Ashley Taylor

Technology Management, February 2010

Please describe your academic background including the reason(s) for enrolling in the M.S. program at the School of Continuing Education.

I have a degree from Lehigh University as a double-major of mathematics and economics. I became interested in the financial services industry and technology seemed like a growing field when I graduated in 1999. I wanted to pursue a master's degree and had contemplated an M.B.A. a number of times. When I heard of the Technology Management program at Columbia through a colleague at Merrill Lynch, I was immediately interested.

Please describe your professional background leading up to your current position.

I started with Merrill Lynch upon graduating college in 1999 (after two summer internships in the financial industry during college). I started in an infrastructure role - network operations - and moved on to the trading floor infrastructure, specifically data and voice. To recover the company from 9/11/01, I essentially received a crash course in every technology it takes to set up a trading floor and quickly thereafter got promoted. I then started to play a project manager role, attained my Project Management Professional certificate, and got promoted again in 2005 to vice president. Since then, I have gotten more breadth in terms of knowledge and experience and moved through some business-aligned (software/application) groups as well as information security and privacy. I started my Master's in Technology Management in January of 2008 and graduated last December. I now work in a group called risk and treasury technology for the combined Bank of America and I am very pleased and challenged with my work.

What is a typical day like in your current position?

I travel to Charlotte, the headquarters of Bank of America, about once a month and otherwise work out of our downtown offices in New York City. Conference calls, meetings, emails, and presentations take up most of my day. I am currently working on a business case to expand a talent sourcing program that we started in 2009.
 
How did the Technology Management program help you prepare for your career?  
 
This program served both as an invaluable networking opportunity as well as a great learning opportunity - for both technology and business. I currently work for someone I met through my mentor in the program.

What advice would you give to students who wish to pursue careers in Technology Management?

Technology Management is a very rewarding, ever-changing and challenging field. Stay on top of what new generations of workers are doing and thinking - since the youngest generations will always have a new spin on how to use technology effectively.