From Trading to RFxing: Meet Emma Cohen, Chief of Staff and Operations at DeepStream

‍Welcome to the Stream-team, would you mind telling the readers a bit about yourself? 

Hey, I'm Emma! I’m originally from Los Angeles and have been living in London since 2015. Yes… I left the sun and the beach for clouds and rain, but I don’t regret it for a second. For the last 7 years, I have been working at Goldman Sachs in a number of different roles (but more on that below). 

I have always been passionate about technology and finding more efficient ways to do everyday tasks like managing personal finances, shopping for groceries or finding new restaurants to try out (to name a few). So it’s no surprise that I am thrilled to be working with the talented team at DeepStream to help them grow the business and make all of their current and future clients’ lives simpler with technology! 

Outside of work I’m a proud member of Alma Angels, an inclusive community of angel investors (women and men) who are passionate about actively investing in and supporting ambitious female founders. I am also the President of the Board for Georgetown University Alumni in the UK (my alma mater) which has been a brilliant way to plan events across the city and meet interesting people from all walks of life.

I’m passionate about long walks in the countryside (of course with a stop for an awesome pub lunch), hanging around London’s parks and petting strangers’ dogs. 

DeepStream is committed to hiring candidates with all kinds of experiences and backgrounds, learn more about the diverse and unique experiences of our team members.

Tell us about your previous role?

I held a number of different roles at Goldman Sachs, all within the Fixed Income team in Asset Management. For those not familiar with financial services, ‘Fixed Income’ refers to bond investing and ‘Asset Management’ means we managed money for large institutional clients (e.g. corporations, pensions). 

I spent the majority of my time as a bond trader, which was a really exciting experience and one where I learned about how to make decisions with imperfect information in a high pressure environment.

After 4 years as a trader, I moved over to work on ESG Research and Integration, where I focused on the ‘S’ which stands for ‘Social’. In practice this means I helped our portfolio managers, research analysts, and economists measure social risks and opportunities related to the companies and countries they covered. For example, I created a data-driven analytical tool for  evaluating a company's workforce management, allowing us to directly compare companies’ performance to one another on this hugely important topic.  

Joining the Stream-team.

Everyone on the team has been so welcoming in my first two weeks on the job, and I’m really enjoying digging into the details of how we run the business. 

It’s great to be in a growth environment (both in terms of team size and the business) and working with people that all share the same goal! I know this year is going to be a stellar one for DS, and I love the team’s dedication to ensuring it. I’m also loving our new office in Belgravia, which is incredibly convenient and there are dogs all over the place! 

So, why DeepStream?

On the ‘demand’ side of the equation, it’s crazy to me that in 2022, a lot of businesses are still using emails for the tendering and RFx process leaving them open to operational and regulatory risks. 

Although some businesses and procurement teams have shifted to more agile tech stacks and processes to drive productivity and efficiency, many more still use email and legacy IT systems which are opaque and clunky. I find DeepStream’s ability to truly drive value for these organisations particularly impressive and I can’t wait for these businesses to discover DeepStream and see the positive difference in their organisation.

Additionally, with the recent supply chain issues, the importance of diversifying suppliers and ensuring a competitive and transparent process has become even more evident. DeepStream’s ability to facilitate easy communication with Suppliers when things don’t go according to plan or delays occur, and find alternatives where necessary is an imperative for businesses. 

On the ‘supply’ side, the testimonies from our clients and suppliers alike that our product is a highly user-friendly, plug-and-play system, gives us the advantage of being able to guarantee customers can adopt DeepStream across their businesses in a matter of days. This is key to the growth of agile tech in the market - easy adoption and access to a much wider breadth of the commercial market through digital technology. 

Join our diverse team as we continue developing the agile solution that grabbed Emma's attention. Check out the careers website to learn more!

An ESG focus.

I’m passionate about disrupting the world of B2B commerce to create a more transparent model for how we all do business. I hope this in turn drives fair treatment of workers and raises the bar for corporate accountability to investors and consumers. 

When I used to evaluate company performance on ESG issues, one obstacle which came up a lot was the lack of transparency around supply chains. To truly understand the impact a company has on its stakeholders, the supply chain is a crucial piece. Many organisations however were unable to name their suppliers, and found it even harder to state whether they had signed the company’s code of conduct, such as the policies governing human and labour rights. 

Since joining Deepstream, I have discovered that there are four main ways we contribute to improved supply chain visibility, and as a result, sustainability. First, we enable standardisation of ESG due diligence across teams and requests to ensure suppliers are being asked the same questions, which can be tracked. That means our clients can confidently report on the ESG credentials of their suppliers. 

Second, the ESG-related information received from suppliers can drive decision-making through our evaluation module. 

Thirdly, because DeepStream is team-based, collaborative and auditable by design, using the platform enables better governance for any RFx processes a company engages in. 

 Finally, the in-built and exportable audit trail means that supplier ESG information is always one click away. This also allows for more complex analysis of supplier ESG data which is hugely beneficial in the annual sustainability reporting process, holding companies accountable.  

As ESG adoption continues to accelerate in 2022, we expect companies to look for solutions to increase the transparency of their supply chains and work in more tech-enabled and agile ways. And we are already seeing this play out with some of our major partners (e.g. Britishvolt, Xos Trucks, and Maersk) who are embedding innovative and sustainable ways of working by using DeepStream. 

I am a proud employee of DeepStream and I believe we are the right partner to help companies adapt to the evolving expectations regarding supplier transparency and assist them in any way we can on their sustainability journeys.  

About diversity.

I’ve always held a strong belief in the importance of increasing diversity in both finance & tech. I have been a member of the organisation GAIN (Girls are Investors) for a number of years and have enjoyed speaking to girls in school and university about why investment roles are so exciting and an awesome way to start your career. 

On the tech side, I am shocked by the de minimis amount of venture capital funding that women-founded companies receive. To do my small part to remedy this inequity, I invest in female founded companies through an angel community called Alma Angels.  

I’m really excited to be able to effect change on a more tangible level by contributing to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace at DeepStream. Currently, the team speaks 16 languages and represents 14 nationalities, which is pretty incredible. We believe cognitive diversity drives better performance and decision making, so we remain committed to ensuring the culture reflects these views as we grow and scale. This is why we use Alva Labs in our interview process, a platform that helps to remove bias to allow individuals to flourish according to their own strengths, not other’s pre-conceptions. 

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The last word.

DeepStream is delighted to have Emma join the team, and we are very excited about the breadth of experience and amazing energy Emma will bring to the team. As she says, we only expect to continue to go from strength to strength and look forward to doing it together, so again, welcome to the Stream-team Emma Cohen.

If you are interested in working in a fast-paced environment along people from all over the world, don't hesitate to apply for current job openings!