Fatem Saremi
What do software engineering and finance have in common? Me! I’m a Software Development Engineer within the Finance organization at Autodesk. In my role, I build Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools for internal financial use cases. These working software tools bring the power of current technology into Autodesk’s finance workflows, allowing our finance teams to make faster decisions in their areas of expertise.
I first came to Autodesk as a software engineer intern during the summer of 2020, when a lot of other companies were rescinding their internship offers and canceling their internship programs due to the pandemic. Autodesk’s commitment to its interns and the company’s quick adaptability during those unprecedented times impressed me a lot. While my internship was remote, I became even more impressed with Autodesk because the experience proved to be a great learning and growth opportunity, even in its limited remote setting. The internship experience demonstrated Autodesk’s flexibility as a company and its commitment to developing students’ professional skills.
After graduation, I excitedly returned to Autodesk because I knew the work culture was outstanding and the work would never be boring. Autodesk’s culture is unique and friendly, centering around best-in-class professional practices and setting Autodeskers up for professional success. Autodesk’s Culture Code has empowered me during my time here, and through it, I know I’ve started my career off on the right foot.
As a software engineer working in finance, my role is very different from most of my finance colleagues. While the core finance teams are working hard, I’m working on delivering value to them. I design and build in-house software that integrates state-of-the-art AI into team workflows, helping position Autodesk as an industry leader in finance innovation and modernization.
I believe in making a difference in the world by delivering value to others – adding value in small and immediate ways is the surest way an individual can tilt the world a little more in the direction of good. This holds true in my job, as I am currently contributing to a project related to Autodesk’s ESG reporting.
This past summer, I volunteered as a consultant for a non-profit called Techtonica, which gives low-income women the resources and bootcamp training they need to kickstart a career in tech. I was introduced to this opportunity through a friend at Autodesk who was also passionate about increasing diversity in tech!
While it was already rewarding to volunteer my professional skills to Techtonica, I also felt fortunate about Autodesk’s volunteer program, which allowed me to send a $100 gift to my charity of choice for every 10 hours of volunteer work I logged on our volunteer and match platform. Autodesk’s volunteer program empowered me to make contributions to many good causes within the same summer. This made volunteering much more meaningful to me – and I’m going to continue volunteering more in 2023.
I’m passionate about helping make the world a better place outside of work, too. I run a YouTube channel in my spare time to help computer science and engineering students find their place in tech. I started this channel about two years ago with the idea of closing the knowledge gap for students seeking jobs, which is essentially the content I wish I had access to when I was a student. That has worked well, and my videos have received a lot of positive feedback from students at my alma mater.
For data scientists, software engineers, and business analysts who are interested in working with financial data and entering the fintech industry, the Finance team at Autodesk is a great place to get your start. Our team strives to evolve and stay ahead of the curve with technology trends, so there is no shortage of interesting work to be done!
Interested in a finance career at Autodesk? View our current openings here.