“Challenges are the flipside of opportunities”

When she was approached by ING, Zuzana was working in a global role at an American snack company, after a long and rich career as a consultant at Accenture. During the last ten years of her time with Accenture, she was mainly involved in business process outsourcing. “It was the time that robotisation and artificial intelligence were emerging – a very interesting and fun period in which I worked on long-term client relationships with the people on the floor. It was very hands-on and result-driven, just the way I like it.”

This was exactly what ING had in mind for Zuzana too. “Although I didn’t know a lot about the world of finance, and came from a very different business culture than the Dutch style of working, I was willing to take the leap – especially because I saw that there were a lot of results to achieve. ING excels in customer focus, more than in operational efficiency.”

Zuzana joined ING as an expert lead and progressed through various roles to her current position. “Our main focus is on Customer Due Diligence of our new and existing Wholesale Banking clients around the world. In order to be compliant with rules and regulations and to prevent financial economic crimes like money laundering, we need to know who we are – and aren’t – doing business with. So we assess and monitor every single one of our current and potential clients.”

“Our work is complex, as we deal not only with a large set of rules from the regulators like De Nederlandsche Bank, but also with rules from the European Union and the US. Moreover, regulations are becoming stricter every year, and criminals are getting smarter. It is our task and duty to stay one step ahead in recognising and preventing crime. That means we continuously have to improve and innovate in order to keep our customers, the economy and society safe.”

“I see it as my personal mission to contribute to making our systems, processes and communications more effective, whilst ensuring that our people continue to have interesting work, growth opportunities and fun in what they do. If you add to that the fact that I work with teams from totally different countries and cultures, in a Dutch-led company, you could say I get my fair share of challenges. But isn’t that exactly what I have always longed for? The way I see it, challenges are the flipside of opportunities.”