Vincent Walden – Top Start-Up CEO of the Year 2023

Vincent Walden, CEO of kona Al, a leading anti-fraud and anti-bribery & corruption analytics software platform, was just recently selected as Top Start-Up CEO of the Year by the International Association of Top Professionals (IAOTP) for his outstanding leadership, dedication, and commitment to the industry.

While inclusion with the International Association of Top Professionals is an honor, only a few members in each discipline are chosen for this distinction. These special honorees are distinguished based on their outstanding professional accomplishments, academic achievements, leadership abilities, longevity in the field, other affiliations, and contributions to their communities. All honorees are invited to attend the IAOTP’s annual awards gala at the end of this year for a night to honor their achievements. www.iaotp.com/award-gala

The President of IAOTP, Stephanie Cirami, stated, “We are delighted to welcome Mr. Vincent Walden to the IAOTP family. He is brilliant at what he does, and his accomplishments and accolades helping companies fight global fraud and corruption are beyond impressive. We look forward to celebrating his achievements at our annual awards gala.”

With more than 25 years of investigative and legal technology experience, Vincent Walden has vast expertise implementing anti-fraud, compliance, anti-bribery and corruption, sanctions and trade compliance, and antitrust technology solutions. In addition, he has extensive knowledge of the most advanced technological approaches to artificial intelligence and anti-fraud behavioral algorithms.

His impressive repertoire of prior roles includes serving as the Managing Director of Alvarez & Marsal’s Disputes and Investigations in New York and a partner in Ernst & Young’s Forensic & Integrity Services Practice in Dallas, New York, and Atlanta. Earlier in his career, he was President and CFO of a privately-funded Internet firm that a Fortune 500 company ultimately acquired. He also formerly worked with KPMG and Arthur Andersen.

Before embarking on his professional career path, Mr. Walden graduated from the University of Southern California with a bachelor’s in business administration. In addition to completing the Harvard Leadership Program at Harvard Business School, he is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE). Mr. Walden is a past President of The Association of Certified Fraud Examiner’s Education and Research Foundation (2018-2022), which grants qualified beneficiaries academic scholarships and anti-fraud research.

Throughout his illustrious career, Mr. Walden has received many awards and accolades, including “Certified Fraud Examiner of the Year – 2022” awarded by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, and has been featured in numerous publications for his outstanding leadership and commitment fraud prevention and detection. This year he will be considered for a feature article in TIP (Top Industry Professional) Magazine and was chosen as Top Start-Up CEO of the Year by the International Association of Top Professionals (IAOTP). He will receive this recognition at IAOTP’s Annual Awards Gala in December 2023. www.iaotp.com/award-gala

Aside from his many responsibilities as CEO at kona Al, Mr. Walden is an Adjunct Professor at Fordham University’s Law School, teaching Compliance Innovation. He serves on the Advisory Board of Compliance Week 2022 and has been featured in numerous publications, including Internal Auditor Magazine, Compliance Week, Harvard Business Review, The Wall Street Journal, and The Economist. He is also a regular columnist for FRAUD Magazine, where he writes about anti-fraud systems. Mr. Walden co-authored the “Fraud Risk Management Guide,” launched in September 2016 as part of COSO’s Anti-Fraud Task Force. On the syndicated Compliance Audio Network, he

also broadcasts a bi-weekly podcast episode called “The Walden Pond,” which focuses on compliance innovation.

Looking back, Vincent attributes his success to his unwavering dedication and commitment to anti-fraud and bribery. In the future, he will continue to counteract fraud and make organizations safer and more secure. When not working, he enjoys spending time with his family and traveling.