Zero Genie

Taraneh Derayati is Vice President – Program Manager in Market Technology. Taraneh and her team are renewing the technology infrastructure of our newest clearing customer—the world’s largest option clearing house. And it isn’t only a world-class clearing system that’s under construction. Building world-class customer relationships is equally important to Taraneh. We sat down with Taraneh to learn more about her role at Nasdaq, as well as how she became involved in capital markets and technology.

How did you become involved in the technology industry and how has technology influenced your role?

I was exposed to both technology and finance back in my school days, and it impressed me as a winning combination. But what really clinched my interest in capital market infrastructure was the opportunities for working abroad—that, and a chance encounter with an advertisement for a unique company that built systems for marketplaces: Cinnober. That customer-focused, innovation-rich environment gave my professional development a big boost. And I learned that you must share that boost with your customers so they can grow and develop, too. My total immersion in Cinnober’s culture, which emphasized embracing customers as part of our own team, led me to make a commitment—to always work just as hard to build trust with customers as I do to deliver top-notch technology solutions.

Nothing matches the feeling of sharing in the success of your customers, but it takes both technology and trust to earn that privilege. 

Technology has always been a strong enabler of all my career accomplishments. Whether the goal of a project is to improve performance, modernize, grow the business, or all of those things, it is the crafting of products using the latest technology that makes things happen. Technology is the key to record-breaking performance. It transports us from “impossible” to “mission accomplished.”

But this picture of technology’s role in my own and our customers’ success, however accurate, is not the entire picture. Our technology must be based on solid business cases and a thorough understanding of the customers’ business needs. Then—and only then—can we deliver technology in a context that adds value and is meaningful to our customers.

Throughout your career, what challenges have you been presented with that you’ve had to overcome?

I ask myself incessantly how we can find more ways to add value for the customer. This constant quest for value is a never ending challenge, because there is always value to add.

And I have occasionally had those moments of self-doubt when I take on something new…can I really do this? I have realized that the best thing to do when doubts began to gather is to give myself, and the new endeavor, the best chance for success by going all in. 

From a business standpoint, clearing and post trade services present their own multi-layered challenges because they touch the buy side, the sell side, and the clearing houses themselves. Everyone knows that customers will benefit from updating their technology, but it can be a challenge to convince the market to embrace change. We need to present our offer in such a way that the market will understand the business value and want to change their legacy routines and learn to harness the power that only technology can give them. That’s the first challenge. Making the change reality is the second challenge.

How has being a woman in the technology industry impacted your career? 

I never looked at my career that way. Fortunately for all of us, technology is egalitarian. Technology requires talented people. Period.

What advice would you give to young professionals who aspire to be in the technology industry? 

Keep your eyes open for an area that interests you and excites your curiosity. When you find it, pursue it—even if it is something you never dreamed you would do! Then find your home—a company where you feel you belong. The rest will follow.