Pedram Parhizkari, a Richmond American University alumnus from the class of 2015, delivered a guest lecture to the students of the class, Sustainable and Ethical Computing. It is important for alumni to engage with current students because they act as great role models to the students. They also offer their experiences and important advice to students which can be encouraging and motivating.
Pedram has worked for a decade in financial services and focused predominantly in technology in financial services. As an advisor to the board of Richmond Business School, he tries to link the industry to students’ degrees. His career includes an internship at the World Trade Center in Shanghai and the establishment of his own financial firm, Beurzbyte. Beurzbyte specializes in investment research and financial education, and it works towards promoting financial literacy. During the lecture, Pedram encouraged students to seek opportunities around the world. He highlighted the importance of global opportunities and learning from different places. He also explained how fintech works and its importance in various industries like ecommerce. He explained how he links technology and finance with his knowledge on algorithms and data. One of his key messages was the importance of identifying gaps in the market. He advised, “Understand the gaps of what is in the market and what people really want you to do. If you can figure that out, there’s always financial reward.” He believes it is important to identify what is missing and what people truly need.
Beyond hard skills, he also stressed the need for soft skills like networking and teamwork skills. Pedram highlighted the significance of skills like stakeholder management. He explained how speaking to employees and colleagues in a way that will promote a good work environment is very important and stressed that no book would teach students that, but real-world experience like group projects and work relationships can strengthen those skills. He also explained the importance of thought leadership and vision and as an entrepreneur in whatever sector, it is important to show others working with or under us the “vision”. He believes that showing others a clear vision can motivate them to work with you rather than for another person or company. When talking about the customer feedback loop, keeping customers in mind when creating products or offering services, he explained it also involves collecting data on the feedback customers have on services and products. Another valuable point he made was the importance of additional soft skills like product development and risk assessment. He spoke of the various risks—financial, personal, and operational—that companies face and how essential it is to understand and mitigate them.
Pedram also touched on the future of jobs in the age of Artificial Intelligence. He provided news and media pieces to provide examples and references and explained task-based activities, which do not need much decision making. He also explained the models driving AI like data, statistics, supervised and unsupervised learning etc. Pedram stressed the importance of learning about these models as Artificial Intelligence is very popular in most industries today. He also explained ethical issues in Artificial Intelligence, which links with the course the students were attending, “Sustainable and Ethical Computing.” To end his lecture, he allowed students to ask questions, and many students enquired about gaining experience in different industries. He answered each question carefully and offered advice to each student based on their questions.
In conclusion, this guest lecture was very insightful and interesting. It was interactive with many students asking questions and seeking extra advice from Pedram. Not only did I learn concepts in the Business and Finance sectors, but it also helped me to consider ways technology can be combined with other sectors and industries. It also gave students information on the importance of strengthening soft skills alongside knowledge learned at the university. This lecture offered us students important career advice which is very important as many of the attendees are close to their final years at the University.
