On the shortlist: Catherine Ablott

Since joining Citi in 2021, Catherine has transformed the firm’s approach to developing engineering talent, creating the Engineering Excellence programme from a small, volunteer-led initiative into a global movement reaching over 50,000 engineers. Her focus on people, process and technology has reshaped Citi’s engineering culture – driving talent development, productivity and collaboration at scale.

Under her leadership, Engineering Excellence has delivered a 200% increase in applications to technical talent programmes, introduced Citi’s strategic CI/CD platform, and saved engineers thousands of hours each week through the adoption of modern DevOps and AI tools. Catherine also founded the annual Engineering Excellence Tech Conference, which now attracts over 14,000 participants across 14 countries.

A passionate advocate for inclusive leadership, Catherine continues to champion diverse voices, mentoring women in technology and inspiring the next generation to take bold career risks and challenge traditional paths into leadership.

We asked Catherine a few questions to find out more…

You joined Citi in 2021 to build a brand-new department and have since scaled Engineering Excellence to reach 50,000 engineers globally. What were the biggest challenges in achieving this transformation, and how did you overcome them?

 Citi is a huge organisation, and one of the biggest challenges is creating impact at scale through reaching all the engineers across the globe to let them know what Engineering Excellence has to offer.  We use traditional platforms, including our Engineering Excellence Newsletter which consistently reaches about 50,000 readers monthly, and our annual Tech Conference which is attended by over 30,000 Citi tech employees.

A key differentiator has been the Alumni we’ve built through our talent programs, comprising nearly 1000 graduates who serve as ambassadors for excellent engineering, actively promoting our Technology Strategy and the adoption of development tools across the organisation.  In return, we provide them with updates on strategic initiatives and external perspectives through engagements with our tech partners.  I’m so proud of our Engineering Excellence brand at Citi – it is a recognised and trusted brand – and we are laser focused on making it easier and more fun for developers to do their jobs. 

How did a degree in Zoology lead to becoming Global Head of Engineering Excellence and what message do you hope your career sends to aspiring leaders from non-traditional backgrounds?

 When I finished school I had no idea what I wanted to do as a career, so I took a degree in a subject I was passionate about because I knew I’d do well.  Zoology, like most science degrees, has a lot of focus on problem solving, and working in technology is the same – looking for the simplest and most effective way to create value through solving problems.

My career has been formed by taking opportunities and risks on roles even when I didn’t fully meet the requirements, knowing that I would work my hardest and be determined to be successful anyway.  I have been drilling it into my daughters from a very young age that they can be whatever they want to be – there are no limits to your own ambition!

You’ve built a diverse and balanced team, promoted women into technology roles, and supported women through mentoring. What does inclusive leadership in tech mean to you personally?

 Inclusive leadership is so important – having a diverse group of leaders who have strong opinions is how we come up with innovative solutions – because your own perspective is limited to your own experiences.  You need to be comfortable to have the discussion and listen to everyone’s views, encouraging everyone to give their opinions, and make better decisions and building better solutions because of this.  And most importantly I always give the credit to those who had the idea, built the solution, brought everyone together, whatever it was that they did, because I see a vital part of my job being to promote those around me. 

 Can you tell us more about being a Google #IamRemarkable facilitator

 I was inspired to become an #IamRemarkable facilitator after attending a session as a participant.  Everyone is encouraged to openly celebrate their accomplishments in the workplace and beyond.  It’s incredibly powerful to hear all the amazing things people have achieved and empowering to share your own – my favourite phrase is “it’s not bragging if it’s fact” – it’s ok to be proud of your efforts and what you have done in your life.  After attending the session, I took the training and since then I’ve facilitated sessions not only at work but with groups of friends and their friends – it is a wonderful experience.

 Looking ahead, what change do you most want to drive in financial services?

 I’d like to see us truly sponsor senior careers as technologists.  We’ve done a lot of work to dispel the idea that to take on the most senior roles in financial services technology you have to manage large teams, but truly technical senior roles are still quite rare.  In the same way that we need more senior women role models, we need more senior technologist role models and to be able to put the structures in place that enable engineers to progress their careers while continuing to write code and solve problems, enjoying the technical creativity side of their roles, rather than the traditional senior manager work of managing teams, budgets and projects.