Hi, I'm Catherine!

I'm a travel enthusiast with a love for new experiences.  I'm an avid reader and like all good people, I am a Harry Potter fanatic. Day to day though, I'm a Business Analyst with specialties in Change Management and most recently AI.

Coming from a background in communications I love the customer relations element of my job - is that why I'm in CRM (Customer Relationship Management) delivery!?  You'll come to know that I'm a massive advocate for the soft skills that are required as part of the BA role, and throughout project delivery in fact.  I entered the tech space just over 10 years ago and still continue to learn new things every single day.  Working with and delivering Microsoft products mean I'm a massive advocate for their tech stack and methodologies and I've been fortunate enough to do so all over the world! 

Throughout my time as a BA I've seen the excitement in the role grow and the importance of the skill set become recognised, but it wasn't always the way…I've had the pleasure of working alongside great people to raise awareness and give the BA role its rightful place in a tech centric space.  During this time I've moved through various roles - leading out projects, moving into a Senior BA role and further on to a leadership position and becoming the only Senior Principal BA in my organisation…no pressure, eh?

Last year I gave myself the goal of spreading the good word and I have been excited by opportunities to not only give myself serious anxiety but build up my love and experience of public speaking. I have now spoken at many conferences and events around Ireland, including: The Women in Project Management event held in the Convention Centre Dublin. Most recently I was invited by the IIBA Ireland Chapter to speak about the Future of Business Analysis at their very first in person event. The nerves are still not right!

I love driving new initiatives in the BA landscape. Currently I am working to help customers understand how they can use AI to enhance their ways of working, gain process efficiencies and remove the fear of the unknown. This has presented me with plenty of new opportunities to meet new people, experience new tech and see how the role of BA can adapt in the new world of AI.

 I'm super excited that we're FINALLY getting to launch The BA Project.  It's something I've wanted to do for such a long time and see it as an opportunity to breathe new life into the BA space.  With more and more educational organisation offering BA centric learning as an option, I want to make sure the new generation of BA's understand the role, the resources, the opportunities and most importantly see the fun and sense of achievement that can be had.

 I can't say this is completely within my comfort zone, but I don't know who I'd rather do this with if it wasn't Drew and Christina.  I've known Drew for such a long time now - an oldie but goodie you might say, with Christina a newer addition to the trio, I feel completely supported and I'm so excited to share our platform with you all.

- Catherine