Voice of Experience: Meredith Prange, CAO, Citi Technology Infrastructure, Citi

By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

“Make sure that you jump at an opportunity to move outside your comfort zone or area of expertise,” said Meredith Prange, Chief Administrative Officer for Citi’s Technology Infrastructure Group at Citigroup.

Prange, who has risen through the ranks to leadership as an IT engineer, explained how seeking out and accepting new challenges is the way to develop critical leadership skills.

“If you look at very successful men and women, you will see that their experience includes roles that are aligned to the business lines as well as technology leadership roles, in addition movement to different companies is also not uncommon,” she explained.

“Look for those opportunities that will challenge you and broaden your experience.”

Career in Technology

Prange, who studied computer science and psychology at Smith College, began her career in Morgan Stanley’s nine-month training program. “I ended up being placed in the data communications program, so it worked out well,” she said. Prange eventually became supervisor of trainees for the program, and then did a rotation in London, working on a relocation effort in which the firm moved its London headquarters to Canary Wharf. After moving back to New York, she found her way into a network engineering role.

In 1996, Prange was recruited to Smith Barney to lead the technology portion of a branch upgrade, refreshing 500 branches to the next generation infrastructure. Summarizing her early career, Prange explained, “I began with hands-on technical roles, and then gradually took on larger managerial positions into key leadership roles.”

When Citi merged with Travelers, Prange became Head of Global Network Engineering, handling the restructuring of the two departments along with establishing the new architecture for Citi’s Tier 1 network infrastructure. “This is the role I found to be most fun,” she said. “When we integrated Citi and Travelers they were two very large companies with very different cultures. Working with very talented people across companies and geographies towards a common goal was most rewarding.”

“Then came what I think of as my transformational role,” she said. “Deputy of the Global Engineering Department.” Prange spent one year in this role, and then the next three as the Head of Global Engineering, which included networking, distributed systems, client infrastructure, and messaging at Citi. The next opportunity came in 2006 when Global Engineering merged with Development Engineering she became Head of Strategy and Planning.

“Then I took a three year sabbatical,” she said. “I wanted to execute my personal strategy and plan.” That plan was to establish a horse facility on the 200 acre farm that she and her husband purchased in 1998. “My hobby is horses and my sport is dressage. The facility was completed in 2008, and is still going strong even while I am working full-time in New York again.”

“Then, I got a phone call,” she continued. “I think it speaks to the importance of networking and staying in contact with friends and colleagues – just hear people out. Often you don’t even listen to opportunities.”

As a result of that call, Prange returned to Citi in 2010 as part of the infrastructure operations organization known as Citi Technology Infrastructure (CTI). “I head up the IT transformation program, which is focused on productivity initiatives and efforts.” Coming back to work was not nearly as difficult as she expected, she said. “I think that because I had spent ten years in the technology organization, it was a very comfortable place for me to come back to, because I knew so many people. However, I did reenter in a different part of the organization and in a completely different role.”

“To be honest, it was easier than I expected. After two months, I couldn’t believe I had been gone for three years.”

Prange was named CAO for CTI last year. “I think it’s exciting, but daunting – everybody is driving for productivity, which is focused on doing things in a different way that drives better quality and better costs. It’s really hard, but it gets people to think differently and develop themselves,” she said.

For example, she continued, she is getting involved in the software management space, which presents its own challenges. People across the bank are accustomed to using different pieces of vendor software, and some of it overlaps or provides certain advantages over others. How do you decide what stays and what goes when everyone has a favorite? “From an efficiency perspective, how do we to slim down our standards and options, and still get the best result in a global organization like Citi?”

Prange said she was also particularly interested in information security. “There is such a large contingent of people trying to cause disruption to financial institutions. The maturity and knowledge of these individuals is only growing. Thinking about the new technologies coming out to protect Citi and our customers, if you’re looking at careers to get into, information security is an interesting space in high demand.”

Increasing the Pool of Female Talent in Technology

Prange said she feels the main challenges for women in technology are rooted in the fact that there are too few women in the first place. “It’s a very technical environment that is still fairly male dominated. When I was running engineering, I remember for about every 20 applications I would look at, maybe two were women.”

She continued, “It starts with getting enough women in the feeder pool to start to change that dynamic at the entry level.”

Prange, who is involved in recruiting for CTI, said she wants young people to know that they do not necessarily need a computer science degree to enter a career in the technology field. “Some of the best technologists I have seen had nothing to do with technology in college,” she explained. “Don’t be intimidated by the fact that it’s a technical role. Pretty much everyone enters through the same door.”

She continued, “As you move through your career, the differentiators tend to be more on the business and leadership skills as opposed to pure technology – for example financial management, communication, and executive presentation. These are the skills that are important as you become managers and leaders.”

Advice for Women in Technology

“There are so many things I wish I had known earlier!” Prange said. “One of the biggest is that it’s important to understand the details, but don’t spend all of your time there. Women stereotypically keep our heads down, work hard, and hope to be recognized. But if you spend all of your time in the details, you’ll never get out of the details.”

“And related to that, learn to delegate early in your career and be comfortable with it. When you start out, often you’re the delegee. But eventually you build relationships that can help you. I think women don’t leverage the people around them enough.”

“As you move through your career,” she continued, “typically a woman has to prove she can do something before she gets the chance to do it. And often men will be given opportunities because of their potential or their reputation. I think women need to be more persistent and confident in their abilities.”

She advises women to speak out about accomplishments. “Build your brand and reputation in a way that allows people to see your capabilities. I’ve thought about this often, and I believe it’s one of the attributes that makes the difference.”

Prange also spoke about the importance of building relationships through networking. She has been involved in Citi’s women’s organizations throughout her career. In the late ’90s, she was asked to be a part of The Women’s Council. “I got the opportunity to meet and work with the most senior women across technology and our CTS [Citi Transaction Services] organization, and I established lasting relationships with many women who I still work with today. That organization has been going strong for more than 11 years.”

In the mid-2000s, she helped to establish The CCWO – Corporate Center Women’s Organization. “When I took on the role for global engineering, I believe that opportunity was directly related to having established senior relationships within the CCWO.”

In 2010, she helped to launch the new Women’s Leadership Council (WLC) for Global Operations & Technology, and is now serving as a tri-chair of that organization “The WLC’s mission is to be a catalyst for attracting and retaining talent and developing and promoting women leaders at Citi.”