Jakub Jurek joins Varo Bank as chief data officer
US-based challenger, Varo Bank, has named Dr. Jakub Jurek as chief data officer (CDO).
Dr. Jurek brings over 18 years of data expertise both in academia and at a number of disruptive fintechs including Figure Technologies and Wealthfront.
He brings over 18 years of data expertise in academia and fintechs.
Under Dr. Jurek’s leadership, Varo aims to accelerate its data-product vision that leverages Varo’s banking platform to design personalised experiences, develop insight-driven products for Varo customers, and support Varo’s risk management capabilities.
“Banking represents the foundation of everyone’s financial life and having a national bank charter puts Varo in a unique position to re-imagine this foundation,” Jurek says. “I am delighted to be joining Varo’s stellar leadership team and look forward to propelling the next phase of Varo’s growth.”
“The Varo team is thrilled to have Jakub join the company and champion such a critical area for the future of our innovation agenda,” says Colin Walsh, CEO and founder of Varo Bank.
“Jakub’s deep expertise in all things data will help accelerate our data roadmap to bring actionable insights, personalised experiences and an inclusive community to Varo customers.”
See also: Varo receives US national bank charter
Dr. Jurek has served in a number of leadership positions in fintech including CDO at Figure Technologies, where he was responsible for data analytics, engineering and machine learning for Figure’s blockchain-based lending products.
He was also vice president of data science and analytics at Wealthfront, where he helped lead the firm’s expansion from automated investing to financial planning and banking.
He also served as the CEO and chief information officer (CIO) of Wealthfront Strategies, an investment advisory subsidiary.
Prior to Wealthfront, Dr. Jurek was a professor of finance at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and Princeton University’s Bendheim Centre for Finance.
His academic research focused on investments and financial markets and was published in leading peer-reviewed journals. Dr. Jurek received his Bachelor’s degree in applied mathematics and economics, magna cum laude and his PhD (Doctorate) degree in business economics both from Harvard University.
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