Vise Appoints Andrew Fong as CTO - Fintech News

Vise, a financial technology company dedicated to empowering financial advisors—rather than replacing them—has announced the appointment of Andrew Fong as its new chief technology officer.

Fong joins Vise from Dropbox, where he previously held the position of VP of Infrastructure Engineering. He initially began his career at Dropbox in 2012 as a site reliability engineer, progressing through roles such as engineering director and senior director of Engineering – head of Infrastructure, before ultimately becoming vice president.

Prior to his time at Dropbox, Fong contributed his engineering expertise to both YouTube and AOL.

Vise recruited Fong to expand its technical capabilities following a recent funding round, securing $45 million in Series B funding led by Sequoia Capital. To date, Vise has raised a total of $63 million since its launch at the TC Disrupt event in 2019. A recording of their demonstration can be viewed here.

Vise leverages artificial intelligence to assist financial advisors in managing client relationships, enabling them to substantiate and articulate investment decisions with supporting data, and to efficiently tailor portfolios to individual needs.

A key priority for Fong is the growth of the engineering team from its current size of 20 to 75 employees by year's end, with a strong emphasis on diversity, equity, and inclusion throughout the expansion process.

“As Vise develops its engineering organization, it’s crucial that we integrate DEI principles into our recruitment efforts from the outset and ensure our processes are designed with DEI considerations,” Fong stated to TechCrunch.

During his tenure at Dropbox, Fong started by leading a team of 40 individuals and ultimately oversaw a team exceeding 250 people. He reflected on the valuable lessons learned over those eight years, including acknowledging past mistakes, and expressed his enthusiasm for applying that experience to a new organization.

“I was curious about the opportunity to replicate this process using my current knowledge,” Fong explained. “What adjustments would I make? How could I refine the approach? And how can I share this knowledge to benefit others within the industry or my colleagues at Vise, offering a unique perspective?”

Fong’s initial connection with Vise occurred while he was still employed at Dropbox. He engaged in an introductory conversation with Vise co-founder Runik Mehrotra and felt a strong desire to maintain a professional relationship with both Mehrotra and Vise, regardless of his future career path.

“Runik possesses a remarkable quality,” Fong commented. “He has a certain ‘it’ factor that inspired me to seek a working relationship with him.”

Fong anticipates that recruiting talent during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, with limited opportunities for in-person interaction, will be a significant challenge for both himself and Vise as a whole.