A new technology skill every worker needs to be more valuable: Former Goldman Sachs CFO
By | Eric Rosenbaum | www.cnbc.com
- Former Goldman Sachs CFO and CIO Martin Chavez says all workers in the future should be prepared to learn some form of coding.
- LinkedIn data shows that there’s been a recent boom in users taking introductory coding courses online, with increases as high as 500% in the past year.
- But the Wall Street executive recently told CNBC that for most workers the key is to learn an algorithmic, problem-solving way of thinking, rather than becoming an actual computer coder.
Martin Chavez served in more than one major role during his Goldman Sachs career, including chief financial officer and chief information officer, and those experiences were prime opportunities for the self-described “quant” to learn a valuable lesson about the future of work and technology.
Wall Street will not be run by computer code alone, he says, but the rise of algorithms in financial services is a lesson in why most workers will need to become familiar with computer code if they want to be valuable to their organizations.
“Not everyone needs to be a coder,” Chavez said. “The idea of coding is valuable and wonderful, but the idea everyone should learn to code? … I don’t know, but everyone does need to have an algorithmic data, problem-solving mindset. That is a baseline skill for every professional in the workplace, no matter what the role is,” the former Goldman Sachs top executive said at a recent CNBC @Work virtual event.
