First, he co-founded Ábaco—a personal finance assistant—; then, Qualia Fintech Factory—which sought to promote interoperability in the financial market—; and finally, in 2018, Prometeo was launched, which is now the largest Open Banking platform in Latin America. What they do is provide a single point of access to banking information and transactions: they aggregate more than 100 APIs from 35 financial institutions across more than 10 countries in the region.
Ximena Aleman holds a bachelor’s degree in Journalism and is currently pursuing aMaster of Business Administration at ORT’s Graduate School of Business. On her LinkedIn profile, she presents herself with a clear focus on communication, technology, and business:
I believe that communication is a strategic tool for technology. With that in mind, I focus on developing new businesses and creating solutions, tools, and channels to connect products with users. I have a passion for creative and original products. I love bringing them to life.
In 2020, Aleman was named one of the nine “Disruptoras 2020,” a list compiled by the iupana website featuring women who led innovation in banking and fintech in Latin America that year. In early 2022, the journalist won the AMBA and BGA Entrepreneur of the Year award, one of the most prestigious awards in the business world.
“This award recognizes our work at Prometeo in shaping Latin America’s financial future toward open banking, but we are not alone on this journey,” Alemán said at the awards ceremony, according to a report on the School of Management and Social Sciences website. “The award highlights the fantastic work that other female leaders in fintech startups are doing, also shaping Latin America’s financial future. So that, in the future, other women can have better financial tools at their disposal to continue moving society forward.”
From communications to fintech
After a brief stint in the Economics department, Ximena Aleman began her bachelor’s degree in Communication in 2008. That idea of “trying to understand the other person”—when conducting an interview, for example—still applies today: “What do they need? What drives them? That exercise in empathy, perhaps, is very much a part of communication; I still hold onto that just as I did then.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sco9N-ynnTM
Alemán asserts that innovation is by no means unique to the tech sector. There are certain qualities that any professional can possess to be innovative in their field: “You can be highly innovative while studying psychology or philosophy; there are innovators in every branch of thought.” The key, he says, is to combine curiosity, creativity, courage, determination, and flexibility.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsUZnqmBIhg
In the business world, communication is crucial: “Everything related to branding—creating a brand, positioning it, distributing the product, establishing channels, understanding them, reaching audiences, creating content for them, attracting talent to your company…” In every area of a company, “being able to articulate what you’re contributing and explain it so that others understand—which is the core of communication—is essential.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gttfIKZmyig
Meanwhile, according to Aleman, the relationship between communication and technology has become a decisive factor. In recent years, particularly with the rise of social media, “it has become abundantly clear that there is a very close relationship between form and content—that is, between communication and technology—and, obviously, how decisive form is when it comes to creating content.”
He also believes that this opens up a vast field for exploration: “From a communication perspective, what do we bring to the technology sector?” He concludes: “It’s quite conceptual, but the role of communication is crucial when it comes to innovating and introducing new products to the market.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSIivwrjNek
I always feel that studying Communication gave me a broader perspective and conceptual understanding, as well as a fluency and flexibility that really help me when it comes to understanding who’s on the other side of the table, but also when it comes to figuring out how to explain what I’m doing so that the other person can understand. And that’s crucial when you’re innovating and developing something new.