Transition journey from Finance to IT – A Story of Curiosity and Growth
If someone had told me ten years ago that I’d end up working in IT, I probably would’ve laughed and gone back to reconciling my Excel sheets. Because back then, my world revolved entirely around finance: numbers, reports, and clients. That was my life.
Learning the Fundamentals
My career began in 2015 in the banking sector. I worked as a client advisor handling cash, managing accounts, and selling insurance. It was my first real financial role, and it taught me a lot about precision, patience, and how important clear communication is when dealing with clients.
At that time, IT wasn’t even on my radar.
After a few years, I transitioned into accounting, and that’s where I first discovered what technology could do for my daily work. I started using Excel more seriously by learning formulas, building pivot tables, and creating charts. And after a few months, I started thinking:
There has to be a faster, better way to do this.
I didn’t know it then, but that curiosity was the start of my journey toward automation and process improvement.
When Curiosity Turns into Action
My next step was controlling, where part of the team worked with BI (Business Intelligence). I was originally meant to be involved with BI as well, but due to internal changes, I took on a pure controlling role.
Still, I couldn’t help being fascinated by what they were doing.
A few months later, I was assigned to a complex project involving huge amounts of data from multiple sources. And when I say huge, I mean non-IT huge. The kind of dataset with hundreds of thousands of rows in Excel that makes your laptop’s fan sound like it’s preparing for takeoff.
That’s when I decided to give Power Pivot a try even though, at that time, I didn’t really know what I was doing. I spent countless evenings experimenting, breaking things, fixing them again, and slowly learning how it all worked.
When I finally presented the finished result – a clean, automated, and easy-to-read report – my manager and the account manager were both genuinely impressed.
That’s when it hit me:
I don’t just want to work with numbers. I want to make systems that make numbers work better.
From Passion Project to Professional Pivot
Around that time, a friend of mine – already working in BI – kept encouraging me to make the switch.
At first, I resisted.
I actually loved my FP&A work: analyzing variances, preparing budgets, and building forecasts. Finance has its own logic and beauty, and I enjoyed that structure.
But deep down, I knew I wanted more. I wanted to build tools, not just use them. I wanted to improve processes, not just follow them.
So, I started to dive deeper into automation, Power BI, and data modeling mostly by teaching myself. Most nights, after my two kids went to bed, I’d stay up watching tutorials, reading articles, and testing new ideas. It wasn’t always easy, but passion has a funny way of turning tiredness into motivation.
Over time, I began creating Power BI reports and dashboards, optimizing existing ones, and coming up with new ways to simplify workflows. At that point, I realized this wasn’t just a hobby anymore. It was becoming my next professional chapter.
Finding the Right Environment to Grow
Eventually, I reached the point where I knew self-learning wasn’t enough. I needed a community. People who could challenge me, guide me, and help me grow further.
That’s when I found Abylon Consulting. Here, I discovered an environment where continuous learning and collaboration are a part of everyday life. You can approach senior colleagues for advice at any time, even if you’re not in the same team. The company regularly organizes professional events that encourage everyone to explore new technologies and perspectives.
For someone like me who bridges finance and IT, it’s exactly the kind of place where curiosity and ambition can thrive.
What This Journey Has Taught Me
Looking back, this transition wasn’t just about switching careers. It was about changing how I think, learn, and approach problems.
I learned that:
- It’s never too late to explore a new direction.
- Curiosity is one of the most powerful drivers of growth.
- Real progress often begins outside your comfort zone.
- And yes – hybrid professionals, who understand both business and technology, are more valuable than ever.
So, if you’re standing at a crossroads, wondering whether to take the leap: take it.
Because sometimes, one small “what if” can change your entire career.
Author of the post:
Máté Csomós - FP&A & Data Analytics Specialist in before, now BI Developer at Abylon Consulting. Linkedin Profile
