Accenture Technology Philippines managing director Ambe Tierro has practically spent her entire corporate life with the company — 30 years and counting — and has seen its explosive growth from being Andersen Consulting’s local affiliate to its emergence as a powerhouse technology BPO firm.
Her interest in technology was sparked after writing her first programming code at the young age of 13. As she did not have the means to own personal computer back then, she used her school’s computer to compile, run, and program what she was told to do. She knew right away she was hooked.
“My fascination with computers started in high school. I studied at Malate Catholic School. I joined the computer club – it’s the only air-conditioned room in school and I liked spending time there. It was fairly new in the 8’0s. It was not very common to have personal computers at home so these black and green boxes were very magical for me,” Tierro said during the recent episode of the podcast-online show IN BETWEEN presented by Newsbytes.PH and Tech Sabado.
This fascination with computers is what eventually led Tierro to pursue a computer science degree at the De La Salle University in 1986. Since she particularly preferred subjects that revolved around logic instead memorization, Tierro knew that the detail-oriented course suited her.
Her first job straight out of college was in the accounting firm SGV, whose management services division eventually became Andersen Consulting’s local unit . Andersen Consulting would later transform Accenture. In a sense, Tierro explained that she never really left, staying with the same company that changed only its name but not its identity.
“I joined SGV in 1990 as a technical staff – that’s a programmer job. In La Salle, SGV would host career fairs and career talks. I attended one of those career talks and I was very interested about this company because they said it’s about meritocracy. I liked that you can get promoted based on your abilities, not because of who you know,” she recalled.
After years of constantly learning and moving forward with her career, Tierro became the Application Services Lead for the Accenture’s Communications, Media & Technology (CMT) department where she became responsible for growing the systems integration, application outsourcing, and testing business.
She also became the lead for the Technology Delivery Center in the Philippines, tasked with operations, strategy development and execution, delivery and capability development for the delivery center.
“The Philippines is one of the most important locations for Accenture. I think we’re the second-largest now, after India. My role is critical for our global delivery so I’m very focused in making sure we continue to build our capability here so that we can showcase what Filipinos can do globally,” she said.
