James Wilton

Walk us through your career path in ING 

That’s still a short story but I like to think of as the first step on a long ladder and the beginning of a beautiful journey. I joined ING Tech Romania two years ago, coming from a different banking conglomerate, having spent the past ten something years in governance and audit roles in various parts of the world. 

I am currently part of the Information Risk Management Regional Hub which is a slice of the Non-Financial Risk & Compliance Centre located in ING Tech Romania. I have a dual role in both servicing ING Bank Romania – on the Payments and Bank Treasury side, as well as having a growing involvement in Global ING critical programmes – having been part of previous challenging initiatives such as implementing Apple Pay and DealWise, the latest ING innovation beyond banking, developed from scratch in Romania.

It’s a challenging, ever-changing role, that moves with the times and with the technology, and it involves both a deep technical acumen as well as an important swath of stakeholder management and having multiple parties at a table and reaching optimal consensus.

How it’s Life @ ING? (especially from a learning experience point of view)

I think that our mistakes make us who we are, and I think that by learning from our mistakes, we can grow and develop into our fullest selves, shaping a better tomorrow in all we do, all we touch and all we teach paying it forward.  I feel that ING is built around helping you become the best “you” that can be mustered.

You have the resources and the avenues to go about that, and you can really feel the focus on people and growing – not only into a role but as a professional in all aspects. I have always felt supported both by my managers and by my peers and am finding exciting challenges that scale as I go, which feels very rewarding.

As the song goes, we stand on the precipice of change. The world fears the inevitable plummet into the abyss. But in truth, when we fall, we learn whether we can fly. And once we know we can fly; we can share the dream and help others spread their wings and soar.

How would you explain your role as a Sr. Information Risk Officer to a 7-year-old?

We are the watchers of the wall. Jokes aside, we keep the bad guys from swooping and stealing the crown jewels as well as helping our colleagues building exciting new things all whilst ensuring that they have embedded all the security layers in order to protect both us and the customers. So yes, I think we could say we’re the watchers on the wall. Making sure our ship is a safe place to sail, no matter how stormy the sea we’re breaching.

If you were to recommend ING to a friend, what would you say about the organisation?

ING is a home away from home. It’s a group of brilliant people, who have put aside their differences and set to work together in order to go on new daring journeys and create things that can change our lives for the better. And it’s a place where you can bring about real change, touching and improving the everyday experiences of many – both here as well as abroad. I think that’s fantastic.

It’s more than a job, it’s an extended family, a group of people with whom I feel good sharing my time and that I am happy to have alongside. I have found the excitement of unthread paths, the challenge of diversity and the dedication that comes with going step by step on ladders unknown that you’re building as you go. And for that I am grateful. It’s more than a company, it’s a train of thought and an experience that I am happy to have been able to experience.

If you were to save the world with an app…

I strongly believe that the threads fate has woven in our journeys are a wonderful thing to experience. And I think that we, wide-eyed and filled with wonder should dive into what the world has to offer, instead of trying to save it. If I were to try to touch all who walk this world we call home, I would create something to remind us, as a cherished memory, that hope and faith shine in the darkest of days and that the road ahead will either lead us to an all-time high or onto our next journey.

Let’s say you wrote your first SF book. What would you call it?

So Long as the Music Plays, We Dance