Choose the Difficult Path: To Keep Growing in Treasury

What does it take to keep growing when treasury, technology and leadership are constantly evolving?

In this episode we chat with Anika Williams the Head of Treasury and Customer Payment Operations at Zalando Payments to explore why choosing difficult challenges, stepping outside your comfort zone and maintaining a learning mindset can be crucial to continued development in treasury.

Anika Williams is Head of Treasury and Customer Payment Operations at Zalando Payments, where she combines treasury leadership with responsibility for a significant operations function.

Working within Zalando’s technology-driven payments business, Anika oversees treasury in a regulated environment while managing the challenges that come with high volumes of customer transactions, evolving compliance requirements, automation and AI.

She also leads a team of around 40 people and is actively involved in mentoring and Berlin’s treasury community.

In this conversation, Anika shares her perspective on what modern treasury leadership looks like and why professionals should actively seek out difficult projects and opportunities to learn.

She discusses the changing role of treasury, from operational activities towards greater CFO advisory, alongside the impact of technology, data and AI. Anika also explores why the biggest challenge around AI may not be the technology itself, but having the right people and mindset to keep adapting as the definition of “good” continues to change.

The conversation also covers leadership, mentoring, operations and the importance of learning from mistakes. Above all, Anika encourages treasury professionals to be bold, stay humble and never stop learning.

What we discuss:

• How treasury at Zalando Payments manages high volumes of customer payments and seasonal cash flows
• Why compliance plays such an important role within a regulated payments business
• How data science and technology can complement traditional treasury expertise
• Why people and mindset may be a bigger AI challenge than the technology itself
• How the role of treasury is becoming increasingly focused on CFO advisory
• What leading a team of around 40 people has taught Anika about leadership
• Why mentoring and learning from people outside treasury can broaden your perspective
• Why treasury professionals should choose difficult projects and step outside their comfort zones

You can connect with Anika Williams on LinkedIn.

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