Veriv, the financial verification network, today announced four additions to its leadership team: Shepley Smith as Chief Technology Officer, Jake Gutting as Chief Product Officer, Rozel Kouadio as Chief Information Security Officer, Data Privacy and Fraud Risk Officer, and Emily Nichols as Head of Global Implementation.

Together, they have operated inside verification, not just adjacent to it. They lead the technology, product and security behind Veriv’s platform, built on patent-pending adaptive delivery technology that returns every verification fast, defensible and direct from the source, with the controls regulated institutions and their regulators require.

Shepley Smith joins as Chief Technology Officer from Thread Bank, where he spent three years as Chief Product Officer leading product and the embedded bank’s technology and data platform strategy. He brings more than two decades in financial technology and deep experience in verification and compliance infrastructure. That includes over 10 years at Confirmation.com, where he rose to Chief Product Officer and helped shape the platform through its acquisition by Thomson Reuters, followed by a role as VP of Product Management overseeing both Audit and Verification solutions at Thomson Reuters.

Jake Gutting joins as Chief Product Officer, bringing more than 20 years building and scaling financial technology platforms. At FIS he led research and development for risk and fraud solutions used by financial institutions worldwide and later led product strategy at Informa Investment Solutions. He was Chief Product Officer at Confirmation.com, scaling the audit confirmation platform into global markets, and most recently led the launch of AI-powered governance, risk and compliance products as SVP of Product Management at Ncontracts.

Rozel Kouadio joins as Chief Information Security Officer, Data Privacy and Fraud Risk Officer, bringing 20 years of information security leadership across financial services, insurance and other regulated industries, including work with U.S. federal and state law enforcement agencies. He has run global security, privacy and compliance programs at scale — as Global Deputy Chief Information Security Officer at Reyes Holdings and in security leadership at Kraft Heinz — and led cyber-risk due diligence on billion-dollar mergers and acquisitions, divestitures and funding rounds.

Emily Nichols joins as Head of Global Implementation, leading the team responsible for bringing customers and financial institutions onto the network. She comes to Veriv from Tractor Supply’s corporate headquarters, where she worked in project management. Earlier, she spent six years in client operations at Confirmation.com, remaining with the company through its acquisition by Thomson Reuters and working directly with accounting firms, law firms and banks.

“Fraud and regulatory pressure on financial institutions keep rising, and the verification infrastructure most of them rely on was never built to keep pace,” said Sean Dunlea, Chief Executive Officer of Veriv. “Shepley, Jake and Rozel have spent their careers building the technology, products and controls behind verification and compliance — and Emily, getting it into the hands of the firms that depend on it. They make Veriv’s platform faster and its safeguards stronger, while every answer stays direct from the source. We didn’t build this team to keep pace — we built it to set the pace.”

About Veriv

Veriv is a unified financial verification network operating in more than 70 countries, delivering truth direct from the source — standardizing how financial data is requested, validated and exchanged across mortgage and lending, commercial audit, and government eligibility. Veriv is headquartered in Chicago, with offices in Nashville and London. Veriv brings trust, consistency and efficiency to one of the most critical functions in financial services. veriv.com.

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