Jaak Vaabel, Head of Daily Banking - The Man Ensuring the "Lego" is Assembled Correctly
Jaak plays a key role in enabling Bigbank to start offering everyday banking services to customers. He is responsible for ensuring that the business and technology teams work in the right direction on a daily basis. Jaak himself compares this to building an entire Lego city.
Imagine everyday banking services as a Lego set. Jaak's role is to ensure all the pieces are put together correctly and that the system operates legally and consistently. Unfortunately, some pieces are like Duplo blocks and others like Technic parts – they may not fit together well. Some pieces are missing or have been left out. "My task is to identify and agree on who will find the missing parts or assemble them from other pieces," he explains his job.
What challenges have you faced during your time at Bigbank?
I have been with Bigbank for almost 11 years, which feels like high school is about to end soon. During this time, Bigbank has offered me many challenges. My colleagues often say that I am the guy who gets the most difficult projects.
The transition to our self-developed banking platform, Nest, was a major project where I led the development of loan issuing processes in Lithuania and then in Estonia. In Lithuania, we had to redevelop the instalment partner system and create a new system from which a separate team emerged.
During the transition to Nest, we created customised solutions in each branch, aiming to automate the sales activities of each branch as much as possible and bring them to the new platform. The next step is to standardise these solutions across all branches. This is not the most popular initiative, but it is a sensible way forward for the sake of maintenance and the scalability of new solutions. Over the years, we have learned to avoid mistakes both in our own work and as an organisation.
The latest mega-project was bringing daily transactions to Bigbank with a real credit card, which is connected to the global payment transaction network. This provided valuable management experience and the confidence to take the next steps.
You have a responsible role. What personal qualities does it require? What do you consider your strengths in dealing with uncertainty?
My experiences with various projects are one of my strengths. I know Bigbank’s systems, processes, and people well, which helps me envision which systems need improvement, what new processes to create, and who can assist in achieving the common goal.
My passion for mountaineering is a good analogy for the personal qualities required in my job. Alpinism demands courage and endurance to overcome long, challenging periods. Good preparation for known risks and a team to embark on the journey with is crucial. Setting realistic expectations is also important.
I am very analytical and significant uncertainty often causes me stress. I have learned to view problems from different angles. Managing change sometimes requires overturning various dogmas and seeing opportunities as problems.
In summary, “If everything seems under control, you're not going fast enough.” – Mario Andretti. Regarding quantum mechanics, Einstein said, “God does not play dice with the universe,” to which Bohr responded, “Stop telling God what to do.”
Why will Bigbank be the best everyday services bank in Estonia? How do we wish to stand out from others?
To offer everyday banking, you don't need to reinvent the wheel. It has been reinvented enough times already. The same goal can be achieved with varying levels of convenience and efficiency, which are also Bigbank's strengths.
Customer experience recommendation performance is a goal for our management and almost every employee. When creating new services, we think about what would be best and most beneficial for the customer.
Bigbank stands out from others with its technological advancement and agility. Our core system is built on modern REST API technologies and the latest Java and Spring Boot versions. This ensures freedom from legacy constraints and provides the opportunity to avoid the pitfalls encountered by others.
Bigbank's aim is to offer the best possible service, focusing on customer needs and innovation, thereby ensuring a convenient and efficient everyday banking experience.