Beyond the Ledger: Rafqut’s Learning Journey From Finance to Data Science
Rafqut Mehedin Tomo is a Financial Data Analysis Specialist (Finance Automation & Systems Architect) at Tasheer in Saudi Arabia. He is pursuing the Master of Science in IT & Data Science at European International University (EIU-Paris). This is his Learning Journey, in his own words.
The awakening
“Three years ago, I sat staring at a massive, complex Excel spreadsheet and realized a terrifying truth: traditional finance was dying, and if I didn’t evolve, my career would die with it. I realized, the future of finance is not written in manual ledgers. It is written in code.”
“For over a decade, I had built a successful career as an auditor and finance professional. I held a CPA and a MBA. But as the world rapidly moved toward AI and big data, I felt the walls closing in on traditional accounting. I realized I didn’t just want to record financial history anymore; I wanted to engineer the systems that built it. I made the decision to pivot my entire life and become a Finance Automation & Systems Architect.”
The struggle and finding an academic home
“The transition was one of the hardest periods of my life. Coming from a non-computer science background, I had to teach myself the language of machines. I spent my nights often while balancing the beautiful chaos of raising a newborn baby and relentlessly studying Python, Power Query, DAX, and SQL.”
“Despite my growing practical skills, I knew I needed the rigorous validation of a formal data science framework to truly master the science behind the code. That is when I found the Master of Science in Data Science and Information Technology at European International University (EIU-Paris).”
“I chose EIU because they do something very rare in higher education: they look at the human behind the application. When I applied, I lacked formal programming degrees, but EIU looked at my portfolio of self-taught certificates and believed in my hunger to learn. The support from the Academic Team, specifically Kanokkan, Tina, and Dr. Edward Roy, has been phenomenal. They gave me the psychological safety to push my limits and formally anchor my practical skills with true academic science.”
The breakthrough: applying theory to reality
“Those exhausting late nights and rigorous EIU studies eventually met the real world. In my corporate role, I was tasked with an impossible challenge: architecting the complete automation of an enterprise-scale financial ecosystem.”
“Bridging the advanced data methodologies I learned at European International University with my own coding skills and financial domain expertise, I independently built a multi-phase data pipeline. It seamlessly integrated over a million complex transactions across dozens of partner organizations. What previously required days of grueling manual labor was compressed into a silent algorithmic process that executes with 100% accuracy in mere minutes. We didn’t just save time; we fundamentally transformed how executive financial data is processed and scaled.”
The future and a message to you
“My ultimate goal is to become an Enterprise Transformation Leader, bringing AI-driven financial architecture to global tech giants.”
“If I can leave one piece of advice for anyone reading this, it is this: Do not let your past qualifications put you in a box. The modern world does not care what your undergraduate degree was in; it cares about the problems you can solve today. The most valuable professionals in the market are those who can bridge two worlds; like business logic and machine learning. Find your bridge, fight through the learning curve, and never stop building.”
Thank you, Rafqut, for sharing your Learning Journey with us.
Connect with Rafqut on LinkedIn.
Learn more about European International University at eiu.ac, or message us on WhatsApp +33613926264.
