From tech specialist to global strategist: A journey in cross-border excellence

Orchestrating a project across multiple countries and time zones for a global financial client is a monumental challenge.

For Sneha Sawant, technology risk manager at KPMG in Singapore, it's the latest chapter in a career defined by taking on intense, complex tasks. It is also a direct result of the firm's talent philosophy that identifies and nurtures ambition and fosters innovation. 

A key member of a 300-strong cross-border team, Sneha coordinates with stakeholders across regions to support successful project delivery.

Her journey at KPMG started when she joined the firm from a traditional tech company, as she was seeking broader exposure. KPMG responded by entrusting her with both foundational and high-stakes projects, and that was just the beginning. Her story is a powerful example of how KPMG empowers its people to take on global, multi-disciplinary leadership roles and be ready to tackle the most demanding challenges.

The motivation for joining KPMG was clear. Sneha, an IT engineer by education, wasn’t just looking for another tech job or a change of employer. She was seeking something different: a strategic pivot beyond the possibilities offered by a conventional tech career and a broader set of challenges not only to accelerate her professional growth but also to spur innovation through her work. 

“I wanted to diversify my skillsets and change the pace of the industry. And I wanted to do this by getting exposure to a variety of projects, working with senior clients and stakeholders, and broadening my network,” she explains.

Sneha got all of this and more soon after arriving at KPMG, where her drive and ambition found an ideal match in the firm’s approach to actively enabling employees to advance their expertise.

Joining KPMG in Singapore in 2019 as a senior associate, Sneha spent her initial years mainly as a tech lead on a four-year-long, highly demanding project involving dozens of team members. Her team helped to build a multi-component system from scratch for the Singapore Government.

This opportunity demonstrated to Sneha how KPMG offers the clear and deliberate growth trajectory that she was seeking, while providing on-the-job training in skills such as leadership and project management to prepare her for challenges on the global stage. 

“I cherish the fact that KPMG gave me the opportunity to lead such an intense project,” she says, adding: “This project helped me get up to speed quickly in terms of how things work at a global professional services firm.”

Today, Sneha has risen to be a manager and is playing a key role in delivering a big cross-border project for a major financial client.

She splits her time between her Singapore base and the client’s Switzerland offices, managing a dedicated team while coordinating with multiple stakeholders in a wider team based in three continents – Europe, Asia and Australia. As a result, Sneha finds herself adapting to diverse working styles and cultural differences, managing teams across vastly different time zones, and building trust with colleagues she has never met in person. 

“This project has been so fast-paced and at the same time so rewarding,” Sneha says, relishing the challenge of being called upon every day to demonstrate her adaptability and global readiness – qualities that KPMG works tirelessly to instil in its people through its talent programmes.

The project is not just a feat of coordination but also of technological innovation. Sneha’s team has engineered sophisticated, automated solutions to meet complex client needs. That includes, for example, developing an automated process for generating millions of consent packs, creating dynamic reconciliation reports to ensure data integrity, and building a comprehensive case and workflow management system.

The cutting-edge tech stack used in this project, including external products as well as solutions developed in-house at KPMG, illustrate the advanced and interdisciplinary nature of the firm’s tech-driven capabilities.

Sneha says: “Devising end-to-end strategic solutions to deliver the change we are targeting – that’s a highly innovative approach."

Sneha’s global exposure isn't just for her own development. She is passionate about ensuring that the knowledge and skills gained from her experiences abroad are transferred back to her home base in Singapore. 

“My first priority is to share my experiences with my Singapore team members who may not have had such exposure yet,” she says, proud of her contribution to the local talent ecosystem. 

Yet another focus area for Sneha is championing the next wave of innovation in emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, particularly in AI governance. She is working to build experience and reputation in this critical domain, positioning KPMG as a thought leader that helps clients use new technologies responsibly and effectively.

“We want to build the trust of the client and ensure that they are not exposed to risks,” she explains. Looking ahead, Sneha hopes to build a robust ecosystem of external partners for KPMG’s emerging tech practice, particularly in the no-code and low-code space.

“I know we have the capability to deliver so much more,” she says.

KPMG’s robust training infrastructure empowers professionals like Sneha. Designed to upskill professionals from diverse educational backgrounds, it equips talent with a wide range of multi-disciplinary skills. That means having a tech background is not mandatory for a tech career.

The firm has programmes in place to encourage team members to enter a tech-related field or learn a new technology, notes Sneha. “The support of KPMG leadership and the trust our partners have in us really motivate us to learn.”

It is also essential for talent to hone competencies like strategic planning and relationship management, she says, as these skills are important to help the firm and clients navigate a changing global business landscape.