Message from the team:
They may be unseen, but their work today shapes the world we’ll live in tomorrow.
Our job is to arm them with the tools their adversaries cannot evade.
Our goal is to build the product that honors great investigators.
We believe they carry the most important work: protecting society from AI threats, shielding children from predators, dismantling corruption networks, and exposing breaches in critical supply chains. They do it without fear or favor.
People behind Tesari:
Elisar Nurmagambet
Co-founder | Chief Executive Officer
Ex. Black Ice AI - fraud investigations for banks and government | Advisory board at ATII | Forbes 30 Under 30
Elisar Nurmagambet is an entrepreneur and co-founder of Tesari AI, with extensive experience building high-impact intelligence and data systems used by global financial institutions, public organizations, and government bodies across the United States, Europe, Latin America, and Southeast Asia.
Based in the United States, Elisar has contributed to several historically significant international initiatives, including large-scale COVID-19 economic response fraud investigations, multinational sanctions intelligence, and United Nations anti-corruption initiatives. His work operates at the intersection of advanced technology, national security compliance and government intelligence.
Elisar has built and led elite, multidisciplinary teams comprising former senior engineers, scientists, and advisors from leading U.S. government, research, and intelligence organizations. His experience spans system-critical technology, large-scale data platforms, and trusted infrastructure for high-risk and regulated environments.
Nik Ponomarev
Co-founder | Chief Design and Technology Officer
Ex. Founding Engineer at ClickUp | Principal architect and Lead engineer at NASA/ARES corporation.
Paul Pogoda
Co-founder | Chief Product Officer
Sr. Investigator & AI Engineer | Built AI agents, developed OSINT tools, and led investigations into war crimes, sanctions evasion, and propaganda networks
Pavel leads product strategy and development at Tesari AI, shaping the vision and execution of the platform that empowers investigators with AI-assisted open-source intelligence. With deep expertise in fact-checking, OSINT, media literacy, and digital research, Pavel brings a unique blend of investigative insight and product leadership to building tools that elevate the craft of analysis for professionals worldwide.Before joining Tesari AI, Pavel was a driving force in global fact-checking and media literacy.In 2017-2018, together with Christian Triebert (New York Times investigator and former Bellingcat analyst), he co-authored the FactCheck.Academy OSINT course, a practical training program for investigators and fact-checkers. He has also taught media literacy and cybersecurity at the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences (FLAS) in Montenegro. As a contractor for the Internews Network, Goethe-Institut, and Institute for War & Peace Reporting, he has trained journalists and civil society professionals in Central Asia, Russia, Eastern Europe, the Baltics, and the Caucasus.Pavel has led high-impact research, including the UNICEF report on disinformation about vaccination during the COVID-19 pandemic, and served in senior editorial and fact-checking roles at FactCheck.kz and Helpdesk.Media. As a journalist, OSINT specialist, and fact-checker, Pavel contributed to many cross-border investigations, including AML, fraud analysis, war crimes, and disclosure of disinformation campaigns.In his role as Methodology Section Editor at Provereno.Media fact-checking project, Pavel produced dozens of instructional articles, videos, and training modules designed specifically for journalists and verification teams. His work has advanced newsroom investigators' capacity to confront misinformation with rigorous methodology and repeatable processes. Pavel also contributed to the first media literacy textbook adopted in Kazakh secondary schools, demonstrating his ability to translate complex methodologies into accessible, high-impact learning.Pavel’s work spans reporting, investigative research, digital profiling, GEOINT, and teaching, anchored in a lifelong commitment to truth, transparency, and evidence-driven analysis. His work at Tesari AI ensures that the product not only reflects cutting-edge technology but also serves the real-world needs of investigators, analysts, compliance teams, and due diligence practitioners who depend on trustworthy, provable insights in high-stakes environments.
Aaron Kahler
Founding Chief Strategy Officer
Financial Crimes, Trust & Safety, Counter-Human Exploitation SME | Founder of ATII | ex. LexisNexis, Deloitte, Capgemini, Citibank
Aaron Kahler, CFE, CAMS, FIS, CCI, CTCE, is currently the Founding Chief Strategy Officer for Tesari AI and previously the Founder and CEO of the Anti-Human Trafficking Intelligence Initiative (ATII). He utilizes his subject matter expertise in financial crime investigation, regulatory compliance, open-source intelligence (OSINT), trust & safety and cryptocurrency forensics/blockchain intelligence to lead global efforts and influence meaningful advancement in the fight against illicit finance and human exploitation.
Prior to ATII, Aaron has held a number of senior advisory consulting and private industry roles as a practice leader in the area of Anti-Money Laundering (AML), Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) Compliance and Financial Crimes within the financial services industry. He was also a Director of AML Global Market Planning for one of the worlds largest data and software companies.
He has 20+ years working with institutional clients within banking, capital markets, brokerage, asset management, money service businesses, crypto exchanges, hedge and private equity funds. Aaron is an Anti-Money Laundering (AML), Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), USA PATRIOT Act and Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) regulatory compliance subject matter expert who also specializes in fraud management and investigative due diligence-Know Your Customer (KYC).
Aaron is a Strategic Advisor for the Normandy Group, MS Investigations Board Member for the University of New Haven, Advisory Council Member for the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) and an Advisory Council Member for The Center for Identity Management and Information Protection (CIMIP). He also serves as a Co-Chair within the Technical Committee on Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLT) at IEEE Technology and Engineering Management Society (TEMS) as well as a Board Member for the foundation of his community Kiwanis chapter.
He earned a Bachelor of Science in Economic Crime Investigation from Utica College of Syracuse University.
Dinara Kazhgali
Founding GTM Lead
Ex. Chief Marketing Officer and GTM Strategy at Mycar, PwC, Samsung
Amy Barbieri
Senior Strategic Relationship Advisor
ex. President & Chief Growth Officer at Vital4 | Board of Fintech Atlanta | Executive Program Director of Fintech for Good | ex. GTM Lead at World Watch Plus
Amy Barbieri is a fintech and artificial intelligence executive dedicated to advancing financial crime prevention and building technologies that make the world a safer place. She operates at the intersection of AI, regulatory intelligence, fraud prevention, and risk analytics, with a career focused on protecting institutions and individuals from financial exploitation.
She is an inventor on a U.S. patent in artificial intelligence, reflecting her commitment to developing scalable, defensible AI solutions that strengthen compliance frameworks and enhance detection capabilities in complex regulatory environments.
She previously served as President and Chief Growth Officer of Vital4, the world’s leading regulatory data provider, where she led global growth across AML, KYC, KYB, and due diligence solutions. She also served on Vital4’s Board, helping guide long-term strategy in the fight against financial crime. Under her leadership, the company expanded its role as a trusted intelligence partner to financial institutions, fintechs, and multinational enterprises navigating sanctions, corruption risk, human trafficking exposure, and other financial crime threats.
Earlier, she was the Go-To-Market leader for World Watch Plus, contributing to its strategic growth and successful acquisition by Dun & Bradstreet. Across both startup and enterprise environments, she has built a reputation for translating complex regulatory and AI capabilities into actionable solutions that protect businesses and communities.
A recognized thought leader in financial crime prevention, she is a sought-after speaker on artificial intelligence, fraud detection, sanctions compliance, and responsible AI governance. She was invited to speak at the Anti-Human Trafficking Summit, where Attorneys General from across the United States convene to collaborate on combating human trafficking — underscoring her commitment to leveraging financial technology as a force multiplier in the fight against exploitation.
She currently serves on the Board of Fintech Atlanta, supporting the growth of the regional fintech ecosystem, and is the Executive Program Director of Fintech for Good — an initiative focused on harnessing financial technology to expand transparency, prevent exploitation, and drive measurable social impact through responsible innovation.
Yuri Anichkin
Founding Frontend Engineer
ex. Founding Frontend Engineer at ClickUp - built technical foundations and led frontend team through initial product development and early scaling
Yuri Anichkin is a Senior Frontend Architect and a definitive force in the modern engineering landscape. With over 10 years of experience, Yuri’s expertise spans the entire frontend spectrum—from high-fidelity to the orchestration of complex distributed architectures.
Yuri’s career is anchored by high-stakes innovation, most notably as a Founding Frontend Engineer at ClickUp. In this role, he architected and shipped the first production version of what has since become a global leader in the project management space.
Recently, at Universal Weather and Aviation, Inc., Yuri led the design of core application architectures and shared component libraries for mission-critical aviation solutions. A master of modernizing legacy systems through incremental migration, his technical arsenal includes microfrontend architecture, sophisticated Design Systems, and the entire React ecosystem.
He is constantly pushing the boundaries of engineering productivity, ensuring that Tesari’s frontend remains as innovative and agile as the intelligence it delivers.
Dair Kazhgaliyev
Data and AI Engineer
Data and AI Engineer | Ex. Software Development and QA at Remofirst, Mycar
Paul Samulak
Founding Product Designer
Ex. Art Director & Head of Product Design at Mycar, Higgsfield
Kate Gryn
GTM
Ex. Lead Software Testing Engineer at EPAM | Extensive experience in fraud investigations and chargebacks in the Banking Sector
Laura Dunham
Account Executive
Extensive experience supporting clients across investment, real estate and healthcare industries
Advisors:
Glenn Corn
Advisory Board
Ret. Sr. Executive at the CIA, Department of State, U.S. Army | Sr. Director at Institute of Critical Infrastructure
Glenn is a 35-year veteran of the National Security and International Affairs community who served as a senior executive in the Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) Directorate of Operations, leading highly diverse teams and building strong relationships in some of the most complex and dangerous environments in the world. He holds an MA and BA in Russian Language and Studies, is a graduate of the U.S. Army Russian Institute and completed numerous specialized training programs in Intelligence Collection, Counterintelligence operations, Analysis, Leadership and Adult Education from with the CIA, Department of Defense, U.S. Army and U.S. Department of State. While serving in the CIA, Glenn gained extensive experience briefing senior U.S. Government officials and leaders of Foreign Countries on a range of Intelligence, Counterintelligence and Security-related issues and interacting with a diverse set of foreign nationals around the world, solving complex problems and handling dangerous issues in high-stress situations.
After retiring from the CIA in May of 2023, Glenn quickly established himself as a highly effective and inspiring public speaker and educator who excels at motivating and inspiring audiences with a combination of his unique experiences and insights, cultural understanding gained from over 20 years working and living overseas, and sense of humor. In addition to teaching graduate classes as a Professor at the Institute of World Politics, Glenn is regularly invited to serve as a guest lecturer and speaker at the Nation’s top Academic Institutions and Public and Private organizations. He is an Expert Contributor to the National Security publication the "Cipher Brief", a Visiting Fellow at George Mason University Law School's National Security Institute, an Advisor at the Institute of Critical Infrastructure and Technology and Diplomatic Studies Foundation, the CEO of Great South Bay, LLC and a founding member and partner in the Strategic Advisory and Consulting firm Varyag. Glenn is a published author who specializes in writing on Geopolitical and National Security affairs.
Niral Kalaria
Advisory Board
Ex. Chief Ethics Officer and Head of Investigations at Deutsche Bank | ex. COO and Head of Transformation, DWS Group
Niral Kalaria, CFA is a seasoned financial services executive with deep expertise in ethics, investigations, and large-scale enterprise transformation across global banking and asset management.
He previously served as Chief Ethics Officer at DWS Group, Deutsche Bank’s asset management arm overseeing more than $1 trillion in assets, where he led firm-wide ethics and culture initiatives and implemented ESG-related governance and control frameworks. Earlier at Deutsche Bank (2016–2021), Niral was Managing Director and Group Audit Head of Investigations, overseeing complex, cross-border investigations on behalf of senior management, supervisory boards, and global regulators.
Niral currently acts as Non-Executive Director and Head of Financial Services Advisory at Global Data Risk, advising institutions on governance, risk, compliance remediation, and anti-financial-crime programs. He is also Chief Transformation Adviser at Kepler Cannon, supporting asset managers through strategic, technological, and operating-model change.
His core expertise spans global investigations, regulatory compliance, organizational remediation, and cultural transformation across the buy-side and banking sectors. Niral brings a practical, systems-level perspective to addressing conduct, governance, and financial crime risks—making him a strong strategic voice in investigative and OSINT-driven use cases.
Gavin Corn
Advisory Board
Director, Data Privacy & Security at Netflix | ex. Director of Cybersecurity, Law Enforcement Team at Meta
Gavin Corn is a seasoned legal and cybersecurity professional with deep experience in cybercrime, investigations, and global security risk management. He has served in senior roles across government and private sector organizations, bringing a blend of investigative rigor and practical legal insight to complex digital and transnational challenges.
Gavin began his career as a federal prosecutor with over 20 years of government service, including leadership roles at the U.S. Department of Justice. He prosecuted major international criminal cases and later served as Chief Counsel and Director of the International Organized Crime Intelligence and Operations Center (IOC-2), a premier interagency center focused on transnational crime and cyber-enabled threats.
In the private sector, Gavin has built and led cybersecurity law and investigations functions at major technology companies. He has been Director of Cyber Security Law at Facebook (Meta), where he worked at the intersection of cybersecurity, Law Enforcement engagement, privacy, and platform trust and safety, and he has also held senior cybersecurity and data privacy counsel roles at Netflix.
Across his career, Gavin has advised on complex cyber incidents, coordinated law-enforcement response, and helped shape legal strategies for protecting digital infrastructure and responding to cross-border threats. His experience spans the public and private sectors, making him a valued voice in building investigator-centric tools and workflows for trust, safety, cybercrime, and intelligence operations.
William Usher
Advisory Board
Sr. Director for Intelligence | Special Competitive Studies Project | ex. Sr. Executice Intelligence Service officer at CIA
William “Chip” Usher is a highly experienced intelligence leader and strategic thinker with more than three decades of service in the U.S. intelligence community. He currently serves as Senior Director for Intelligence at the Special Competitive Studies Project (SCSP), a Washington-based think tank focused on issues of national competitiveness, technology, and security.
Before joining SCSP, Chip spent 32 years at the Central Intelligence Agency, where he held senior analytic and leadership roles as a member of the Senior Intelligence Service and was awarded the Distinguished Career Intelligence Medal. His career at the CIA included extensive work on geopolitical analysis, regional expertise in the Near East, East Asia and Eurasia, and on the transformation of intelligence tradecraft in an era of rapidly expanding data and digital technologies.
At SCSP, he advises on strategic intelligence issues, with particular focus on how emerging technologies like artificial intelligence are reshaping national security and the global intelligence landscape. He is frequently quoted in major media outlets and speaks publicly on topics including intelligence innovation, open-source data, and competitive national strategy.
Chip holds a B.A. from Duke University and a Master’s in National Security Strategy from the National War College, blending academic insight with deep operational experience.
Valentina Isakina
Advisory Board
ex. EVP & Chief Strategy Officer LexisNexis |
Independent Adviser & Board Member at the Office of Tony Blair | ex-McKinsey, Bain
Message from the team:
Our goal is to build the product that honors great investigators.
We believe they carry the most important work: protecting society from AI threats, shielding children from predators, dismantling corruption networks, and exposing breaches in critical supply chains. They do it without fear or favor.
They may be unseen, but their work today shapes the world we’ll live in tomorrow.
Our job is to arm them with the tools their adversaries cannot evade.
People behind Tesari:
Elisar Nurmagambet
Co-founder | Chief Executive Officer
Ex. Black Ice AI - fraud investigations for banks and government | Advisory board at ATII | Forbes 30 Under 30
Elisar Nurmagambet is an entrepreneur and co-founder of Tesari AI, with extensive experience building high-impact intelligence and data systems used by global financial institutions, public organizations, and government bodies across the United States, Europe, Latin America, and Southeast Asia.
Based in the United States, Elisar has contributed to several historically significant international initiatives, including large-scale COVID-19 economic response fraud investigations, multinational sanctions intelligence, and United Nations anti-corruption initiatives. His work operates at the intersection of advanced technology, national security compliance and government intelligence.
Elisar has built and led elite, multidisciplinary teams comprising former senior engineers, scientists, and advisors from leading U.S. government, research, and intelligence organizations. His experience spans system-critical technology, large-scale data platforms, and trusted infrastructure for high-risk and regulated environments.
Nik Ponomarev
Co-founder | Chief Design and Technology Officer
Ex. Founding Engineer at ClickUp | Principal architect and Lead engineer at NASA/ARES corporation.
Paul Pogoda
Co-founder | Chief Product Officer
Sr. Investigator & AI Engineer | Built AI agents, developed OSINT tools, and led investigations into war crimes, sanctions evasion, and propaganda networks
Pavel leads product strategy and development at Tesari AI, shaping the vision and execution of the platform that empowers investigators with AI-assisted open-source intelligence. With deep expertise in fact-checking, OSINT, media literacy, and digital research, Pavel brings a unique blend of investigative insight and product leadership to building tools that elevate the craft of analysis for professionals worldwide.Before joining Tesari AI, Pavel was a driving force in global fact-checking and media literacy.In 2017-2018, together with Christian Triebert (New York Times investigator and former Bellingcat analyst), he co-authored the FactCheck.Academy OSINT course, a practical training program for investigators and fact-checkers. He has also taught media literacy and cybersecurity at the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences (FLAS) in Montenegro. As a contractor for the Internews Network, Goethe-Institut, and Institute for War & Peace Reporting, he has trained journalists and civil society professionals in Central Asia, Russia, Eastern Europe, the Baltics, and the Caucasus.Pavel has led high-impact research, including the UNICEF report on disinformation about vaccination during the COVID-19 pandemic, and served in senior editorial and fact-checking roles at FactCheck.kz and Helpdesk.Media. As a journalist, OSINT specialist, and fact-checker, Pavel contributed to many cross-border investigations, including AML, fraud analysis, war crimes, and disclosure of disinformation campaigns.In his role as Methodology Section Editor at Provereno.Media fact-checking project, Pavel produced dozens of instructional articles, videos, and training modules designed specifically for journalists and verification teams. His work has advanced newsroom investigators' capacity to confront misinformation with rigorous methodology and repeatable processes. Pavel also contributed to the first media literacy textbook adopted in Kazakh secondary schools, demonstrating his ability to translate complex methodologies into accessible, high-impact learning.Pavel’s work spans reporting, investigative research, digital profiling, GEOINT, and teaching, anchored in a lifelong commitment to truth, transparency, and evidence-driven analysis. His work at Tesari AI ensures that the product not only reflects cutting-edge technology but also serves the real-world needs of investigators, analysts, compliance teams, and due diligence practitioners who depend on trustworthy, provable insights in high-stakes environments.
Aaron Kahler
Founding Chief Strategy Officer
Financial Crimes, Trust & Safety, Counter-Human Exploitation SME | Founder of ATII | ex. LexisNexis, Deloitte, Capgemini, Citibank
Aaron Kahler, CFE, CAMS, FIS, CCI, CTCE, is currently the Founding Chief Strategy Officer for Tesari AI and previously the Founder and CEO of the Anti-Human Trafficking Intelligence Initiative (ATII). He utilizes his subject matter expertise in financial crime investigation, regulatory compliance, open-source intelligence (OSINT), trust & safety and cryptocurrency forensics/blockchain intelligence to lead global efforts and influence meaningful advancement in the fight against illicit finance and human exploitation.
Prior to ATII, Aaron has held a number of senior advisory consulting and private industry roles as a practice leader in the area of Anti-Money Laundering (AML), Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) Compliance and Financial Crimes within the financial services industry. He was also a Director of AML Global Market Planning for one of the worlds largest data and software companies.
He has 20+ years working with institutional clients within banking, capital markets, brokerage, asset management, money service businesses, crypto exchanges, hedge and private equity funds. Aaron is an Anti-Money Laundering (AML), Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), USA PATRIOT Act and Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) regulatory compliance subject matter expert who also specializes in fraud management and investigative due diligence-Know Your Customer (KYC).
Aaron is a Strategic Advisor for the Normandy Group, MS Investigations Board Member for the University of New Haven, Advisory Council Member for the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) and an Advisory Council Member for The Center for Identity Management and Information Protection (CIMIP). He also serves as a Co-Chair within the Technical Committee on Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLT) at IEEE Technology and Engineering Management Society (TEMS) as well as a Board Member for the foundation of his community Kiwanis chapter.
He earned a Bachelor of Science in Economic Crime Investigation from Utica College of Syracuse University.
Dinara Kazhgali
Founding GTM Lead
Ex. Chief Marketing Officer and GTM Strategy at Mycar, PwC, Samsung
Amy Barbieri
Senior Strategic Relationship Advisor
ex. President & Chief Growth Officer at Vital4 | Board of Fintech Atlanta | Executive Program Director of Fintech for Good | ex. GTM Lead at World Watch Plus
Amy Barbieri is a fintech and artificial intelligence executive dedicated to advancing financial crime prevention and building technologies that make the world a safer place. She operates at the intersection of AI, regulatory intelligence, fraud prevention, and risk analytics, with a career focused on protecting institutions and individuals from financial exploitation.
She is an inventor on a U.S. patent in artificial intelligence, reflecting her commitment to developing scalable, defensible AI solutions that strengthen compliance frameworks and enhance detection capabilities in complex regulatory environments.
She previously served as President and Chief Growth Officer of Vital4, the world’s leading regulatory data provider, where she led global growth across AML, KYC, KYB, and due diligence solutions. She also served on Vital4’s Board, helping guide long-term strategy in the fight against financial crime. Under her leadership, the company expanded its role as a trusted intelligence partner to financial institutions, fintechs, and multinational enterprises navigating sanctions, corruption risk, human trafficking exposure, and other financial crime threats.
Earlier, she was the Go-To-Market leader for World Watch Plus, contributing to its strategic growth and successful acquisition by Dun & Bradstreet. Across both startup and enterprise environments, she has built a reputation for translating complex regulatory and AI capabilities into actionable solutions that protect businesses and communities.
A recognized thought leader in financial crime prevention, she is a sought-after speaker on artificial intelligence, fraud detection, sanctions compliance, and responsible AI governance. She was invited to speak at the Anti-Human Trafficking Summit, where Attorneys General from across the United States convene to collaborate on combating human trafficking — underscoring her commitment to leveraging financial technology as a force multiplier in the fight against exploitation.
She currently serves on the Board of Fintech Atlanta, supporting the growth of the regional fintech ecosystem, and is the Executive Program Director of Fintech for Good — an initiative focused on harnessing financial technology to expand transparency, prevent exploitation, and drive measurable social impact through responsible innovation.
Yuri Anichkin
Founding Frontend Engineer
ex. Founding Frontend Engineer at ClickUp - built technical foundations and led frontend team through initial product development and early scaling
Yuri Anichkin is a Senior Frontend Architect and a definitive force in the modern engineering landscape. With over 10 years of experience, Yuri’s expertise spans the entire frontend spectrum—from high-fidelity to the orchestration of complex distributed architectures.
Yuri’s career is anchored by high-stakes innovation, most notably as a Founding Frontend Engineer at ClickUp. In this role, he architected and shipped the first production version of what has since become a global leader in the project management space.
Recently, at Universal Weather and Aviation, Inc., Yuri led the design of core application architectures and shared component libraries for mission-critical aviation solutions. A master of modernizing legacy systems through incremental migration, his technical arsenal includes microfrontend architecture, sophisticated Design Systems, and the entire React ecosystem.
He is constantly pushing the boundaries of engineering productivity, ensuring that Tesari’s frontend remains as innovative and agile as the intelligence it delivers.
Dair Kazhgaliyev
Data and AI Engineer
Data and AI Engineer | Ex. Software Development and QA at Remofirst, Mycar
Paul Samulak
Founding Product Designer
Ex. Art Director & Head of Product Design at Mycar, Higgsfield
Kate Gryn
GTM
Ex. Lead Software Testing Engineer at EPAM | Extensive experience in fraud investigations and chargebacks in the Banking Sector
Laura Dunham
Account Executive
Extensive experience supporting clients across investment, real estate and healthcare industries
Advisors:
Glenn Corn
Advisory Board
Ret. Sr. Executive at the CIA, Department of State, U.S. Army | Sr. Director at Institute of Critical Infrastructure
Glenn is a 35-year veteran of the National Security and International Affairs community who served as a senior executive in the Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) Directorate of Operations, leading highly diverse teams and building strong relationships in some of the most complex and dangerous environments in the world. He holds an MA and BA in Russian Language and Studies, is a graduate of the U.S. Army Russian Institute and completed numerous specialized training programs in Intelligence Collection, Counterintelligence operations, Analysis, Leadership and Adult Education from with the CIA, Department of Defense, U.S. Army and U.S. Department of State. While serving in the CIA, Glenn gained extensive experience briefing senior U.S. Government officials and leaders of Foreign Countries on a range of Intelligence, Counterintelligence and Security-related issues and interacting with a diverse set of foreign nationals around the world, solving complex problems and handling dangerous issues in high-stress situations.
After retiring from the CIA in May of 2023, Glenn quickly established himself as a highly effective and inspiring public speaker and educator who excels at motivating and inspiring audiences with a combination of his unique experiences and insights, cultural understanding gained from over 20 years working and living overseas, and sense of humor. In addition to teaching graduate classes as a Professor at the Institute of World Politics, Glenn is regularly invited to serve as a guest lecturer and speaker at the Nation’s top Academic Institutions and Public and Private organizations. He is an Expert Contributor to the National Security publication the "Cipher Brief", a Visiting Fellow at George Mason University Law School's National Security Institute, an Advisor at the Institute of Critical Infrastructure and Technology and Diplomatic Studies Foundation, the CEO of Great South Bay, LLC and a founding member and partner in the Strategic Advisory and Consulting firm Varyag. Glenn is a published author who specializes in writing on Geopolitical and National Security affairs.
Niral Kalaria
Advisory Board
Ex. Chief Ethics Officer and Head of Investigations at Deutsche Bank | ex. COO and Head of Transformation, DWS Group
Niral Kalaria, CFA is a seasoned financial services executive with deep expertise in ethics, investigations, and large-scale enterprise transformation across global banking and asset management.
He previously served as Chief Ethics Officer at DWS Group, Deutsche Bank’s asset management arm overseeing more than $1 trillion in assets, where he led firm-wide ethics and culture initiatives and implemented ESG-related governance and control frameworks. Earlier at Deutsche Bank (2016–2021), Niral was Managing Director and Group Audit Head of Investigations, overseeing complex, cross-border investigations on behalf of senior management, supervisory boards, and global regulators.
Niral currently acts as Non-Executive Director and Head of Financial Services Advisory at Global Data Risk, advising institutions on governance, risk, compliance remediation, and anti-financial-crime programs. He is also Chief Transformation Adviser at Kepler Cannon, supporting asset managers through strategic, technological, and operating-model change.
His core expertise spans global investigations, regulatory compliance, organizational remediation, and cultural transformation across the buy-side and banking sectors. Niral brings a practical, systems-level perspective to addressing conduct, governance, and financial crime risks—making him a strong strategic voice in investigative and OSINT-driven use cases.
Gavin Corn
Advisory Board
Director, Data Privacy & Security at Netflix | ex. Director of Cybersecurity, Law Enforcement Team at Meta
Gavin Corn is a seasoned legal and cybersecurity professional with deep experience in cybercrime, investigations, and global security risk management. He has served in senior roles across government and private sector organizations, bringing a blend of investigative rigor and practical legal insight to complex digital and transnational challenges.
Gavin began his career as a federal prosecutor with over 20 years of government service, including leadership roles at the U.S. Department of Justice. He prosecuted major international criminal cases and later served as Chief Counsel and Director of the International Organized Crime Intelligence and Operations Center (IOC-2), a premier interagency center focused on transnational crime and cyber-enabled threats.
In the private sector, Gavin has built and led cybersecurity law and investigations functions at major technology companies. He has been Director of Cyber Security Law at Facebook (Meta), where he worked at the intersection of cybersecurity, Law Enforcement engagement, privacy, and platform trust and safety, and he has also held senior cybersecurity and data privacy counsel roles at Netflix.
Across his career, Gavin has advised on complex cyber incidents, coordinated law-enforcement response, and helped shape legal strategies for protecting digital infrastructure and responding to cross-border threats. His experience spans the public and private sectors, making him a valued voice in building investigator-centric tools and workflows for trust, safety, cybercrime, and intelligence operations.
William Usher
Advisory Board
Sr. Director for Intelligence | Special Competitive Studies Project | ex. Sr. Executice Intelligence Service officer at CIA
William “Chip” Usher is a highly experienced intelligence leader and strategic thinker with more than three decades of service in the U.S. intelligence community. He currently serves as Senior Director for Intelligence at the Special Competitive Studies Project (SCSP), a Washington-based think tank focused on issues of national competitiveness, technology, and security.
Before joining SCSP, Chip spent 32 years at the Central Intelligence Agency, where he held senior analytic and leadership roles as a member of the Senior Intelligence Service and was awarded the Distinguished Career Intelligence Medal. His career at the CIA included extensive work on geopolitical analysis, regional expertise in the Near East, East Asia and Eurasia, and on the transformation of intelligence tradecraft in an era of rapidly expanding data and digital technologies.
At SCSP, he advises on strategic intelligence issues, with particular focus on how emerging technologies like artificial intelligence are reshaping national security and the global intelligence landscape. He is frequently quoted in major media outlets and speaks publicly on topics including intelligence innovation, open-source data, and competitive national strategy.
Chip holds a B.A. from Duke University and a Master’s in National Security Strategy from the National War College, blending academic insight with deep operational experience.
Valentina Isakina
Advisory Board
ex. EVP & Chief Strategy Officer LexisNexis |
Independent Adviser & Board Member at the Office of Tony Blair | ex-McKinsey, Bain
Message from the team:
Our goal is to build the product that honors great investigators.
They may be unseen, but their work today shapes the world we’ll live in tomorrow.
Our job is to arm them with the tools their adversaries cannot evade.
We believe they carry the most important work: protecting society from AI threats, shielding children from predators, dismantling corruption networks, and exposing breaches in critical supply chains. They do it without fear or favor.
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People behind Tesari:
Elisar Nurmagambet
Co-founder | Chief Executive Officer
Ex. Black Ice AI - fraud investigations for banks and government | Advisory board at ATII | Forbes 30 Under 30
Elisar Nurmagambet is an entrepreneur and co-founder of Tesari AI, with extensive experience building high-impact intelligence and data systems used by global financial institutions, public organizations, and government bodies across the United States, Europe, Latin America, and Southeast Asia.
Based in the United States, Elisar has contributed to several historically significant international initiatives, including large-scale COVID-19 economic response fraud investigations, multinational sanctions intelligence, and United Nations anti-corruption initiatives. His work operates at the intersection of advanced technology, national security compliance and government intelligence.
Elisar has built and led elite, multidisciplinary teams comprising former senior engineers, scientists, and advisors from leading U.S. government, research, and intelligence organizations. His experience spans system-critical technology, large-scale data platforms, and trusted infrastructure for high-risk and regulated environments.
Nik Ponomarev
Co-founder | Chief Design and Technology Officer
Ex. Founding Engineer at ClickUp | Principal architect and Lead engineer at NASA/ARES corporation.
Paul Pogoda
Co-founder | Chief Product Officer
Sr. Investigator & AI Engineer | Built AI agents, developed OSINT tools, and led investigations into war crimes, sanctions evasion, and propaganda networks
Pavel leads product strategy and development at Tesari AI, shaping the vision and execution of the platform that empowers investigators with AI-assisted open-source intelligence. With deep expertise in fact-checking, OSINT, media literacy, and digital research, Pavel brings a unique blend of investigative insight and product leadership to building tools that elevate the craft of analysis for professionals worldwide.Before joining Tesari AI, Pavel was a driving force in global fact-checking and media literacy.In 2017-2018, together with Christian Triebert (New York Times investigator and former Bellingcat analyst), he co-authored the FactCheck.Academy OSINT course, a practical training program for investigators and fact-checkers. He has also taught media literacy and cybersecurity at the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences (FLAS) in Montenegro. As a contractor for the Internews Network, Goethe-Institut, and Institute for War & Peace Reporting, he has trained journalists and civil society professionals in Central Asia, Russia, Eastern Europe, the Baltics, and the Caucasus.Pavel has led high-impact research, including the UNICEF report on disinformation about vaccination during the COVID-19 pandemic, and served in senior editorial and fact-checking roles at FactCheck.kz and Helpdesk.Media. As a journalist, OSINT specialist, and fact-checker, Pavel contributed to many cross-border investigations, including AML, fraud analysis, war crimes, and disclosure of disinformation campaigns.In his role as Methodology Section Editor at Provereno.Media fact-checking project, Pavel produced dozens of instructional articles, videos, and training modules designed specifically for journalists and verification teams. His work has advanced newsroom investigators' capacity to confront misinformation with rigorous methodology and repeatable processes. Pavel also contributed to the first media literacy textbook adopted in Kazakh secondary schools, demonstrating his ability to translate complex methodologies into accessible, high-impact learning.Pavel’s work spans reporting, investigative research, digital profiling, GEOINT, and teaching, anchored in a lifelong commitment to truth, transparency, and evidence-driven analysis. His work at Tesari AI ensures that the product not only reflects cutting-edge technology but also serves the real-world needs of investigators, analysts, compliance teams, and due diligence practitioners who depend on trustworthy, provable insights in high-stakes environments.
Aaron Kahler
Founding Chief Strategy Officer
Financial Crimes, Trust & Safety, Counter-Human Exploitation SME | Founder of ATII | ex. LexisNexis, Deloitte, Capgemini, Citibank
Aaron Kahler, CFE, CAMS, FIS, CCI, CTCE, is currently the Founding Chief Strategy Officer for Tesari AI and previously the Founder and CEO of the Anti-Human Trafficking Intelligence Initiative (ATII). He utilizes his subject matter expertise in financial crime investigation, regulatory compliance, open-source intelligence (OSINT), trust & safety and cryptocurrency forensics/blockchain intelligence to lead global efforts and influence meaningful advancement in the fight against illicit finance and human exploitation.
Prior to ATII, Aaron has held a number of senior advisory consulting and private industry roles as a practice leader in the area of Anti-Money Laundering (AML), Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) Compliance and Financial Crimes within the financial services industry. He was also a Director of AML Global Market Planning for one of the worlds largest data and software companies.
He has 20+ years working with institutional clients within banking, capital markets, brokerage, asset management, money service businesses, crypto exchanges, hedge and private equity funds. Aaron is an Anti-Money Laundering (AML), Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), USA PATRIOT Act and Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) regulatory compliance subject matter expert who also specializes in fraud management and investigative due diligence-Know Your Customer (KYC).
Aaron is a Strategic Advisor for the Normandy Group, MS Investigations Board Member for the University of New Haven, Advisory Council Member for the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) and an Advisory Council Member for The Center for Identity Management and Information Protection (CIMIP). He also serves as a Co-Chair within the Technical Committee on Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLT) at IEEE Technology and Engineering Management Society (TEMS) as well as a Board Member for the foundation of his community Kiwanis chapter.
He earned a Bachelor of Science in Economic Crime Investigation from Utica College of Syracuse University.
Dinara Kazhgali
Founding GTM Lead
Ex. Chief Marketing Officer and GTM Strategy at Mycar, PwC, Samsung
Amy Barbieri
Senior Strategic Relationship Advisor
ex. President & Chief Growth Officer at Vital4 | Board of Fintech Atlanta | Executive Program Director of Fintech for Good | ex. GTM Lead at World Watch Plus
Amy Barbieri is a fintech and artificial intelligence executive dedicated to advancing financial crime prevention and building technologies that make the world a safer place. She operates at the intersection of AI, regulatory intelligence, fraud prevention, and risk analytics, with a career focused on protecting institutions and individuals from financial exploitation.
She is an inventor on a U.S. patent in artificial intelligence, reflecting her commitment to developing scalable, defensible AI solutions that strengthen compliance frameworks and enhance detection capabilities in complex regulatory environments.
She previously served as President and Chief Growth Officer of Vital4, the world’s leading regulatory data provider, where she led global growth across AML, KYC, KYB, and due diligence solutions. She also served on Vital4’s Board, helping guide long-term strategy in the fight against financial crime. Under her leadership, the company expanded its role as a trusted intelligence partner to financial institutions, fintechs, and multinational enterprises navigating sanctions, corruption risk, human trafficking exposure, and other financial crime threats.
Earlier, she was the Go-To-Market leader for World Watch Plus, contributing to its strategic growth and successful acquisition by Dun & Bradstreet. Across both startup and enterprise environments, she has built a reputation for translating complex regulatory and AI capabilities into actionable solutions that protect businesses and communities.
A recognized thought leader in financial crime prevention, she is a sought-after speaker on artificial intelligence, fraud detection, sanctions compliance, and responsible AI governance. She was invited to speak at the Anti-Human Trafficking Summit, where Attorneys General from across the United States convene to collaborate on combating human trafficking — underscoring her commitment to leveraging financial technology as a force multiplier in the fight against exploitation.
She currently serves on the Board of Fintech Atlanta, supporting the growth of the regional fintech ecosystem, and is the Executive Program Director of Fintech for Good — an initiative focused on harnessing financial technology to expand transparency, prevent exploitation, and drive measurable social impact through responsible innovation.
Yuri Anichkin
Founding Frontend Engineer
ex. Founding Frontend Engineer at ClickUp - built technical foundations and led frontend team through initial product development and early scaling
Yuri Anichkin is a Senior Frontend Architect and a definitive force in the modern engineering landscape. With over 10 years of experience, Yuri’s expertise spans the entire frontend spectrum—from high-fidelity to the orchestration of complex distributed architectures.
Yuri’s career is anchored by high-stakes innovation, most notably as a Founding Frontend Engineer at ClickUp. In this role, he architected and shipped the first production version of what has since become a global leader in the project management space.
Recently, at Universal Weather and Aviation, Inc., Yuri led the design of core application architectures and shared component libraries for mission-critical aviation solutions. A master of modernizing legacy systems through incremental migration, his technical arsenal includes microfrontend architecture, sophisticated Design Systems, and the entire React ecosystem.
He is constantly pushing the boundaries of engineering productivity, ensuring that Tesari’s frontend remains as innovative and agile as the intelligence it delivers.
Dair Kazhgaliyev
Data and AI Engineer
Data and AI Engineer | Ex. Software Development and QA at Remofirst, Mycar
Paul Samulak
Founding Product Designer
Ex. Art Director & Head of Product Design at Mycar, Higgsfield
Kate Gryn
GTM
Ex. Lead Software Testing Engineer at EPAM | Extensive experience in fraud investigations and chargebacks in the Banking Sector
Laura Dunham
Account Executive
Extensive experience supporting clients across investment, real estate and healthcare industries
Advisors:
Glenn Corn
Advisory Board
Ret. Sr. Executive at the CIA, Department of State, U.S. Army | Sr. Director at Institute of Critical Infrastructure
Glenn is a 35-year veteran of the National Security and International Affairs community who served as a senior executive in the Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) Directorate of Operations, leading highly diverse teams and building strong relationships in some of the most complex and dangerous environments in the world. He holds an MA and BA in Russian Language and Studies, is a graduate of the U.S. Army Russian Institute and completed numerous specialized training programs in Intelligence Collection, Counterintelligence operations, Analysis, Leadership and Adult Education from with the CIA, Department of Defense, U.S. Army and U.S. Department of State. While serving in the CIA, Glenn gained extensive experience briefing senior U.S. Government officials and leaders of Foreign Countries on a range of Intelligence, Counterintelligence and Security-related issues and interacting with a diverse set of foreign nationals around the world, solving complex problems and handling dangerous issues in high-stress situations.
After retiring from the CIA in May of 2023, Glenn quickly established himself as a highly effective and inspiring public speaker and educator who excels at motivating and inspiring audiences with a combination of his unique experiences and insights, cultural understanding gained from over 20 years working and living overseas, and sense of humor. In addition to teaching graduate classes as a Professor at the Institute of World Politics, Glenn is regularly invited to serve as a guest lecturer and speaker at the Nation’s top Academic Institutions and Public and Private organizations. He is an Expert Contributor to the National Security publication the "Cipher Brief", a Visiting Fellow at George Mason University Law School's National Security Institute, an Advisor at the Institute of Critical Infrastructure and Technology and Diplomatic Studies Foundation, the CEO of Great South Bay, LLC and a founding member and partner in the Strategic Advisory and Consulting firm Varyag. Glenn is a published author who specializes in writing on Geopolitical and National Security affairs.
Niral Kalaria
Advisory Board
Ex. Chief Ethics Officer and Head of Investigations at Deutsche Bank | ex. COO and Head of Transformation, DWS Group
Niral Kalaria, CFA is a seasoned financial services executive with deep expertise in ethics, investigations, and large-scale enterprise transformation across global banking and asset management.
He previously served as Chief Ethics Officer at DWS Group, Deutsche Bank’s asset management arm overseeing more than $1 trillion in assets, where he led firm-wide ethics and culture initiatives and implemented ESG-related governance and control frameworks. Earlier at Deutsche Bank (2016–2021), Niral was Managing Director and Group Audit Head of Investigations, overseeing complex, cross-border investigations on behalf of senior management, supervisory boards, and global regulators.
Niral currently acts as Non-Executive Director and Head of Financial Services Advisory at Global Data Risk, advising institutions on governance, risk, compliance remediation, and anti-financial-crime programs. He is also Chief Transformation Adviser at Kepler Cannon, supporting asset managers through strategic, technological, and operating-model change.
His core expertise spans global investigations, regulatory compliance, organizational remediation, and cultural transformation across the buy-side and banking sectors. Niral brings a practical, systems-level perspective to addressing conduct, governance, and financial crime risks—making him a strong strategic voice in investigative and OSINT-driven use cases.
Gavin Corn
Advisory Board
Director, Data Privacy & Security at Netflix | ex. Director of Cybersecurity, Law Enforcement Team at Meta
Gavin Corn is a seasoned legal and cybersecurity professional with deep experience in cybercrime, investigations, and global security risk management. He has served in senior roles across government and private sector organizations, bringing a blend of investigative rigor and practical legal insight to complex digital and transnational challenges.
Gavin began his career as a federal prosecutor with over 20 years of government service, including leadership roles at the U.S. Department of Justice. He prosecuted major international criminal cases and later served as Chief Counsel and Director of the International Organized Crime Intelligence and Operations Center (IOC-2), a premier interagency center focused on transnational crime and cyber-enabled threats.
In the private sector, Gavin has built and led cybersecurity law and investigations functions at major technology companies. He has been Director of Cyber Security Law at Facebook (Meta), where he worked at the intersection of cybersecurity, Law Enforcement engagement, privacy, and platform trust and safety, and he has also held senior cybersecurity and data privacy counsel roles at Netflix.
Across his career, Gavin has advised on complex cyber incidents, coordinated law-enforcement response, and helped shape legal strategies for protecting digital infrastructure and responding to cross-border threats. His experience spans the public and private sectors, making him a valued voice in building investigator-centric tools and workflows for trust, safety, cybercrime, and intelligence operations.
William Usher
Advisory Board
Sr. Director for Intelligence | Special Competitive Studies Project | ex. Sr. Executice Intelligence Service officer at CIA
William “Chip” Usher is a highly experienced intelligence leader and strategic thinker with more than three decades of service in the U.S. intelligence community. He currently serves as Senior Director for Intelligence at the Special Competitive Studies Project (SCSP), a Washington-based think tank focused on issues of national competitiveness, technology, and security.
Before joining SCSP, Chip spent 32 years at the Central Intelligence Agency, where he held senior analytic and leadership roles as a member of the Senior Intelligence Service and was awarded the Distinguished Career Intelligence Medal. His career at the CIA included extensive work on geopolitical analysis, regional expertise in the Near East, East Asia and Eurasia, and on the transformation of intelligence tradecraft in an era of rapidly expanding data and digital technologies.
At SCSP, he advises on strategic intelligence issues, with particular focus on how emerging technologies like artificial intelligence are reshaping national security and the global intelligence landscape. He is frequently quoted in major media outlets and speaks publicly on topics including intelligence innovation, open-source data, and competitive national strategy.
Chip holds a B.A. from Duke University and a Master’s in National Security Strategy from the National War College, blending academic insight with deep operational experience.
Valentina Isakina
Advisory Board
ex. EVP & Chief Strategy Officer LexisNexis |
Independent Adviser & Board Member at the Office of Tony Blair | ex-McKinsey, Bain
