我们采访了西蒙·牛顿, GFT's Practice Lead for cybersecurity for the latest Senior Tech Talk as we discuss how GFT is positioning itself to leverage opportunities in the broader ecosystem.
Could you tell us a bit about GFT and your goals as an organisation?
GFT是一家数字平台咨询公司, and we were formed in the 1980s by a group of consultants out of 德国.
We have worked with a lot of large financial institutions over the last 20 years or so, building solutions for them as well as providing consultancy and thought leadership to both large and small to medium financial businesses.
我们已经向全球拓展业务, 并在巴西设有办事处, 美国, 西班牙, 德国, 以及中东地区.
我们也从金融服务业扩展到制造业, 还有一些其他的子行业在某些领域也是如此.
你在公司里的角色是什么?
我是英国网络安全的实践主管, and I have been 在这里 for the last year or so building out a cybersecurity capability within the UK.
GFT服务的主要行业或部门有哪些, 你的产品如何满足他们的独特需求?
In the UK, we are mostly focused around large and medium financial services organisations.
正如我所提到的，我们在全球范围内活跃于整个行业. 我们以卓越的工程技术而自豪, which means that we can come in and solve problems that other companies may not be able to. 在去年, we have deployed solutions in areas such as fincrime and large scale, 平台安全解决方案，满足客户的需求.
What types of projects do your teams typically work on with clients, 你最近有什么特别值得骄傲的项目吗?
A project that I was involved in within the last year was w在这里 we were building a bank in Eastern Europe. 这是一个完全以云为中心的数字银行, and we built and secured the cloud platform that we then ran the bank on, 为客户开发了一个移动应用程序, 基本上在一年内完成了所有的工作.
我们下个月左右就会上线, essentially building a bank in about a year which is quite impressive. 从安全的角度来看, that's been a really big project that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed working on.
Another project we’ve worked on recently that I’m very proud of was some AI work around fraud using a couple of partners for one of our larger financial customers. 我们用了大约一年的时间推出了它, basically looking to replace an existing fraud system using AI and ML to provide better coverage.
What emerging technologies or trends in the industry are you most excited about, and how is GFT positioning itself to leverage these opportunities?
Like everybody else at the moment I imagine, I’m going to have to mention AI.
GFT建立了一个人工智能市场，我们称之为AI.DA. 你可以在我们的网站上找到更多信息.
This essentially provides a range of packaged solutions for customers that they can take and reuse from a security point of view.
I'm quite excited about our partnerships, for instance, our partnership with Palo Alto Networks. We won the Prisma Cloud Partner of the Year Award towards the end of last year which was really great. 所以, we are looking forward to leveraging that relationship and moving forward with them as a great partner.
让我们讨论一下GFT团队. Are t在这里 any steps you take at GFT to attract and retain top tech talent?
We have been awarded the Great Place to Work award four years in a row. 我们有很好的福利待遇, 补偿好了, provide learning and development opportunities and provide a hybrid working policy as well.
In terms of retaining talent, we like to get our people on projects that are interesting to work on. Building digital banks is a good example of that - we do very interesting stuff 在这里 and I think that’s one of the best ways that you can ensure your talent wants to stay.
Can you share some insights into GFT's company culture and what makes it a unique place to work, 尤其是对技术专业人士来说?
I think it would have to be my previous point about all of the great benefits, 我们的学习文化, and we also like to promote the importance of bringing women into the tech work scene as well.
我们围绕这个做了很多活动, and get involved in projects like 十大网博靠谱平台的数字’s 数字她 which we are a supporter of, 并在科技活动中赞助了一些女性, 比如重塑科技领域的女性. Equal opportunity is incredibly important to us and we encourage women wanting to get involved in initiatives like that.
最后, how important is it to GFT to play an active role in Greater Manchester's tech community and are t在这里 ways that you contribute to the broader ecosystem?
We’re very much entrenched in Greater Manchester’s tech ecosystem. We sponsored the Greater Manchester FinTech ecosystem report in 2023. We’ve been a sponsor of the Digital City Festival for the past 3 years and Reframe Women in Tech for the past 2 years. 我们也觉得在更广泛的社区中发挥作用很重要. We have taken part in several careers events w在这里 our team has talked to students in schools and colleges to encourage them to enter into the tech industry.
我们最近启动了十大网博靠谱平台安全会议, 它来自于我去年年底的一个想法, 发现这里没有定期的安全会议. 我们最近的一次活动是在4月17日, 我们讨论了人们是如何进入安检的, and had a couple of keynote speakers talking about their journey in cybersecurity.
当然，我们是十大网博靠谱平台数字的忠实成员, and regularly attend their events such as the Digital 技能节 and the 数字她 programme of events.
We're really committed to building up our presence in Manchester and the North.
谢谢你西蒙!
