Why freelance instead of employed

I left a Global Banking Connectivity Manager position at Agicap. On paper, it was a good role: international scope, a team to build from scratch, a subject as complex as it was interesting. Here’s why I left anyway.

The role I left, in one sentence

Three years leading international banking connectivity for a scale-up — SWIFT, Host-to-Host, a dedicated team built from zero. A role that could have lasted much longer.

The trigger

No slow build-up, no long silent deliberation. A specific disagreement with leadership — the kind of moment that isn’t resolved by one more conversation, and that suddenly makes it very clear the direction taken is no longer the right one. I won’t go into detail here; that’s not the point — the clarity of the moment was.

What turned out to be harder than expected

Finding the first clients. Not the technical side, not the admin — the commercial side, the one a salaried position never really prepares you to face alone. Nobody sends you a mission by reflex the first time; you have to make it happen.

Where I am today

I prefer to stay deliberately vague about ongoing missions — not out of discretion, simply because that’s not the point here. What matters is that the choice still holds, several months later, without any notable regret. Going it alone isn’t for everyone, and I won’t pretend otherwise. But between a role that no longer fit and the uncertainty of starting over without a safety net, the choice ended up making itself.