On this page
At ACI, engineering isn鈥檛 just a discipline鈥攊t鈥檚 a mindset. Few people embody that more fully than Martina Power, whose 19-year career at ACI worldwide has been shaped by a willingness to move toward discomfort, embrace challenge, and build trust through consistent delivery.
As we celebrate Engineers Week 2026鈥攁 global recognition of the people who design, build, and secure the systems that keep our world moving鈥攚e also celebrate leaders like Martina who turn engineering into impact. This year鈥檚 theme, 鈥淭ransform Your Future,鈥� highlights how engineers shape opportunities and strengthen communities through every problem they solve.
And this celebration couldn鈥檛 come at a more fitting moment: ACI has been recognized by , an honor awarded based on surveys of more than 28,000 engineers evaluating professional development, culture, workplace flexibility, and overall satisfaction.
Together, these milestones reflect the engineering-first culture that has propelled both Martina and ACI forward.
Learning by leaving the comfort zone: A career built on curiosity and courage
Martina joined ACI in 2006, when the company opened its first office in Ireland. Payments were new to her, but the opportunity to build something from the ground up wasn鈥檛. That instinct became a theme: helping launch the Limerick office, contributing to the development of ACI鈥檚 first European data center, and leading engineering teams delivering real-time payments systems across continents.
The most important transition? Moving from software engineering into data center operations, a domain where she no longer had all the answers. This kind of environment doesn鈥檛 happen by accident. It grows from a trust-driven culture, something deeply connected to ACI鈥檚 strategy, where transparency, collaboration, and customer鈥慶entric engineering are the foundation for long-term success.
From engineering complexity to customer reality
Today, Martina leads Professional Services globally for ACI鈥檚 payments software business鈥攁 role at the intersection of engineering excellence and customer trust.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not just solving technical problems,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 understanding what actually matters to the customer.鈥�
She points to a global bank that faced mounting challenges last year. The solution wasn鈥檛 a major system overhaul鈥攊t was consistency: frequent conversations, listening deeply, and adapting priorities to address real pain points.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 how trust gets built,鈥� she said.
Shaping what comes next through a culture of growth
At ACI, engineering is more than code, systems, or architecture. It鈥檚 a culture鈥攐ne powered by curiosity, resilience, and a willingness to leave the comfort zone in pursuit of something better.
Martina鈥檚 journey is a reminder that growth rarely happens where things are easy. It happens when organizations create space for people to stretch and when people, in turn, embrace that stretch with intention.
As we celebrate Engineers Week 2026, we also celebrate the engineers who power our future, transform our industry, and strengthen the trust our customers and communities place in us every day.
Martina鈥檚 story highlights how trust from cross鈥慺unctional teams鈥攁nd the guidance to try new things鈥攃an help you grow beyond your comfort zone. Her commitment to truly understanding customers continues to guide her work.
This feature is one of three ACI 2026 Engineers Week spotlights. Explore the stories of Jeff Hill and Santhosh Pederedla.
Interested in growing here? Explore .
ACI Connetic – v1 (old, Backup) 
