Abhijit Joshi – Staff Data Engineer | Data Innovation Leader | Award-Winning Technologist Abhijit Joshi is a distinguished Staff Data Engineer at Oportun Inc., where he designs and leads enterprise-scale data architecture that powers decision intelligence across lending, fraud prevention, and customer analytics. With over 15 years of progressive experience across finance, media, and fintech domains, Abhijit blends engineering rigor with strategic foresight—delivering data solutions that are secure, scalable, and future-proof. A recognized leader in the data and AI community, Abhijit was honored with the IT Future Leader of the Year – 2024 award by the Titan Awards, spotlighting his contributions to intelligent data platforms and ethical AI practices. He is also a featured speaker at major industry events, including TSIA Envision World Conference, where he presented on AI-led data quality management and automation. At Oportun, Abhijit is instrumental in building a robust data foundation centered around Databricks and Unity Catalog. He orchestrates pipelines that span ingestion from CDC sources like MariaDB and MongoDB, transformation layers using DBT, and data quality scoring mechanisms driven by AI/ML. His innovations have enabled seamless access to immutable production data in lower environments—accelerating compliance testing and reducing operational friction across teams. Prior to Oportun, Abhijit played a pivotal role at ViacomCBS in New York City (now Paramount Global), where he developed unified analytics platforms supporting ad monetization, content strategy, and ROI measurement. His initiatives in GCP orchestration and data cost optimization resulted in annual savings exceeding $120,000, all while improving pipeline SLA adherence and stakeholder reporting agility. Abhijit’s early career includes tenure at Morgan Stanley, where he contributed to global risk management and regulatory reporting systems, and Union Bank of California, where he developed enterprise banking applications. These experiences cemented his expertise in data governance, access controls, and system resiliency—skills that continue to define his approach today. A prolific author, Abhijit has written 22 scholarly papers across top-tier journals, with topics ranging from streaming anomaly detection and quantum-resilient algorithms to federated learning and data mesh architectures. His work “Immutable Production Data Access in Lower Environments” has been cited as a benchmark for compliance-aware data operations in modern data lakehouses. His research is cataloged on platforms such as Zenodo, ORCID, and Tech Bullion. Abhijit’s credentials include certifications in Databricks Data Engineering, Machine Learning, Six Sigma, and IBM DB2. He is deeply skilled in technologies like Apache Spark, Airflow, Terraform, and Docker, with a sharp focus on MLOps lifecycle automation, cost optimization, and data integrity. Beyond his engineering impact, Abhijit is an active contributor to the tech ecosystem—mentoring aspiring professionals, participating in knowledge-sharing panels, and maintaining a widely read technical blog, Data World from Abhijit. His GitHub repositories demonstrate reusable solutions in anomaly detection, workflow automation, and compliance-first architecture in Databricks environments. His work has been featured in leading publications including TFI Post, Free Press Journal, and TFI Global News, where he shared how real-time data pipelines and AI are reshaping customer interactions, financial risk engineering, and media analytics. Currently based in Milpitas, California, Abhijit is also a proud Tesla Model Y owner and a new father as of 2024. He brings the same passion for precision and innovation to both his personal and professional life, always seeking to push the boundaries of what’s possible through data. Whether architecting cloud-native pipelines, presenting at global tech summits, or publishing original research, Abhijit Joshi remains committed to building a responsible, intelligent, and impactful data-driven future.