A conversation with Head of Network Infrastructure at Armenian Card CJSC and gold medal recipient for building the company’s backup processing data center, Aghasi Gevorgyan, on navigating multi-vendor, cross-border systems and the engineering principles every professional should master by 2030.
The G20’s Financial Stability Board (FSB) has warned that the 2027 targets for improving cross-border payments are unlikely to be met due to deep infrastructure challenges and the coordination required across dozens of countries. For system and network engineers, this global delay underscores how modern payment infrastructure remains more complex, interconnected, and difficult to standardize than many assume. To bring in a real-world perspective, TechBullion spoke with a distinguished System and Network engineer, Aghasi Gevorgyan, who shared valuable insights for professionals navigating similar technical challenges.
As the Head of Network Infrastructure at Armenian Card, the backbone of Armenia’s national payment ecosystem, Aghasi Gevorgyan has more than 20 years of experience working with critical financial technologies. He has published articles on cybersecurity, is an IEEE member, active contributor to the Raptors.dev professional community, and is regularly asked for expert advice on important technical decisions by senior leadership and auditors. In this interview, Aghasi will share his professional opinion on how modern payment systems truly behave under real load, why cross-border modernization fails despite advanced technology, and which engineering principles professionals must master to build resilient infrastructures by 2030.
Aghasi, global payment infrastructure remains fragmented, and the FSB warns that even the G20 will miss its 2027 targets. Based on your work in a national payment ecosystem, what are the most underestimated technical challenges that slow down large-scale modernization?
Daily operations inside a national payment ecosystem reveal how every technical choice interacts with audit procedures, security controls, settlement flows, and daily financial operations. The most meaningful progress appears when engineering teams build a shared understanding of these connections and recognize how a single architectural step influences system behavior under real transaction load. This perspective creates clear priorities and supports modernization that moves steadily, maintains continuity, and strengthens long-term readiness for regulatory reviews. As a result, even large-scale upgrades evolve predictably and confidently across the entire infrastructure.
You’ve managed infrastructure with 99.9% uptime for millions of cardholders at Armenian Card (ArCa), the core operator of Armenia’s national payment ecosystem. What architectural decisions are most critical for engineers who want to build systems that stay stable under extreme load?
Years of running infrastructure under real load taught me that stability grows from architecture that behaves predictably under pressure. My work with ArCa’s national payment infrastructure showed how much it depends on clear data paths, consistent recovery logic, and systems that support each other rather than act in isolation. When every layer from routing to storage follows the same operational rhythm, the entire environment responds smoothly to peak loads. This mindset helps engineers create platforms that stay steady during rapid growth, seasonal spikes, and unexpected surges, while still delivering the reliability millions of cardholders depend on.
Engineers working in finance often struggle to innovate while meeting strict frameworks like PCI DSS and ISO 27001. From your experience, what approaches help maintain strong security and audit readiness without slowing down day-to-day operations?
Strong compliance emerges naturally when it grows from the way engineers handle systems day after day. Instead of treating PCI DSS and ISO 27001 as external checklists, I design workflows so that each step naturally produces strong security outcomes: clean configurations create clarity during audits, consistent access rules strengthen internal discipline, and transparent change management keeps systems predictable. This approach turns regulatory alignment into a steady operational rhythm. Once the core routines are stable, teams gain space to introduce new technologies, refine infrastructure, and build forward without disrupting the organization’s overall security posture.
Your cross-border work with major payment networks and published research on the topic have shown you how complex multi-vendor integrations can be. What pitfalls do engineers face most often, and how can they avoid them when connecting different payment methods?
Work with global networks becomes clearer when you study how different architectures behave under real conditions. My articles on cybersecurity and VXLAN-EVPN explore how segmentation, policy design, and traffic flow shape stability during multi-vendor exchanges. This research helped me see a recurring issue: every organization interprets standards differently, creating gaps during integration. Challenges arise when configuration logic, routing intent, or security rules evolve independently, making it hard to predict interactions between systems. Shared documentation, transparent change control, and a unified topology view create alignment across teams and vendors. When this foundation is strong, integrations move forward with much greater clarity and consistency.
You introduced automation that reduced manual interventions by 30% and improved incident response time at Armenian Card. For engineers looking to automate responsibly, what processes should be automated first, and what should never be automated?
When I started introducing automation at ArCa, the impact became clear very quickly. The routines that engineers repeat every day were the first to change, and the whole environment began to feel lighter. Once those tasks started running on their own, the team gained room to breathe — we noticed issues earlier, reacted with more confidence, and stopped feeling like we were constantly chasing the system.
There is another side to this work. In payments, some decisions rely on intuition that comes from years of watching how systems behave under pressure. Moments like adjusting a security posture or reviewing a sensitive change demand full awareness, and I always prefer to stay directly involved. It feels similar to driving during a storm: automation helps with visibility, yet control stays in your hands.
Cybersecurity incidents within the financial sector are on the rise. Based on your experience reducing network incidents by 40%, what should engineers prioritize today to strengthen resilience against modern attack vectors?
Long-term exposure to financial systems demonstrated that resilience grows from understanding how threats evolve inside real traffic patterns. The most meaningful progress appears when teams treat security as a continuous flow rather than a separate function. At ArCa, the reduction in incidents happened after we focused on visibility and fast interpretation of system behavior. Once the network began telling its story clearly, every response became faster and more confident.
Another essential element is awareness during moments when the system shifts from its usual rhythm. These transitions reveal risks earlier than any tool. When engineers recognize these signals and respond at the right moment, the entire environment gains a stronger defensive posture and stays prepared for the next wave of challenges.
For engineers building long-term careers in system and network engineering, especially in high-risk environments like finance, which skills matter most in 2025–2030? Where should professionals allocate their time and learning resources?
A sustainable career in this field grows from a genuine curiosity about how complex systems behave in real conditions. Engineers in finance gain real strength when they understand both the technical layers of a network and the business logic that drives each transaction. When those perspectives come together, decisions become clearer and long-term thinking becomes easier. The next years will highlight professionals who work confidently with cloud-native networks, automation, and modern security models. Yet one advantage stays timeless, the ability to read the system’s behavior the way a pilot reads the sky. Engineers who develop that instinct stay ahead, no matter which new technology arrives.
