The first story we want to share is that of Valentina Tortarolo, who serves as Chief Customer Officer at Abstracta. She is a convert to the IT world and in this brief interview she tells us what she enjoys most about her role.
What do you do? What is your main responsibility at work?
At Abstracta, I lead the Customer Success team. The main objective of the area is to manage relationships with Abstracta's clients, with a focus on building long-term relationships of trust, where we can work collaboratively on risks and deviations, and where we can also celebrate together the value that Abstracta brings to our joint growth.
And while I'd love to say that the focus is also on working together, sometimes it's not so together! haha.
Describe a typical work day:
My role involves a lot of meetings, in fact I spend almost all day at ZOOM! The Customer Success role involves articulating the needs of the client with those of the team, so we spend a lot of time in meetings with clients to understand their goals, and internal meetings with Abstracta teams to align on different work strategies.
How did you come to this job?
Abstracta was born in Montevideo, but the three co-founders are from the interior. In 2015 one of the co-founders, Matías Reina, decided as part of his family plan to move to Salto and bring with him the opening of Abstracta in Salto. In the process of opening the office in Salto, one day he contacted me to invite me to join the company. And so I did it in September 2016!
How long have you been involved in the IT Industry?
Like many of us, I started in the IT industry at TATA Consultancy Services (TCS), I worked there from 2006 to 2016, 10 years. Before that, I worked at Centro de Investigaciones Nucleares (CIN) of Facultad de Ciencias and studied Biochemistry. With this I mean, I am a reconverted to the IT world! When I entered TCS I couldn't even type on the keyboard without looking. Seriously! At TCS I took a lot of trainings, I learned a lot in the projects I was assigned to, and I also invested in formal training and that's how it happened. Today I'm not in a technical role but I'm close to it, and I love what I do!
What do you enjoy least about what you do?
Ha ha ha Fill out forms!
What's the best part of what you do?
Knowing that we positively impact the lives of so many people who use the products we test, nationally and globally.
To know that I am part of a thriving company that goes for everything and is constantly growing.
To know that my work team today are friends, that they trust me (sometimes more than I trust myself), that they give me opportunities and challenge me to improve myself.
What has been the most memorable moment/memory linked to your work?
Well... there are many... Now it comes to my mind a day when we had a delivery of a tool we created for a huge client, and we were in the office at 12 o'clock at night with the Salto team years ago. That feeling of team, pride and tiredness all mixed together... I'm also thinking about the end of the year party the year we celebrated our first 10 years at Abstracta! It was simply beautiful!
Other moments, without a doubt, have been the trips I've been able to take thanks to working at TI.
If you weren't doing this, what would you be doing now?
What a question! I have so many frustrated professions! From hairdresser, designer, scientist, architect! haha who knows! I don't wonder so often...
Any tips or messages you would like to share for those who are interested in science/technology or would like to work in the industry.
Let them cheer up! The IT industry is for everyone! Sometimes from the outside it looks inaccessible and it's not like that at all! Especially now for example, IT offers endless flexible remote work opportunities, from our homes to anywhere on the planet like no other industry.
And for the girls and young women reading this, you don't have to be smarter than anyone else to study IT/science. You just have to have the desire and put in the effort like any other career!
The possibilities are endless! There are so many opportunities, so many challenges and so much to do! Join us!
Connect