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Technology> Digital processing Updated: 19 Nov 2018

BBVA and Cisco: shared talent creates opportunities

‘Big data’, ‘IA’, ‘blockchain’, ‘cloud’, biometrics… these are just a few of the new technological developments that are reshaping the financial world in general, and BBVA in particular. BBVA and Cisco’s new Engineer Exchange Program creates the perfect opportunity to exchange talent and new ways of working in this digital environment.

One of the goals of BBVA’s transformation process is to attract, train and retain talent. In this context, the strategic partnership with Cisco becomes especially relevant because both companies have embarked in a pioneering talent exchange program. Officially dubbed Talent Exchange, this pioneering program represents a perfect opportunity to share goals and learn together in the face of the new challenges.

This is the essence, a partnership that goes far beyond its technological dimension. It is about an ongoing learning process. Thanks to this program, a select group of BBVA Next Technologies’ engineers will live and work for a period of time at Cisco’s CX Academy in Cracow, Poland,  where they will be able to learn the latest in Cisco’s technology. With this program Cisco also acknowledges BBVA’s needs.

After the first stage, which began in September this year, it will be turn for Cisco engineers to visit BBVA. “We will be able to work faster, not only because of the shared knowledge, but thanks to the collaboration network that we’re going to build,” says Natalia Heredia Estévez, Workplace Product Engineering at BBVA.

José Abad, Talent Exchange Program Manager at Cisco, corroborates this view: “In the same way we’re opening our door and letting them into our home, we can also learn more about what they expect from us”.

Therefore, this is a reinvention of the customer-vendor relationship, with BBVA and Cisco engineers at the heart of the initiative. “Being listened to, developing our skills, is important for us,” says José Manuel Postigo Aguilar, member of BBVA Next Technologies, BBVA’s software engineering company, a key driver of BBVA’s tech transformation.

The partnership also paves the way for new opportunities and professional challenges.  Thus, for David Mariscal Bustos, engineer at BBVA Next Technologies: “Different ideas foster a wonderful work atmosphere. It is a great opportunity for sharing knowledge, best ways of working and heading in the same direction.” In other words, “something extremely beneficial for our personal and professional growth.

This is way of collaborating side by side helps build strong ties between team members, regardless of the company they work for. “The BBVA employees we’re hosting now are like part of our family,” says the head of Cisco’s exchange program.

And most importantly, this is only the start. “In the future, the relationship between Cisco and BBVA will be better and more collaborative.”