Fabian Schonholz

FABIAN SCHONHOLZ, PH.D. CTO, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, AI STRATEGY & TRANSFORMATION Technology & Data Executive | AI & ML Strategist | Board Advisor Salt Lake City, UT / Los Angeles, CA |- |-| https://www.linkedin.com/in/fabianschonholz EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Dynamic executive leader with deep expertise in AI-driven business transformation, predictive analytics, and enterprise data strategies. Proven track record building and scaling AI portfolios across global media, DTC/B2B, gaming, and SaaS/PaaS organizations. Led 3 exits, 2 acquisitions, and helped take a $200M+ ARR business private. Expert in defining customer-focused AI product vision, aligning stakeholders, and enabling global cross-functional AI execution. Deeply experienced in PE-backed growth and digital innovation at both startups and Fortune 500s, including NBC Universal, Disney, and NASA. PERFORMACE DIFFERENTIATOR ● Led 3 exits, 2 acquisitions, and business success across media, DTC/B2B, SaaS/PaaS, retail, and gaming. ● Drove innovation for start-ups and Fortune 500s (i.e., NBC Universal, Disney, Ninja Metrics and NASA). ● Led PE-backed growth and exits. ● Helped take a $200M+ ARR company private. CORE COMPETENCIES • Data Storytelling • Self-Service Analytics Enablement • Business Intelligence Platform Strategy • Insights Democratization • Enterprise Analytics Adoption • AI & Machine Learning Strategy • Digital & Data Transformation • Global Team Leadership & Mentorship • Cloud Infrastructure (AWS, GCP, Azure) • • • • • • • • Enterprise AI Portfolio Enablement Predictive & Prescriptive Analytics Product Development & GTM Strategy AI Governance & Data Compliance (GDPR, CCPA) AI Center of Excellence Leadership DevOps/AIOps & CICD M&A Due Diligence & Exit Planning Vendor & Risk Management PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE AI Strategy Consulting Firm | 2023–Present Chief Technology Officer • Currently serve as SVP of AI Strategy at Perle, leading AI product vision, data annotation quality, and scaling AIdriven solutions. • Define and implement corporate AI roadmap that aligns with long-term transformation goals. • Led customer-facing AI initiatives that improved retention and increased revenue by 18% for Alchemee. • Architected enterprise-grade Data Lake infrastructure (AWS, Spark, Python) enabling AI model deployment at scale. • Provided CTO/COO-level guidance to AI/data startups to align tech investments with strategic growth objectives. FESSEX Data Advisory |- Chief Technology Officer & Co-Founder • Delivered enterprise-wide AI/data strategy and compliance programs across industries. • Developed automated compliance workflows for Proactiv across US, Canada, and Japan. • Reduced fraud and drove monetization through AI modeling for Prodege.com. • Defined MVP and GTM strategy for AI-enabled photography product leading to Asia/EU market success and eventual acquisition. • Deployed behavioral prediction models to support player retention and revenue growth for Microsoft’s Forza Street. NBC Universal |- Senior Vice President, Operations & Technology • Directed global tech and media operations across DreamWorks, Film, and Brand Development; led team of 300+. • Championed AI-based analytics to support marketing optimization and business insight acceleration. • Increased Sales through targeted AI-informed strategies for consumer product lines. • Rolled out global executive dashboards and self-service BI platforms, reducing ad-hoc reporting by 40%. 1 • • • Ensured enterprise-wide compliance with GDPR, CCPA, and global data regulations. Managed vendor relationships across U.S. and EU, optimizing privacy and risk frameworks. Pioneered immersive AR/VR initiatives and led due diligence for acquisition targets in media and gaming StockMatic | 2016 Co-Founder • Developed and launched MVP for IoT-based automated inventory management platform. • Secured initial client adoption and seed capital to support early growth and go-to-market traction. Ninja Metrics |- Chief Operating Officer & Board Advisor • Spearheaded AI analytics operations and helped secure Series B institutional funding. • Launched MVPs in e-commerce and gaming verticals. • Stabilized 24/7 product infrastructure and drove client-focused product evolution. • Mediated cross-functional collaboration to resolve internal scaling and roadmap challenges Additional Technical & Executive Leadership (10+ years) • Held senior technology roles at Gumiyo, Zumbox, Pictage, and Xylan. • Specialized in early-stage AI/ML development, cloud strategy, and global team building. BOARD & ADVISORY LEADERSHIP • Advisor, 37 Signals Investment Company – Ops, HR, and exit strategies (11 yrs) • Board Advisor, Nova Signals – Global med device compliance (3 yrs) • Advisor, Prodege.com – Scaled from startup to $1B valuation (4 yrs) EDUCATION University of California, Santa Barbara • Ph.D., Interdisciplinary Studies (Cognitive Neuroscience) University of California, Santa Barbara • B.A., Mathematics PATENTS and PUBLICATIONS • Simplified Website Creation System – US Patent No- • Digital Solution Creation Method – US Patent No. A1US- • Peer-Ranked Precision: Creating a Foundational Dataset for Fine-Tuning Vision Models from DataSeeds' Annotated Imagery - https://huggingface.co/papers/- TECHNICAL SKILLS JSON | REST | Databricks | Looker | PowerBI | SQL/No-SQL | Spark | Snowflake | Snort | AWS | Azure | GCP | Kubernetes | Jenkins | Terraform | Docker | Ansible | Kafka | Redis | GitHub | Angular | React | PyTorch | TensorFlow | PostgreSQL | RedShift | DynamoDB | MongoDB | Oracle | Salesforce | NetSuite LANGUAGES: English (fluent) | Spanish (fluent) 2