Chime has announced the appointment of Barkha Saxena as its new Chief Data Officer. In her new role, Saxena will be responsible for the strategic direction, execution, and vision of data and AI initiatives, transforming these elements into core operational assets. She will be directly responsible for the data engineering, data analytics, data science, machine learning, and data governance teams, and will report to Co-Founder Ryan King. Saxena’s mission is to drive a transformative impact within Chime’s strategy and operations, improving the company’s ability to serve its members effectively. Ryan King expressed enthusiasm about Saxena’s expertise, highlighting her potential to drive top-line growth and operational efficiency gains.
Before joining Chime, Saxena served as Global CDO at McKinsey, where she developed scalable data platforms and led the firm’s first GenAI initiative. She also held the CDO position at Poshmark, where her leadership in data and AI contributed to significant growth and a successful IPO. Saxena’s extensive experience spans the fintech and digital advertising sectors, and she has co-founded data executive communities such as ElevateData and InvestInData. She has a joint bachelor’s and master’s degree in statistics from IIT Kanpur, a master’s degree in statistics from UC Santa Barbara, and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Saxena’s appointment is expected to further Chime’s “mission of empowering everyday people to achieve financial progress.”
