Chime® is thrilled to announce that Barkha Saxena has joined as Chief Data Officer (CDO). In her role as CDO, Barkha will set the vision, strategy, and execution for data and AI initiatives at Chime. Barkha brings proven leadership in driving innovation and fostering a culture of data excellence across entire organizations. Her mission will be to turn data and AI into Chime's core operational assets, drive transformative impact on strategy and operations, and empower Chimers to serve our members best. Barkha will lead the Data Engineering, Data Analytics, Data Science, Machine Learning, and Data Governance teams and report to Ryan King, our co-founder.
"We're so excited to welcome Barkha to Chime. Her expertise will help us utilize data at Chime to drive top-line growth and operational efficiency gains for our organization, accelerating the great work our data team has already done. At a foundational level, this work will help us stay focused on improving our internal efficiency, enabling every part of our organization to better serve our members at scale." – Ryan King, Co-Founder of Chime
Prior to joining Chime, Barkha was Global Chief Data Officer (CDO) at McKinsey, where she spearheaded the development of scalable data platforms and capabilities, orchestrated a comprehensive data strategy, and guided a cross-functional global team on the data strategy for the firm's first GenAI initiative. While at McKinsey, she also initiated the firm's first federated data management and governance program and established a Center of Excellence (CoE) for the organization's CDOs. Before her time at McKinsey, Barkha was CDO at Poshmark, the largest Social E-commerce company, where she built the end-to-end data function from the ground up and led the inception and execution of a comprehensive data and AI strategy. Her leadership at Poshmark in driving data and AI enabled product innovation, marketing efficiencies, and operational excellence contributed to a remarkable 35-fold increase in top-line growth and the company's journey from Series B to a successful IPO. Before her roles at McKinsey and Poshmark, Barkha held leadership positions in the FinTech and digital advertising sectors, leveraging her expertise in data, AI, sales, and strategy.
In addition to her corporate roles, Barkha has served as an advisor to startups and co-founded ElevateData and InvestInData, high-impact communities for data executives. She holds an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, an MA in Statistics from the UC, Santa Barbara, and a joint BS & MS in Statistics from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur.
"My career is driven by the passion for building high-performing teams and partnering with them to drive real, all-around impact with Data and AI. I was instantly drawn to Chime's people-centric culture, with a mission that resonates with my lower-middle-class upbringing in India and a leadership team that believes in harnessing the power of data. As a consumer fintech company, Chime is rich in opportunities to create massive customer value and financial impact through the use of data and AI. I am excited to be part of Chime's team and help further the company's mission of empowering everyday people to achieve financial progress."
