“I knew that if you wanted to get the acceptance from the business world, you needed to speak their language and translate it to the IT world,” says Allaert Photo: Eric Devillet

“I knew that if you wanted to get the acceptance from the business world, you needed to speak their language and translate it to the IT world,” says Allaert Photo: Eric Devillet

In Delano’s July supplement, we put the spotlight on four women making waves in the ICT sector. Emilie Allaert, project lead at the Luxembourg Blockchain Lab, explains she always wanted to bridge the gap between finance and tech.

As tax advisor at KPMG, Emilie Allaert was already fascinated by the IT world with part of her team charged with testing IT solutions for tax and email reviews. By her last year at KPMG, she had joined the IT organisation team and went on to work as an associate at J.P. Morgan before joining Alpha FMC, a consulting firm dedicated to asset management.

“I really wanted to be a bridge between the two worlds [finance and tech],” explains Allaert. She joined the Luxembourg House of Financial Technology (Lhoft) in 2017, working mainly on fintech-related projects, but during this time, she also picked up on blockchain technology and various digital assets and pitched the idea to promote a blockchain ecosystem in Luxembourg.

That idea has now evolved into the Luxembourg Blockchain Lab, which she oversees as project lead. By mid-July, she will end her role as head of operations and projects at Lhoft to focus on her new role as the head of the lab.

“I knew that if you wanted to get the acceptance from the business world, you needed to speak their language and translate it to the IT world,” says Allaert.

Key facts about Allaert 

Specialisation: Blockchain and fintech

First ICT job: Tax advisor at KPMG/supervisor in linguistics trips

Role model: Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Meta

A prestigious award: Women in Fintech Powerlist 2017

Most recent training: Certificate in climate and renewable energy finance