Leadership

Joseph is a seasoned executive with over 35 years of experience in consumer finance and asset management. His visionary leadership and strategic acumen have consistently propelled companies to industry-leading positions, setting new benchmarks for performance. A pioneer in fintech consumer lending, Joseph has an impressive track record of driving growth, fostering innovation, and delivering exceptional results.

Joseph began his career at Fisher Investments as Director of Research before founding Hilspen Capital Partners, a long/short equity hedge fund and research boutique. He later joined Lending Club at what was the inception of the fintech consumer lending industry, and in 2011 became President of Prosper Marketplace, at the time the second-largest fintech consumer lender. In 2013, he joined Freedom Financial (later Achieve.com) and launched their successful lending division. Under his leadership, the division grew into a highly profitable consumer lending business, with a top-performing $2 billion consumer credit fund and a robust securitization program that received AAA ratings from two separate rating agencies. In 2022, he was recruited by Axar Capital to start the lending operation for JG Wentworth, and later joined Axar in 2023 to support their consumer finance strategy. Joseph holds a B.A. in political science from the University of California at Santa Barbara.

Glen joined ADF in April 2016, bringing over 30 years of experience in accounting and corporate finance at both private and public companies. Prior to joining ADF, Glen was the CAO of Encore Capital Group, a public, $1 billion market cap international specialty finance company. Prior to Encore, he helped lead a San Diego based REIT’s IPO and designed and implemented its Sarbanes-Oxley compliance program. Prior to that, he was the CFO of both a private and a public restaurant company. He began his career with Arthur Andersen in September 1986, where he practiced as a certified public accountant. Glen earned a B.S. in accounting from Pepperdine University.

Shibani joined ADF in July 2015. She has over 19 years of relevant experience in operations, product management and process management leading and developing diverse teams cross functionally across multiple geographies. Prior to joining ADF, Shibani was at Global Analytics (now GAIN Credit) serving as Vice President of Operations and General Manager of Lending Stream, a leading fintech company in the U.K. Shibani earned her B.S. in computer science from Stanford University in 2003.

Lakshmi joined ADF in July 2015. She has over 19 years of experience in analytics, software, operations, project management and finance. Prior to ADF, Lakshmi was at Global Analytics (now Gain Credit) leading multiple business functions and later, served there as Head of overall India operations. Lakshmi has a post-graduate degree in statistics from Madras University.

Todd Rice has more than 30 years of experience across a variety of several consumer finance verticals. He was most recently the Founder and CEO at New Credit America, consumer finance company focused on assisting consumers with the restoration of their financial health. Prior to New Credit America, Todd held various leadership positions at First USA (Chase), Citigroup and was Executive Vice President at Providian Financial (WaMu Card Services), where he was responsible for all cardmember acquisition marketing. Additionally, he was an early-stage executive at Opportun, a provider of responsible credit in the Hispanic community. Todd received a BBA in Finance from Texas A&M University, and an MBA from New York University, Stern School of Business.

Judy joined ADF in March 2024, bringing over 25 years of experience in all areas of regulatory compliance. Prior to joining ADF, Judy held chief compliance officer and senior leadership compliance roles at various banks, administering, implementing, and overseeing complex compliance management programs for all types of products, including consumer and business lending. She also holds and maintains three compliance industry certifications: Certified Regulatory Compliance Manager (CRCM), Certified Information Privacy Professional, with a U.S. specialization (CIPP/US), and Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS). Judy earned a B.S. in business management from Brigham Young University and an M.S. in cybersecurity from Utah Valley University.

Craig has been with ADF since the company’s inception in late 2014. He has over 30 years of experience building products and solutions that leverage machine learning at their core, starting with HNC Software’s Falcon system (now owned by FICO). Craig spent 14 years at FICO, building predictive solutions in Financial Services, Healthcare, and Insurance. He was then the Chief Architect at Global Analytics (now GAIN Credit), helping to launch Lending Stream. Most recently, Mr. Nies was the VP of Software Development at Opera Solutions followed by a role as the Chief Analytics Officer at Elevate. He earned a B.S. in computer science from the University of California San Diego.

Jayaram Pandian has more than 20 years of experience in the fintech and lending domain, and has been with ADF since 2016. He currently leads Product and Platform Engineering at ADF and has been instrumental in building key lending systems from the ground up, including Loan Origination, Loan Management, Customer Self-Service Portals, Lead Aggregation, IVR Systems, and Credit Line products. Prior to ADF, he spent over a decade at Global Analytics (now GAIN Credit), where he played a key role in launching Blue Ocean Capital — a joint venture underwriting system — and Lending Stream. Jayarampandian holds a Masters degree in Computer Applications from Mepco Schlenk Engineering College under Anna University, Tamil Nadu.

Tushar Das has 18 years of experience in Financial Services, Fintech, and Digital Lending leading Product, Data Science/Analytics, Credit Risk, and Marketing functions. He has worked in different domains including personal loans, education loans, and analytics consulting in the US, UK, and Indian markets. Before joining ADF, Tushar was Chief Product & Data Science Officer for an India-based education loan start-up. Before that, he had a 14-year stint with Gain Credit in multiple leadership roles. Tushar has an MBA from the University of Oxford and an Engineering degree from NIT (India).

Vijayakumar has nearly 20 years of experience in developing end-to-end fintech systems across multiple markets, including the US, UK, and India. Beyond core engineering and platform development, he has played a pivotal role in setting up and transforming Corporate IT, Web and Mobile Applications, DevOps, SRE, Cybersecurity, and AI-driven systems. Before joining ADF in 2019, in his 14-year tenure at Global Analytics (now GAIN Credit), he was instrumental in developing underwriting service for multiple US portfolios, managing the lending platform for UK-based products like Zebit, LendingStream and Drafty, and contributing to the launch of OyeLoans in India. Recognized for his expertise in engineering excellence and people leadership, Vijay has been honoured with multiple accolades, including India’s Top 100 People Managers, Outstanding Leadership, and Best Fintech Leader awards. He is also a regular speaker at colleges/universities, inspiring students and helping them understand emerging technologies. Vijay holds a Master’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology from Madurai Kamaraj University, Tamil Nadu.

Deena Narayanaswamy has nearly two decades of experience in credit risk management and data science, having held senior roles at top fintech and financial services companies. Most recently, he served as Head of Credit at OnePay (formerly One) and previously held senior credit and data roles at Climb Credit, OppFi, Avant and FICO. Deena has also played critical roles in shaping predictive modeling and fraud prevention strategies in the fintech sector. He holds a Master of Science in Computer Engineering from the University of Minnesota and has completed executive education at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Vijay Ravichandran has a wealth of experience leading data science at fintech and financial services companies. Most recently, he was the Head of Decision Science at OnePay (formerly One), where he was part of the founding team for their India operations. Previously, he worked at Paytm and TransUnion where he led data science initiatives focused on credit risk and fraud prevention. He holds a Master of Science in Machine Learning and Data Science from Northwestern University.

Greg joined ADF in August 2019. He has nearly 15 years of relevant experience in legal and regulatory practice focused on consumer finance and related services. Prior to joining ADF, Greg spent 7 years at Encore Capital Group in a variety of legal roles including licensing and regulatory compliance, and litigation management. He received his J.D. from the University of Denver, Sturm College of Law, and his B.S. in Business Management from Drake University.

Melissa has over 25 years of relevant experience in finance, accounting and business intelligence. She was one of the earliest hires at ADF, joining in 2015 shortly after the company was founded. She previously served for eight years as Senior Director of Finance at Websense, where she managed an international FP&A team and led the business intelligence cross-functional team. Prior to Websense, she worked at HNC (later FICO) from 1998 to 2007, progressing from Senior Financial Analyst to Senior Director of Finance. Melissa earned a M.B.A. from UCLA and a B.S. in finance from the University of California, Berkeley.

Anthony Nyikos has nearly 30 years of experience in financial services, strategic partnerships, and business development for consumer finance and communications companies. Before rejoining ADF, he served as Partner Executive at Pathward, where he focused on establishing and growing key lending partnerships. Prior to that, he was Vice President of Strategic Partnerships at Monevo, where he worked with financial institutions to develop tailored credit solutions. Previously, he spent nearly eight years as Vice President of Strategic Partnerships at ADF, where he played a key role in expanding the company’s industry relationships. Earlier in his career, Nyikos worked for Cox Communications, Airband Communications and Airband (Redwire).

Bhargavi Jayanthi joined ADF in June 2020 and is a seasoned analytics leader with over 19 years of experience in delivering data-driven solutions across Risk, Credit, Marketing, Collections, and Operations in the retail credit and fintech space. With a strong track record in global environments, Bhargavi has successfully led large cross-functional teams, including a 400+ member offshore analytics team at Synchrony, driving the development and deployment of strategies to tackle complex business challenges. She holds a Master’s degree in Statistics-Operations Research from HCU, India and is passionate about leveraging analytics to help businesses adapt to evolving market needs.

Gopalan Raman brings over 18 years of relevant, hands-on experience in human resources and operations at Indian start-ups, from talent acquisition to team development. He spent a decade at Global Analytics India (now part of GAIN Credit), eventually overseeing the company’s HR activities and executing innovative recruitment strategies to scale the workforce from 10 to 300 team members. Gopalan has a deep understanding of technology, analytics and operations, especially in the fintech domain, and holds a M.Sc. in mathematics from the University of Hyderabad and a M.A. in mathematics from Temple University, Philadelphia, U.S.A.

Govind Bajaj, who joined ADF in Jun 2018, is a seasoned finance professional with over 16 years of relevant experience across diverse markets, including the US, UK, and India. He has consistently demonstrated his expertise in managing complex financial operations, building cross-functional teams and in strategic planning. His extensive background includes his most recent experience as Director – New Business and Strategy at Global Analytics (now GAIN Credit) where he helped build the finance, accounting, and marketing functions for Lending Stream, a leading fintech company in the U.K. He completed his Advanced Master’s Program in Management from IIM Bangalore, MBA from TAPMI, Manipal and is a Certified Financial Planner.