. First of all, stability, stability. So being responsible for platforms there is isn't zero room for mistakes, Adam Ely You have a technical career and a financial services company. How did you come about that? Did you study tech first and then come into financial services the other way around? Tell us a little bit how you got here? Veronica Grigoras I was born in Romania. I my undergrad studies were in computer science in Romania. And later on I had an opportunity to study machine learning and artificial intelligence. And actually in one of the universities in France Veronica Grigoras and after a while I came to I came to U.S., in my late twenties and in the company that I worked at the time, Veronica Grigoras I ended up working in a quantitative analysis group, primarily for engineering and architecture. Veronica Grigoras And that challenged me because I didn't know anything about finance. I had my architecture engineering background, but I didn't have a financial background. So Veronica Grigoras I went to school here, I went to a master degree and I did a master master degree in finance and management and Veronica Grigoras I enjoyed that a lot. It allowed me to expand my skillset. One of the things that I always do every time I, I feel like I'm not challenge enough, you know, if I go back to school and I learn more either through certifications, either through online courses and so on, and so, you know, being a continuous learner, I think it's one of the mindsets that I continue to adopt. Adam So Adam Ely a technologist that actually went back to study finance, like I'm fascinated by that. I think I've forgotten everything else that we've talked about. I'm fascinated by that single. I think that's amazing that you you decided there's other things that you want to learn that wasn't directly in technology and then committed to that. Veronica Grigoras Well, this is a podcast so people can not see me blushing Veronica Grigoras so. Maureen Olejarz So, Veronica, that was really interesting, including the financial services and, you know, so where we can hear from a lot of your background and your stories, here is the drive, the motivation, the continuous learning Maureen Olejarz with you currently being in a dual role as you as you named it. Maureen Olejarz Can you talk through some of the successes and challenges that come along with that? Right. And we'd also like to hear what your day maybe looks like Maureen Olejarz or what does a day in tech look like for someone in your team? Can you share that with our audience? Veronica Grigoras what I loved about this particular dual role is that it has a level of complexity that Veronica Grigoras I do love, and it keeps me on my toes. It keeps my my, my team on my toes on their toes. And I love its intensity, right? Veronica Grigoras My days varies a lot, but there are a few fundamental principles that I guide myself by. Veronica Grigoras I tend to Veronica Grigoras not allow any type of meetings or any type of activities that are not effective in my day to day. And I usually I'm very goal oriented. So at the end of the day, I usually block my calendar for Veronica Grigoras , what I call a close league block, where I reflect on what I worked on, what I what it didn't work and what I achieved for that in that week. Veronica Grigoras So in roles like these, I think it's important to especially when you Veronica Grigoras wear multiple hats, it's important to bring this organization's closer together, both from a delivery and collaboration standpoint, but also from a leadership standpoint. So, you know, finding the leadership intersections and organizational changes and the change management that could maximize outcomes I think becomes extremely important. Veronica Grigoras Also, the complexity of the role, I think Veronica Grigoras it gave me an opportunity to become a leadership multiplier. Veronica Grigoras think in order to achieve a highly engaged, productive and innovative organization, Veronica Grigoras you need to be able to expand the capabilities of your team. I think you need to find ways for them to become innovative, to Veronica Grigoras grow together, to, you know, to become a team that Veronica Grigoras where collective leadership, I think bring brings the most of outcomes. Veronica Grigoras So I think that these are some of the challenges, I think but I love- you know, I I'm blessed with having a wonderful, wonderful leadership team. I think, you know, they challenge me. I always Veronica Grigoras tell the team that they need to continue to Veronica Grigoras challenge me. And I think only together, I think it's only through collaborative leadership that we achieve best results. Adam Ely That's amazing. I heard something there that I really love that I hear and rarely hear people talk about, especially in technology. It's the fact that and I'm going to paraphrase you take control of your schedule and of your time, you block. I like I think you said the term close of the week, which I love, like you actually take time to sit down and control your time, your schedule, your calendar, and then reflect and do the things that you need to do. Adam Ely So many people don't do that. I love that. You mentioned that so many people don't do that. And I think it's one of the most powerful techniques that people can do to manage their day. Adam Ely Shifting gears slightly here, Adam Ely you've had a really interesting career. You've come back to studied finance. Again, kudos to you on that. Adam Ely I could not do it. I think I did not do well my finance courses, to be honest, Adam Ely shout out to the professors who actually passed me for some reason, Adam Ely but Adam Ely think it's really important for us to hire people and Adam Ely bring people into the company or move people around in the company that have different backgrounds. And you've been through studying in several countries, working in several countries. Adam Ely You studied a couple of different disciplines. But one thing that really that, that where you really look at it as a firm right now is is women in tech and the small numbers in industry. Adam Ely And I think it's interesting. I think I saw some data the other day that there's at least some studies that show that women outperform men in investing, which I thought was really interesting. Adam Ely And I so want to know the why behind this. But it didn't have it. But, you know, coming to Fidelity, coming to Tech, you know, what would be your advice for maybe people in general with very specifically women that might want to enter technical roles in financial services? And, you know, would you say that fidelity is a is a great place for that? Adam Ely And why and maybe why should they pursue that now? Veronica Grigoras Yeah, absolutely. I think Fidelity, I think, is is a place of growth. I think it's a place where Veronica Grigoras there is a diverse community of leaders and associates. I think that Veronica Grigoras and that cognitive diversity shows up best, I think, in our products. Wherever is the youth app that was just launched where women talk money or just to name a few, I think I think we Veronica Grigoras have a unique ability, I think, of bringing the best talent of engineering products, Veronica Grigoras and it's been a joy, I think, to see the growth of women in technology in the past few years. Veronica Grigoras Right? Veronica Grigoras It's great to see a company like Fidelity that continues to invest in diversity, and Fidelity has been a place of growth for me. My second home Veronica Grigoras for many others. I am blessed to have, you know, a community of leaders that I can rely on established, incredible partnerships, and I couldn't be more grateful for that. So I encourage anybody who's looking, you know, for a career change, change for in any challenge, I think technology or other ways to look at, to know what is their next journey. Veronica Grigoras I think it's it's a fantastic place to be. Maureen Olejarz Well, that's great. You know what? I'd love to build on top of that, Maureen Olejarz Veronica, you're also involved in our internal special interest group that's called Women in Technology. Maureen Olejarz tell me a little bit about what you see as your as you're a part of that group and maybe share share some things about that with people as they're as they're listening Veronica Grigoras yeah, and I'll I'll link it to the previous question that Adam had Maureen because it's funny because when I join women in tech, I think I joined because I wanted to be a mentee and I got an email back saying, “We'd love to have you as a mentor.” And I think when you talk about especially as women, I think we all the time we tend to give back to the community or we try to learn more. Veronica Grigoras Right? But we're not that self-conscious about what we can give to others about our own values. And I think women in tech, I think, gives us a community of Veronica Grigoras just sharing our own experiences or leaning on each other, right? I think Fidelity is a place where communities like this exist of different ethnicity, of different, you know, and different dimensions. Veronica Grigoras And I think it's it's great that, you know, we have the ability to come together and share, you know, share some of our experiences or even lean in for help. I think sometimes. Maureen Olejarz I think that's great. And when when you told the story about you wanted to be a mentee and they basically said there's so much there with what you can offer, would you be willing to be a mentor? And so, you know, that's just something really great that folks are able to help help those who are coming along right themselves, Right. Maureen Olejarz And encourage encourage women who maybe either start out in the business or come into tech and to continue to inspire them to be able to stay stay the course. Veronica Grigoras Yeah, it's funny because I think as a leader, you learned how to say no to things. This is one of the things that I never say no to. I love mentoring and I love giving back. So Veronica Grigoras every time somebody reaches out to me and said, Hey, would you have time to establish more frequent one on ones? Veronica Grigoras I never say no to that. Veronica Grigoras You know, granted, as I said about my calendar are usually protected, but I have a fantastic admin that helps me, so I always find time for that. Adam Ely So with everything in your background, what inspired you to come to Fidelity to make that move? Veronica Grigoras So back in 2015, actually, I was working in my previous company and I was pretty happy. I had a strong team that I grew Veronica Grigoras and I got a phone call from one of the Fidelity leaders here and he asked me, Would you like to come and work at Fidelity? And I said, No, thank you. But he was pretty persistent, actually, and started talking, you know, very convincing about the culture and about the company and about the products and engineering culture. Veronica Grigoras And that got me interested. I usually tend to orient my career decisions based on two dimensions, primarily. One is people, and the second is products and projects and work in general. And I learned that fidelity is a place where Veronica Grigoras community innovation culture creates extraordinary results. And that got me excited. So I decided to leave my team, leave a role that I actually loved and joined Fidelity as an individual contributor, as an architect. Veronica Grigoras And, Veronica Grigoras know, I have had fun ever since. Adam Ely It's been eight years, give or take a little bit. And so no regrets. Veronica Grigoras I think that Veronica Grigoras for anybody who wants to challenge themselves, continue to adopt or continue their growth mindset, Veronica Grigoras Fidelity, I think will be a place that allows and allows anybody, any associate, any leader Veronica Grigoras to do that. Well, to do that in you know, in Veronica Grigoras to do that very well. And I would no, no regrets. I think every every day is choice. Veronica Grigoras So we'll see what the future brings. Maureen Olejarz I'm Adam Ely glad you turned that now into a yes. And then you've been here for so long. Maureen Olejarz So, Veronica, now you're in a position of moving and transitioning into a new role. Maureen Olejarz It would be great to hear your feelings on that. Right? You know, as it is, we've listened to your career, right? These are the kinds of things, the growth opportunities that that excite and motivate you Maureen Olejarz tell us, you know, share share something there about that. Veronica Grigoras Yeah, absolutely. I love to challenge myself in new territories, so I'm very, very excited actually to join the enterprise organizations. I would I love the opportunity of taking the BU level expertise of architecture and product, their expertise to the heart, the Fidelity, actually to the enterprise organization. I think the enterprise Veronica Grigoras requires leaders who have been across multiple views and Veronica Grigoras leverage that expertise, I think, to drive more horizontal and long standing decisions. Veronica Grigoras I think, Veronica Grigoras you know, I'm excited to be able to embrace a new challenge and Veronica Grigoras turn that challenge into growth. I think Veronica Grigoras I am looking forward to work with new leaders. I learned from their experiences and being impactful together. Maureen Olejarz So, Veronica, since we do know each other here at Fidelity and have worked together before, and I know from working with you, you have many passions. One of them is travel. And, you know, would love to just hear if you had any recent trips, anything big coming up, you know? Veronica Grigoras we love actually traveling a lot to European countries. So we just finished a trip back in Spain and in Madrid, which we loved. Actually, my son loves my 16 year old son loves Madrid, and he keeps joking that one day he'll live there. Veronica Grigoras But mostly I think we've seen most of Europe. And I think, you know, Veronica Grigoras I don't know what's next, maybe Asia. Veronica Grigoras I was asking actually the other day we were sitting at dinner, so I asked I ask my husband and my son, I said, what's next? And they looked at each other. I said, I don't know Asia. Veronica Grigoras So Maureen Olejarz Okay. Veronica Grigoras we love to travel. We'll see what's next. We'll keep you posted Maureen Olejarz Asia's on the calendar. All right? Okay. Veronica Grigoras I hope you have me on another time Maureen, so I can tell. Veronica Grigoras to you. Maureen Olejarz It sounds great. Maureen Olejarz So, Veronica, thanks so much for joining us today. And, you know, we've had a Maureen Olejarz great time talking through your careers have been amazing. Maureen Olejarz Yeah. Adam Ely Thank you so much. Glad we get to have you. Veronica Grigoras Happy to be here. Thank you for having me. Adam Ely Thanks for joining us for Tech on Deck. We hope you enjoyed the episode. If you haven't yet, please give us a five-star rating and subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts from. Maureen Olejarz Thank you to our listeners and recording studio and editors who make our episodes possible. To learn more about tech opportunities, head over to Tech dot Fidelity Careers.com. Adam Ely See you next time.