Meet a product intelligence specialist

Juan Pablo Giraudo, Product Intelligence Specialist at Valiant Finance 

Graduated from KBS in 2020, MBA (specialisation in Digital Management) 

Juan Pablo Giraudo shares his academic and professional journey, describing his steps from being an Industrial Engineer at a global FMCG company in Argentina to becoming the lead Product Intelligence Specialist at Valiant Finance in Australia.

Studying in Argentina 

In Argentina, many of the bachelor's degrees would take 5 to 6 years to complete. We would spend 10 hours a day in class or studying. Teachers focused on theoretical knowledge and less on practical skills.  

Getting work experience while studying was not a priority and students who completed an internship only did so toward the end of the degree when they were already in their early 20s. Some students only realised after they graduated that the career they chose did not suit them. 

When I came to study in Australia, I learned that many students worked or took internships while they studied. I preferred this way. When you finish high school, you don’t always have a clear idea of which career you want. By gaining real-world experience while you’re studying, you get to know what your strengths and weaknesses are, what careers you’re passionate about and how to get there.  

Getting my first job related to my field of study   

After my third year at university in Argentina, I started taking 3 to 4 months off each year to work and travel in different parts of the world (while I studied the rest of my degree). I worked at ski resorts in the USA and various locations around New Zealand. My work and travel experiences were unrelated to my studies, but they built up my confidence and skillset. They  helped me secure my first engineering  job at AB InBev. My studies in Industrial Engineering also equipped me with a valuable combination of business acumen, technical skills and analytical abilities they were looking for.

AB InBev was an FMCG company that had a portfolio of 500 beer brands with over 165,000 employees worldwide. When I joined, the company was restructuring its operations. They were hiring graduates like me with an engineering degree to reshape how they operated, use data and technology to be more customer-focused, and design products that could revolutionise the beer market.

I assessed operational and sales processes to find improvements and designed and implemented new reporting capabilities to enhance system performance. I took part in AB InBev’s digital transformation projects including the new outbound calling system, their intrapreneur program and the launch of Bees, a B2B e-commerce application.

Time for a big change

After working for nearly 3 years at AB InBev, I wanted to study and work in an industry more aligned with my interests outside Argentina. I picked Australia because it was an English-speaking country with high quality education. The people were friendly, and the capital cities had warm weather and located near the ocean.

Choosing Kaplan Business School (KBS)

Australia had many schools offering an MBA. I was looking for a program that was within my budget but more importantly, one that would help me adapt quickly to the Australian culture. Kaplan Business School’s MBA program was aligned with my interests and their Sydney campus was in the city centre. Sydney also had great beaches.

Even though I had digital experience, the MBA taught me new theories and gave me opportunities to practise concepts in English and apply what I learned to an Australian work setting. The MBA also served as my pathway to securing a job in Australia.

Becoming a Student Ambassador

I wanted to make the most out of my time at KBS, so I became a Student Ambassador.The program was an opportunity to be a role model and enhance the student experience and community.

We organised campus workshops teaching topics such as ‘How to Find a Job in Australia’ and ‘How to Plan for Your Assessments.’ However, I didn’t want to only learn from teachers, so I proposed a program where students could share their expertise. They could propose topics and compete for the opportunity to run a workshop for other KBS students to attend.

My two academic internships through KBS

• Davidson

In the first year of my MBA, I completed an academic internship at a recruitment company called Davidson. The role did not relate to what I was studying, but it was an opportunity to gain experience working in an office environment.

One of my colleagues uploaded my resume to a recruiter’s social network (which I did not know about). A year later, the recruitment manager from Valiant Finance found my resume on that platform and hired me on a part-time basis while I finished my studies. I then transitioned to a full-time role after graduation.

• AI Australia

In the second year of my MBA, I completed an internship at AI Australia. I had one face-to-face onboarding meeting before the COVID-19 pandemic forced the internship to become completely online. This made the experience more challenging. I did not have a coach, nor could I work closely with other people, but I decided to make the most out of this opportunity with the tools available to me.

In one of my MBA classes at KBS, we were using Tableau, a BI tool, for business analytics. I applied the underlying logic and reasoning when I used Power BI, a different BI tool, during my internship (since AI Australia had a licence that I could access). At the end of the internship, I was able to solve real business problems while mastering BI tools. I was asked later by AI Australia to train other people in Power BI.

Where am I now?

I am now working as a Product Intelligence Specialist at Valiant Finance, an online platform offering businesses a streamlined solution to accessing finance. It has helped more than 18,000 SMEs (small to medium enterprises) in Australia; settling more than $2.2 billion. We work with over 80 lenders to connect customers with the right solution for their needs.

I was the first hire on the Product Intelligence team. At the start, I had to develop my understanding of lending products and the decision-making process of users. By gathering data from potential borrowers of their financial needs, I could create a product that would help them find the best lending solution quickly. I onboarded and trained interns and Business Analysts which has led to the team’s expansion.

Today, I’m working on many projects, with the most recent being the development of a unique product leveraging Valiant’s data capabilities to provide insights to lenders, funders, and research bodies. It combines loan-level data, third-party integrations, and millions of individual SME bank transactions to offer areas of study previously unavailable in the market.

Challenges in my job

When I first started, I had no formal education in finance or prior work experience in the industry. I had to quickly become proficient in lending finance to be taken seriously by the sales team and lenders on our panel. Today, I am leading learning and development sessions on lending policies for everyone at Valiant. I'm still trying to master the people side of change, as I must prepare, support, and equip our stakeholders to embrace and adopt every new product we develop.

Another challenge has been designing the matching engine. It's difficult to create a platform that can assess customers and provide a quote instantly. Lending products are complex, and each lender has a different way of assessing potential borrowers and pricing them based on perceived risk. At Valiant Finance, we need to consider the policies of every lender on our panel. We're dealing with more than 1 million possible outcomes.

What I love about my job

Every day brings new learning opportunities. Being part of a team developing high-tech products in the finance industry is both challenging and rewarding. I've gained extensive knowledge about finance and risk assessment and continue to learn about new technologies and tools such as Python, Retool and SQL.

Valiant is a great place to work because it offers professional learning and development. It trusts you with leading projects and provides the resources to develop your own ideas to solve problems.

Advice about working in product intelligence

Product Intelligence can be understood as Business Intelligence applied to a product. For anyone interested in roles related to this field, such as Tech Business Analysts, Data Scientists or Data Analysts, my advice is to deeply understand the industry you work in.

Knowing the core of your business is crucial for working on projects that make a real impact. This understanding will set you apart more than simply learning the latest tools. Don’t get me wrong—learning how to use specific tools is important, but it's easier to develop these skills while working on projects that contribute to organisational goals.

Your attitude is important. Take initiative, be curious and creative, and communicate insights in a way that everyone can understand. You need to bridge the gap between technical people and business stakeholders.

Where I see myself in 5 years 

I see myself still working in technology and data analytics at Valiant Finance. The company is expanding into new markets and developing exciting technology, and I want to be a part of that journey. 

Want to connect with Juan Pablo Giraudo? 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/juan-pablo-giraudo-58364633/ 

Have an interest in Digital Management? Learn more about our MBA (specialisation in Digital Management) and the benefits of studying business in Australia.