Bruno Wisniewski

Building corporate development at Pleo, Strategy Manager and BSc in Business and Economics alum Bruno Wisniewski thrives in the vision-driven environment at his workplace. His time at SSE taught him to think big and equipped him with problem-solving skills and independent thinking, which works well in the culture of empowerment and autonomy at Pleo.

Describe your role and what it is that you do overall and on a day-to-day basis.

I joined Pleo as an Entrepreneur in Residence (bougie title for Swiss Army Knife) and worked on a variety of different topics (fundraising, product launches, partnerships, and more) before formally transitioning into the Strategy & Operations Team. The focus of the team is to build and mature Pleo's Corporate Development muscles. This means running our strategic planning, developing our organizational setup, and identifying further organic and inorganic growth opportunities for Pleo.

What drew you to want to work at Pleo?

I heard about Pleo through a McKinsey alum who joined the company a year earlier than me. At first, I got very intrigued and excited when he told me about the product, the vision, and the culture at Pleo. All of this was quickly confirmed and reinforced during the interview process where I met a great deal of incredibly talented and inspiring people. In the end, it was the world-class talent, personal growth potential, and culture of empowerment and autonomy that drew me to join.

What excites you about your work? Where do you think company spending/company credit cards are going in the next 5-10 years?

I’m incredibly excited to work at such a vision-driven company like Pleo. Despite the core product itself being “quite transactional” (even in the literal sense), the value derived from it is so much greater. Giving an employee a Pleo-card means trusting them with company resources and empowering them to spend it in the best way they see fit. With remote workplaces and a more distributed economy, I think the rest of the industry will follow Pleo’s path focusing on solving the pains of the employee (main user) rather than solely optimizing for the admin or finance function.

What was appealing about the BSc program at SSE when you were considering where to study?

I was drawn to study at SSE for 3 main reasons:

The first-class and globally competitive academic programs
The close collaboration with the business world
The unique and international alumni network

How did your time/education at SSE help guide you to the career journey you have embarked on?

SSE taught me to think big. A degree from SSE helps unlock any sort of career that you would like to pursue. The education equips you with incredible problem-solving skills and nurtures you to think independently.

Following your time studying, do you have any words of wisdom or advice you would like to share with our current students?

Don’t worry or stress about your future career, there’s no need to. Make sure to enjoy your time at SSE; it is an incredible opportunity and privilege to take part in such a world-class education, bump heads with some of the brightest people, and dance on the sticky floor in Rotundan.

What are three words that sum up your time at SSE?

Paninikaffe. Ekporten. Lyckeborg.