We have an impressive level of expertise

Mats Nordkvist has worked in the IT industry for over 40 years and as a Mainframe Developer at SEB since 1997. Here, he discusses his career and SEB’s internal training programme COBOL Academy, which he has been involved in since its inception.

“I started working in IT in 1980, initially in industrial companies and later as a consultant. Since 1984, I’ve worked specifically with COBOL development. Back then, mainframe was the default; if you worked with technology, it was on the mainframe side—and I’ve stayed in that field because I really enjoy it,” says Mats.

What’s the best part about working as a mainframe developer?

“The great thing about mainframe is how central it is to the bank; we manage about 80% of the bank’s IT operations and handle massive volumes of transactions—around 15 billion every year,” says Mats. He also emphasises the longevity of working with COBOL and mainframe. “The code I wrote in 1984 is still running today, there’s a sense of stability and security in this platform. ‘Write once, run forever,’ we often say.”

You’re involved in COBOL Academy. Can you tell us more about that?

“It started as a vocational programme in 2011, where I was part of the board. When the vocational programme ended, SEB chose to continue the training internally as COBOL Academy, with the same teacher as before.”

Mats has been involved both in developing the course content and mentoring students. He explains that the path to becoming a COBOL developer is different from other programming languages. “The difference with mainframe compared to many other platforms is that you can actually become a COBOL developer even if you haven’t worked in programming before. With other languages, retraining from another profession can be challenging, but that’s not the case here,” Mats explains. “Many also become highly skilled on the business side since we’re the ones who set up the processes that others at the bank use. It’s impressive that we have that level of expertise on the tech side, something not everyone is always aware of.”

What’s it like working at SEB?

“I really enjoy it—there’s a lot of openness and there’s always an opportunity to shape your own work environment. It’s fascinating to see how everyone contributes with their specific expertise. I can’t even begin to understand what all the people at SEB are working on, but everyone has a vital role and without each person, something would fall apart. You really feel like you’re contributing to something meaningful.”