Ashkan Zakarya in

Ashkan Zakarya

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Head of Data Science at Pathward
📍 Washington DC-Baltimore Area, United States

Ashkan Zakarya is the Director of Data Science at Pathward, where he specializes in building and deploying predictive models for fraud detection, credit risk, and direct marketing. He holds a Master of Science from the Georgia Institute of Technology and is passionate about advancing analytical capabilities with modern AI/ML techniques.

Outside of his core role, Ashkan is focused on broader professional development topics, such as viewing ones career as an asset class. He is also interested in research on subjects like Customer Lifetime Value and ROI maximization within consumer lending, and follows macroeconomic trends reported by the Wall Street Journal.

Unique fact: Ashkan has experience as a visiting lecturer at Georgia State University, where he taught a course on Data Visualization and Storytelling with Python.

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Experience
7 Years
Current Role
Head of Data Science
Job Level
Mid-senior
Location
Washington DC-Baltimore Area, United States
Personality Overview

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Priorities

Topics Ashkan cares about

Profit-Driven AI
He has co-authored publications on creating profit-based artificial neural networks specifically for fraud detection and direct marketing applications.
Effective AI Adoption
He believes that companies should fix underlying broken processes first, viewing AI as a tool to empower people rather than a standalone solution for growth.
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Career

Work history

7-2025
Head of Data Science
Pathward
10-2021 - 8-2025
Portfolio and Credit Analytics
Pathward
5-2020 - 5-2022
Co-Founder/CFO/CMO
Plateful.ly
10-2021 - 11-2021
Visiting Lecturer
Georgia State University - J. Mack Robinson College of Business
12-2019 - 10-2021
Senior Modeler, Marketing
Discover Financial Services
In the press

Media appearances

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Education
2015 - 2017
Master of Science - MS
Georgia Institute of Technology
2013 - 2015
Master's degree
Ozyegin University
Social presence
in
Behavioral profile

DISC profile (public)

DISC behavioral profile

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