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SheCanCode's Spilling The T
SheCanCode's Spilling The T
Women Leading in Tech/AML
We delve into the world of technology leadership with Alyssa Iyer, Head of Product - AML at Lynx. With a remarkable career spanning diverse roles in AML operations, Alyssa brings invaluable insights into navigating the complex terrain of anti-money laundering in global financial institutions.
Join us as Alyssa shares her journey, from breaking into the male-dominated technology industry to rising through the ranks as one of the few female executives.
In this episode, we explore Alyssa's strategies for success, the challenges she's faced, and the pivotal moments that shaped her career. From engagement director to subject matter specialist and investigator, Alyssa's multifaceted experience offers a wealth of knowledge for aspiring female leaders in AML and technology.
SheCanCode is a collaborative community of women in tech working together to tackle the tech gender gap.
Join our community to find a supportive network, opportunities, guidance and jobs, so you can excel in your tech career.
Hello everyone, Thank you for tuning in Again. I am Kayleigh Batesman, the Content Director at she Can Code, and today we are discussing women leading in tech and anti-money laundering. We're delving into the world of technology leadership with Elisa Ayer, Head of Product Anti-Money Laundering Solutions at Lynx, who is going to share her insights into navigating the complex terrain of anti-money laundering in global financial institutions. Welcome, Melissa, Lovely to have you on here.
Speaker 2:So great to be here, thank you.
Speaker 1:Thank you for joining us. I know you're a very busy lady, so thank you so much for taking some time out to come and have a chat with us today. We're going to get started with a bit of context about you, if that's okay. Can you share a little bit about your journey into the tech industry and what initially drew you to the field of anti-money laundering operations?
Speaker 2:Yeah, thank you so much. Thank you so much for having me. It's great to be here. It's interesting because I actually got into the field of anti-money laundering operations right after I graduated from my grad degree in 2013. It was at the height of AML regulation. A bunch of consent orders were coming out Basically regulatory actions were coming out of the US government and a lot of banks were hiring, and I actually got hired by JP Morgan as an associate compliance officer and I was doing transaction monitoring investigations for correspondent banks and that's actually a pretty risky product where the compliance standards were quite high, were quite high. And through that experience and then moving on to PwC, where I did a lot of different projects with very large financial institutions, I really learned various different processes, risk appetites, policies, so on and so forth, challenges and how things were either being solved with technology or they weren't, and a lot of what is done today is still quite manual in AML investigations. Some of it is a necessary evil. Some of it is that we've really needed to get to a point where we are today, you know, with LLMs and Gen AI, where we now have the technology that will help us to expedite some of these quite manual processes. But throughout all of these experiences I've been able to understand where the pain points are for these really large institutional clients with very large resources and staffs, and so I've been able to learn a ton through that consulting experience which I now have. I'm able to apply in technology and so basically the journey was I had such a great experience in consulting, learned so much.
Speaker 2:But I was at PwC for seven years. It was an incredible experience. And then I was really at a crossroads when I had my first little one and I really wasn't sure what I wanted to do. Honestly, I wasn't sure if I wanted to stay home with my little one and I really wasn't sure what I wanted to do. Honestly, I wasn't sure if I wanted to stay home with my little one, if I'd reenter the workforce.
Speaker 2:But at about 10 months postpartum a cyber focused venture capital firm, forgepoint Capital, presented me with the opportunity to come work with them to map out kind of the know, your customer and anti-money laundering tech landscape, to help them pinpoint areas for investment potential.
Speaker 2:And it was an incredible opportunity for me because in my consulting experience, like I said, I learned so much around the pain points, around potential technology solutions to those specific pain points, potential technology solutions to those specific pain points. But it is really difficult to pick your head up out of the weeds, out of client services, to look at what's happening in the broader ecosystem. You really should do it, but for myself it was hard to find the time to really do that because it was a full-time job at ForgePoint. So how do you do two full-time jobs, you know, at the same time, and so it was an incredible opportunity for me and that's where that opportunity at ForgePoint helped me learn about Lynx, where I'm currently leading AML and I've been able to take the pinpoints that I pinpoints and potential, you know, solutions that I really learned about in consulting and and where we implemented some short term and some longer term solutions to those pinpoints. And now at Lynx, I'm uniquely positioned to leverage that business knowledge to inform both product design and go-to-market strategy.
Speaker 1:Amazing, and way back when you were studying at university. What I'm curious to know is did somebody inspire you to go in that direction? I mean, you're obviously very passionate about, um, your, your role and, and, uh, the way that your career path has panned out. Was there somebody that you kind of looked at and thought you know what that sounds cool? I really want to do that.
Speaker 2:I will have, I will say, one of my directors, my initial directors at a due diligence firm, one of the first investigations roles that I had. Her passion for investigations, for finding the adverse information, for just being thorough in your job and for being, you know, for bringing your best self to work and to bringing the best quality to work just her dedication to that and how she worked the room she was a huge influence and she, she was a huge uh uh influence and she, she had a huge impact on my career because I thought I want to be like her. I want to not only have so much uh, so much passion for my job, but also to have this impact on other female leaders, not only as a BA you know, businesswoman, but also as a mom and a working mom. She just, yeah, she really inspired me.
Speaker 1:Yes, amazing. Yeah, it's nice to hear when people have great role models, especially female role models, because we need more of them in the workforce so people can look to them and almost see their next role, totally that that type of person that they want to be and, like you said, not just um in your job, but at home and um and and all aspects of of your life. Um. I wanted to ask you a little bit about being a female leader in a male dominated industry. What unique challenges have you faced throughout your career and how have you overcome them?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I've had a lot of challenges, both non-gendered and gendered, just given financial services and consulting. It's really difficult and it's helped me to grow as a professional. And it's really helped me to grow as a professional because of those challenges where you have to use different problem solving skills. But I'll share some experiences that may be helpful for some listeners. That may be helpful for some listeners. One challenge that I experienced at one of my first consulting projects was being a young leader amongst older, more experienced A large majority of them were men and it was incredibly intimidating and difficult because here I was my first project. I was, you know, I was so young. They were so incredibly experienced like 30 to 40 years more experienced than myself and I had to prove myself through hard work and dedication. But once I earned their trust, they were incredible mentors who shared their knowledge, helped me to grow and advocated for me when I needed it, and so that was a very difficult, uncomfortable at first situation and challenge, but it eventually helped me to grow into the eventual leader that I am today.
Speaker 2:But, of course, not all of my experiences were like this. I often experienced gender bias as well, and unfortunately that's not a unique challenge, because I think a lot of us have to deal with this in male-dominated industries. But one example of that is one that I like to give because it's so simple but it is so frustrating is when you, as a lady, are asked to take notes or to plan an event. You, as a lady, are asked to take notes or to plan an event, even though you are the most, one of the most senior individuals in the room. But you're being asked to take notes or plan an event because you're just good at it and somehow, because I'm a lady, I'm just really good at this. I don't know how this bias has come about and if any men are listening, this may sound small, but as a as a woman, when you're constantly asked to do this, even though there are men in the room who are not as senior and are not asked the same thing, it starts to become a pattern and it is just so frustrating because you could be using your time to do other, more valuable things, because you are at that level of seniority where your time should be used there and yet you're asked to do this one thing because biases and be self-aware.
Speaker 2:And in terms of how I've overcome that in the past. You know, when you're not a senior you're it's really hard to give that feedback in the moment because you don't feel as confident. But now I look back at those situations and I think I wish I would have been a little more direct in giving that feedback and don't make it personal. Just say, hey, I noticed I've been asked to take notes. I have no problem doing that. I always do that for my own personal self. But just so you know. You know there are other few people on the team maybe who could do that as well and really push to give that responsibility across the team so that you're not always the person who they, who they go to, just because you're quote unquote good at it. And if you're good at it and you like to do it, that's great. But if you see a pattern emerging, nip it in the bud.
Speaker 1:Yes, you know what well, you just said to me. A male ally said something similar recently on this podcast, and, um, it was actually about his wife, who was in a senior leadership position, and he said, every time she was in a meeting, they used to look to her to take the notes, and luck would have it for her. Somebody in the room noticed and said we don't need to keep asking you to take notes or don't assume that you're going to take them, because she, she was starting to assume every meeting she was going to be that go to. I'm going to say that. And he actually called her out and said no, we're going to pass that around.
Speaker 1:Somebody will take minutes and somebody different each meeting. Don't always you, always you. And he, uh, the guy that I was talking to he said she was so relieved that somebody had noticed, because, instead of you had to give that feedback yourself, and whereas if somebody else in the room, a male ally, would have just said you know what, it's not just all on you, you wouldn't have had to have had that awkward feedback conversation. Um, so, yes, definitely agree with that, um, and and it must happen to so many ladies, um, where and you're absolutely right, though, speak up when when that happens, and don't always just assume it's you taking the notes 100 and and on that theme, on allyship, just one more challenge I wanted to highlight was um.
Speaker 2:I I wanted to mention I've had some incredible mentors and supporters, both female and male, supporting me throughout my career, but one example that I will never, ever forget is meeting a senior female executive at a workshop and her asking my colleague right out why there weren't more females around the workshop table when? Because when she met me, she said, oh well, why is she not at the table? There's clearly capable females here. And I thought, wow, what a boss um and I was so and then of I was immediately invited to the workshop within the next few hours and it was disappointing, to be honest, that it took her saying something to diversify the voices around the table.
Speaker 2:But her saying something in her level of seniority, it helped the men in that room see what they could not see before. They, of course, wanted to impress her, they didn't want to offend her, but it's like well, what environment are you inculcating here if you're not inviting us to the table from the get-go here, if you're not inviting us to the table from the get-go? And so I vowed from that day that I would raise these issues in a constructive way to increase diversity and representation when I needed to. You know, in other instances I really haven't had to, because there's been incredible female representation around the table, which I feel very lucky to have experienced. But in that experience in particular I just thought, man, the impact that woman not only had on mine and other females' experiences for the duration of that job and the lasting respect that I will have for her will never leave me yes, and and even just pointing that out to a room that might not have even realized that that's the thing I mean.
Speaker 1:When you started totally your your leadership journey, you mentioned that you've had some brilliant um male and female uh leaders as as well, and actually a lot of those um male uh leaders that that you found that your leadership team were mostly male you you said that a lot of them have been really good advocates for you. So when you're not in the room, the people that are putting you forward and bringing up your name when it should be brought up when you're not in the room, so a a lot of the time it's having those great advocates who sometimes don't even realize that you know it takes somebody just to speak up and say, hey, if you make me thought about you know the representation in this room, and not nine times out of 10, those people say you know what, we hadn't even thought about it, we were so wrapped up in our day to day and that is all it is.
Speaker 2:That is so right and I think that that's where self-awareness is so key in testing those and really understanding. Do we have like the necessary representation around here and the right mix of voices, based off of merit, of course, but then looking at like testing that unconscious bias, I think is really important Definitely yeah, and the World Economic Forum reports that only 22% of AI professionals are women.
Speaker 1:What do you think are some of the key factors contributing to this disparity and what steps do you think can be taken to address it?
Speaker 2:It's a great, it's a really great, great question. I think part of it again is this unconscious or conscious bias at work thinking that science or math is too hard or not interesting for women. I think that that has been disproven today, because I think that society has taken great steps in terms of ensuring that STEM is for everyone, but also female accomplishments just haven't been at the forefront until recently to challenge these notions. I'll take a Brit, for example. Rosalind Franklin, a British chemist who was essential to elucidating the structure of DNA, was accredited for her work during her lifetime. But, um, but now we're finally uncovering these quote unquote hidden figures to borrow the name from Disney to to.
Speaker 2:We're bringing them back to light to the present day, and this is where I think we really have to be.
Speaker 2:We really have to not only bring to light those figures to show hey, this has been a constant thread genius females in the field, but also we have to do more to support women in the field.
Speaker 2:So, in addition to 22% of AI professionals only being women as of 2019, only 14% of AI paper authors were women, only 18% of authors at the leading AI conferences were women, and just 2% of venture capital was directed toward startups founded by women, and so we all not just women but men non-gendered allies have to promote papers, panelists, funding for women as well.
Speaker 2:The 2% figure just kills me. We have to do better to support women, and that's where I'm so incredibly proud to be a part of a team at Lynx and a ForgePoint Capital Portfolio Company because at Lynx, a third of our engineers, on my team in particular, are females, which is incredible in engineering, and they're all Spanish, so I'll have to give a ton of credit to the Spanish school system for really supporting these ladies in STEM. But also 50% of our leadership team they're female. And then, from a fourth point, capital perspective, several of their founders are female, and so we all have to take these collective steps to advocating for women, not only in engineering, but in funding, at conferences, on panels, to try and improve some of these really disappointing steps.
Speaker 1:Yes, and it's something we say on this podcast often but companies that build teams like that, that is not something that is done overnight. That is something that takes a overnight. That is totally something that takes a long time with a great culture, and you know it has to be built from from day one um to be able to achieve that. Because you don't hear it often couldn't agree more.
Speaker 1:Couldn't agree more um, you've mentioned a, a lady already, um, who had quite a an impact impact on your career. Could you highlight some pivotal moments or experiences that have played a significant role in shaping your career trajectory?
Speaker 2:Absolutely. I have had the great opportunity to have some fearless ladies in my us has, you know, difficulty taking risks, especially when we don't have that confidence, and having those advocates in my corner, you know, at every turn, really helped me to have the confidence to take those risks. So, and they honestly turned out better than I expected and then benefited me greatly. But it's because I had that support and I know that I'm so incredibly lucky to have had that, and it's not that way for everyone, but but I want to highlight that just to show how important it is that we ladies support each other rather than cut each other down, because I've also had some really, really hard, challenging times where other women have just been so toxically competitive where it's like what are we doing here? This is ridiculous, we've already got the card stacked against us. Let's not, let's not add to it. And so what I would say is, you know, having those advocates in my corner, especially those ladies who leveraged their experiences and and gave me confidence, it was so incredibly helpful for me then to take calculated risks that then benefited me.
Speaker 2:For example, moving from a bank to consulting was huge. It made a ton of sense because I took the problem sets that I saw at FIs and then took it to PWC and then was able to build upon it and then moving from consulting to VC to product, that was huge, but it was having the foundation for my experience set. But then also that confidence that I built in myself, as well as from those advocates that I've had, was so, so important because I'm getting better at humbly and confidently working a room or presentation, not only because of the practice which you have to put in the practice, but also because of my professional and personal hype squad who has lifted me up over the years.
Speaker 1:Definitely. We actually have a webinar coming up about that because it is a topic that is so important. Ours is about a lift as you climb because, you're absolutely right, there are so many stories coming out about ladies who felt like they had, um, leadership teams that were against them, or they felt competitive, or they somebody below them might have been a threat to their position. Maybe and I completely agree as well that that is it's a learned behavior. If you have experienced that, then you will naturally go on and do that in your position when you reach a leadership position and you feel you know what.
Speaker 1:I have to do that because that's the only way that I'm going to keep my leadership position, whereas, um, it's absolute rubbish because, as you said, we really should be helping each other, um, and making sure that that doesn't happen and that, um, you've been lucky enough to experience some brilliant ladies who have advocated for you and you know, just more of us would love to feel that.
Speaker 1:And when you do get in that position and you have that opportunity to help other women, then definitely do that, and you're right, just helping each other, and obviously, at she Can Code, we advocate for finding a good network to do that, and you're right, just helping each other, and obviously at she Can Code, we advocate for finding a good network to do that, and that's what we're about building a community and sharing experiences and finding other ways to help other women, whether that is within your own company or externally as well, and finding opportunities there. But you're absolutely right, that subject at the moment is so, so important. When you do have that opportunity and you are a leader, definitely lifting as you climb.
Speaker 2:Totally and what I'll just add on to what you just mentioned building that network is huge, but it can be so intimidating when you're just starting out in your career and you're thinking build my network.
Speaker 2:I know like two people, so be patient. It has taken me years to build up that network and sometimes it can be frustrating because you're thinking how am I going to build and really expand my network? You have to do the work. You have to get out, especially for consultants out there. Get out network at different industry events. You really have to pick your head up out of client work especially. Or, if you're in tech, get yourself out, you know, go to a non-tech event, meet people in tech, out of tech. You really have to put yourself out there to start to build that network, especially, like you said, maybe outside of your company, because, who knows, you might leave and then you've got to rebuild that network all over again, um and and so I would just say be patient, but also you've got to put in the work definitely yes, because I wanted to ask you about what advice would you give to young women who aspire to pursue leadership roles in the tech industry, who might feel discouraged about the lack of female representation.
Speaker 1:I absolutely agree. Building your network is is brilliant advice. Um that there, and I I have been told by a lot of ladies who step into a leadership position that it can be quite lonely when you step into leadership as well. Who do you share your thoughts with? You don't want to spook your team, so what do you do? Build that network and share it with other people that are feeling the same way that you're. You're feeling, I mean. Is that the any other advice that you would give to young women? As to you know what it's. As you said, be patient as well yeah it.
Speaker 2:You took the words right out of my mouth. It can be very lonely at the top and you have to find the people not only at the top who you can trust in and really talk with openly, but then also your broader network. A few other things that I would just say is take your seat at the table, both figuratively and literally. I remember when I was first starting out. That was a really big thing. It may have come from Sheryl Sanders, where you know you'd have ladies standing around the table. There's open seats. Take your seat. You deserve to be at that table.
Speaker 2:Your voice matters. We won't change the disappointing statistics if we don't step boldly to the table, even if there are a few ladies amongst us. You're an aspiring leader and there are going to be other ladies who look up to you and think I should sit there too. I deserve that too. But not just advice for the ladies, for the men and non-gender colleagues out there be self-aware, be aware when you're mansplaining, take a step back. Give credit where credit's due and also, like we've talked about, when you're in a position of leadership, use it to advocate for those who don't have a voice, but also don't use their gender as a reason. They want you to highlight their accomplishments and value that they've brought, based off of what they've done, not just because, oh, we need more female representation at the top.
Speaker 2:I remember this one promotion cycle where a guy was worried he would be pushed out because my employer was trying to push for equal gender representation. It was phenomenal and a phenomenal initiative, because, unfortunately, we need some of these initiatives to push it. Dude, I will beat you on merit in every single category all day long. You needn't worry about this gender equalization, worry about yourself. But I also remember thinking, wow, where where did this confident lady come from in my head. But it takes time. You have to put the work in mentally to build yourself up and boost that confidence. There are days when when I'm not that confident and then there are days where I am Um and so um it. It takes work to get to that point, but that will help you to boldly step to the table um table and be that aspiration for those other ladies to follow you.
Speaker 2:And then, just last thing is advice for my non-technical folks out there, and this is not exactly gendered but you don't have to be an AI expert or coder to bring value. As a leader to the technology industry, you should likely be up to speed on the latest trends and things, but in my experience, the main buyers are looking for someone who can solve their problems and greatly appreciate people who can speak to those problems in terms that they understand, who are speaking from experience. And so that's where I've been. I feel like I've been uniquely positioned where I can take that experience, that I understand those pain points very personally and speak to that with my buyers. But then I can also speak with my tech team in terms of how we're going to use technology to solve those problems.
Speaker 2:So I just wanted to mention like don't be discouraged if you don't know how to code Python. I think I took one course and was like I'm sorry, this isn't for me. I'm a languages person, like Spanish, I'm good French, english, but Python and SQL, I'm sorry. I just it's really hard, it's really hard and I give so much credit out to those developers out there, a ton of credit. But yeah, I would just say, take, really understand the value that you bring to the table and leverage that.
Speaker 1:Yes, I love that because that is why this podcast was started to share the fact that you don't have to be technical to be in tech to talk about all of the different roles, and your job title is one of those really cool job titles where you think that's super cool. However, I probably have to be really technical to work in anti-money laundering, but just pointing that out that you don't have to be, there are so many roles in tech where you just need to know how to communicate, and especially working as a consultant, but that is why this podcast was started to, to really hit kind of that. Um, so definitely uh, agree with everything that you just you just said there. Um, looking ahead, what do you envision for the future of women in tech and what role do you hope to play in driving positive change and empowerment within the industry?
Speaker 2:I am optimistic about the future of women in technology, but we can't be passive about it.
Speaker 2:We have to be active drivers of change, to push for we're lifting all of the voices to the top, and the role that I hope to play in this is leading and inspiring others by example to show that a non-technical mother of two with an even busier partner can succeed in this kind of role, and I want to advocate for those around me, not only at my own organization but in tech in general.
Speaker 2:Just coming from RSA, I walked in and I thought, oh my gosh, there are so many men here, which is fine and that's cyber. I'm an AML, but it was so shocking and I give a ton of credit to those folks who are really pushing for greater diversification, and I want to be part of that change. Um I you know I've had some really challenging experiences that have colored my journey, um, which I hope no one has to ever experience, and I'll I'll fight tooth and nail to make sure it doesn't happen, at least um within my immediate surroundings. But I also hope to motivate others to push their boundaries, to reap the rewards that can be at the other end of really taking some risks and putting yourself out there.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, I do have an optimistic view of of where we'll be, but we have to be the drive drivers to really um, make that change definitely and I completely agree with more people like yourself sharing stories as well and just sharing that you don't have to be technical, you can be a busy mum, you can still be successful in tech. All of those things just help other people that are feeling the same way or they might want to transition into tech later in their careers and they haven't done it before and thinking, can I do this? And the more that people share their stories, I love on here that there are so many ladies that sort of come on and when we're discussing whether or not they're coming on the podcast what they want to talk about and so many ladies don't realize they have a fantastic story to tell and that's really lovely. But you think you know our community are going to love hearing about you.
Speaker 1:You know, like yourself, not being technical and still being successful and finding a balance with family and work and all of those things is so important to share, for our ladies to hear and to be inspired by. And the more that people share those stories, the better, the more that ladies are going to be inspired and think that they can do it and finding and thinking I need to find a good company as well that is going to support me is the other thing, and if you're finding yourself not in a good company, then there are good companies out there that are looking to diversify their workforces. So the more that people hear that there are good companies and they can jump ship and go somewhere, that is supporting them.
Speaker 2:So could not agree more.
Speaker 1:Well, fabulous, we are already out of time. Melissa, I could talk to you for a lot longer on this subject. You do have one of the coolest jobs and one of the most interesting jobs that we've had on this podcast, so far. So thank you so much for sharing and for coming in and having a chat with us today. It's been a pleasure.
Speaker 2:It's been wonderful to be here. Thank you.
Speaker 1:And to everybody listening, as always. Thank you so much for joining us and we hope to see you again next time.
