Name: Carmen Dincu
Title: Enterprise Architect
Company: Vestas
Please introduce youself
My name is Carmen Dincu, I am 38 years old. I have a BsC degree in Telecommunications Engineering and an MsC in Technology Management from Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM), Spain.
I am genuinely curious about many different topics and across multiple disciplines, varying from science, technology, philosophy, human-technology interaction, and overall health. Special focus during my free time over the past few years, has been on educating myself on psychoanalysis, at Sigmund Freud Institute of Psychoanalysis (UK), getting a yoga certification and lifting weights at gym. At the moment, I go to the gym 4 days a week.
How did you imagine your career when you were around 20 years old?
When I was in my 20, I did not have a crystal-clear roadmap for my career outlined in front of me. I did however have the vision of working in corporate world, especially in a STEM-related field. The rapidly evolving field of technology has always fascinated me and I knew back then that the tech innovations would drive considerable changes and progress in the society. I always had the idea of being in a role that would allow me to influence and to drive transformations in the corporate world, by applying a strategic mindset to practically bringing technology into business applications to create value. Looking back now, whilst I did not have every step planned in detail, these core ambitions served me as a guiding principles and helped me to take decisions about which opportunities to pursue.
What does a day in your life look like as a Enterprise Architect at Vestas?
As an Enterprise Architect in Digital Solution at Vestas, my days vary a lot, from strategic planning to providing guidance to the execution team, collaborating with cross-functional teams, designing systems architecture, or making recommendations and providing guidance to architects. Usually, the day starts with planning and browsing through Vestas’ Hub and tech news channels to stay up to date with what has happened latest and be aware of the internal activities on projects and initiatives within the company. Following that, I join meetings and calls with different stakeholders in the organization to discuss different topics and activities that can vary from strategy to execution, architecture design of solutions, architecture recommendations, changes to the Operating Model or how do we lift the maturity of architecture practice in Vestas. A big part of my day is spent in problem-solving and providing technical guidance to Leaders and to Architects on how to address the technical debt and modernize Vestas processes, capabilities, and technology landscape. Collaboration and communication is key at all times in my every day job. I constantly analyze problems, do gap analysis, and evaluate solutions to enable business outcomes with technical feasibility and long-term strategic goals. For the most part, I act as a leader without authority and influence my stakeholders into making the decisions that are in best interest for Vestas. At the end of the day, I take some time to reflect on the achievements and progress and I plan the next day.
What motivates and excites you the most about your career path and the leadership position you hold?
As an Enterprise Architect I get to have a quite versatile and multidisciplinary work that designs complex technological solutions for the company, while collaborating and communicating with many different stakeholders at different corporate levels to influence the implementation of the change. Being not only a shaper but also an implementer of the technology landscape and the culture within the company is truly rewarding to me because it is allowing me to apply myself over multiple disciplines while continuously challenging me and thereby contributing to my growth. However, what excites me the most is that Vestas’ mission as a renewable energy company is looking towards shaping the future for the next generations, by constantly focusing on innovation and creating environmentally friendly products.
Share with us the biggest lessons you learned on your journey to where you are today.
My biggest lesson so far is that you cannot change anyone, but you can always influence them to believe in an idea.Just make sure that what you propose is realistic and bold, but also has an easy implementation. You own your choices and your career path, and it is imperative that you stay persistent and patient and never give up on your ambitions, ideas, and principles.
Tell us about a role model who inspired you to become the leader you are today.
My very first hiring manager inspired me to grow into the professional that I am today. She hired me in a position of Junior Project Manager from an intern position, where I developed my master thesis and worked alongside some of her peers. From the very beginning she impressed me with her intelligence and her easy way of navigating corporate life, while she stood true to her own principles and morals. With a background and studies similar to my own, I immediately felt connected with her and took her as a mentor, not only as a role model. During the 5 years that I worked with her, I have learned so much, and I felt constantly supported and treated equally, which helped me to quicker gain insights about corporate life, and set my career at a fast pace.
If you could give one piece of advice to your younger self, or to other young female students today, what would it be?
At the very beginning of my corporate life, I was afraid of failure, or challenging the views of my peers or managers. With time, however, I have learned that this mindset was limiting my creativity and stopping me from speaking up or creating better solutions. Therefore, my piece of advice is to see failure as an opportunity for growth and learning. Embracing challenges will help yourself to focus on continuous improvement, to refine your skills, and embrace a positive mindset.
How do you see STEM education shaping the future?
As technology continues to advance rapidly, there is an increasing demand for skilled and knowledgeable experts to meet the demands of the workforce in the future. And from my perspective, STEM is preparing the students to thrive in the job market, and to specialize in careers within the emerging fields of AI, Robotics, Analytics, Data Science and Renewable Energies, which I believe will be used to innovate and drive economic growth. In addition, the different disciplines learned in STEM will be more and more integrated in everyday life and will very likely influence a cultural shift towards science, engineering, mathematics, and digital technologies. I foresee that the future generation of STEM students will challenge current society and will empower the individuals and citizens to contribute to a fast-paced technological innovation and scientific world.
Why is it important for you to promote diversity and inclusion within STEM?
As a woman in a technological company, I see the importance of bringing in the spark and intelligence of women into the decision-making process by giving women a seat at the table and promoting diversity in the workplace. I believe that the integration of women into the tech workplace is crucial for promoting innovation, increasing fast-paced innovation, and creating a more equitable society.