Ashik Gowda

Ashik Gowda is a seasoned financial crime technology leader with 17 years of experience designing, implementing, and optimizing AML, sanctions, and regulatory compliance programs for global financial institutions. He specializes in the end-to-end delivery and governance of transaction monitoring systems, KYC platforms, and sanctions screening solutions – aligning technology, data, and operational controls to evolving regulatory expectations.

Ashik currently serves as Senior Director of Financial Crimes Technology at Cygnus Compliance, where he leads the Professional Services Organization (PSO) and oversees a portfolio of AML and sanctions technology programs. He advises clients on system modernization, model validation, regulatory alignment, and data-driven optimization of financial crime controls, while strengthening long-term strategic relationships.

Previously, Ashik spent five years at UBS as Director of Financial Crimes Technology, where he led front-to-back service delivery of the Actimize transaction monitoring suite across 14 AML environments spanning Wealth Management, Investment Bank, and Correspondent Banking. He managed a 16-member global team and drove major initiatives in model tuning, data quality, regulatory compliance (including NYDFS 504), suspicious activity monitoring, and platform modernization.

Before joining UBS, Ashik delivered complex transformation and remediation engagements in consulting roles at Crowe and Ernst & Young (EY). His work included AML program assessments, model validations, sanctions and TM implementations, governance framework development, data lineage and integrity testing, scenario optimization, and preparation of senior-level regulatory reporting. At EY, he led multicultural teams of up to a dozen professionals and generated over $2 million in annual revenue through business development and thought leadership.

Ashik began his career in software engineering at NICE Actimize, where he implemented large-scale AML, CDD, watchlist filtering, and case management systems for major U.S. institutions, and earlier held technical roles at Vitech Systems Group and Core Services. His deep technology foundation, combined with his compliance leadership experience, enables him to bridge analytics, engineering, and regulatory functions to deliver scalable, risk-aligned financial crime solutions.

A Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS), Ashik brings hands-on expertise in AI/ML-driven detection models, data analytics, risk-based alerting, and governance of complex AML infrastructures. He has extensive experience engaging with regulators including the FRB, OCC, NYDFS, and FinCEN.