Vish
Katragadda
Director, Cyber Fraud Prevention & Detection · Technology Leader · App Developer
Engineering leader bridging strategy and execution — driving AI/ML-powered fraud detection, managing high-performance teams, architecting enterprise-grade full stack systems at scale, and building mobile & web apps published on the Apple App Store.
Building Intelligent Systems That Matter
I am a Technology Leader and Director, Cyber Fraud Prevention and Detection with deep expertise in full stack AI/ML engineering. Since 2021, I've led fraud strategy and engineering at Fidelity Investments — spanning engineering management, hands-on architecture, and the full product lifecycle from ideation through production at enterprise scale.
I identified the behavioral patterns behind account takeover (ATO) attacks at login and turned them into training features for the login risk model, cutting ATO-driven losses by 70%, with the reduction sustained over time. I led the buildout of an account-opening evaluation model to stop first-party and true-name (stolen identity) fraud, running a multi-vendor evaluation to select the solution that best solved for both. On the payments side, I partner directly with Tier-1 merchant-facing payment processors and PSPs across Visa-network debit and digital payment channels, pairing their tooling with in-house rules and continuously tuned thresholds to cut digital payments and EFT fraud losses by 85% year over year.
My approach comes from thinking in three roles at once — the fraudster probing for scam, phishing, and vishing angles, the banker working to protect the customer, and the customer who knows the best practices to avoid becoming a victim. I've used that lens to repeatedly restructure the fraud organization around whatever threat was moving fastest.
I stay hands-on by choice. Outside of work, I'm personally designing and building SolaNest, a fraud-abuse-prevention and money-saving app, end-to-end — from the risk models to the full product experience. It's how I make sure the systems I lead are systems I could still build myself.
Technical Leadership
Director-level engineering management, roadmap ownership, and org-wide strategy.
AI/ML Engineering
Fraud detection models, ML pipelines, data architecture, and intelligent automation.
System Architecture
Distributed systems, microservices, cloud-native on EKS & AKS at scale.
Fraud Domain
ATO, identity, and payments fraud — detection, prevention, and org strategy since 2021.
Work Experience
A track record of leading engineering organizations, building AI-powered platforms, and delivering measurable impact.
Leading a team of 20+ engineers building AI/ML-powered fraud detection and reporting systems across account takeover (ATO), account-opening / true-name identity fraud, and digital payments & EFT fraud. Identified the behavioral patterns behind ATO attacks at login and turned them into training features for the login risk model, cutting ATO losses by 70%, with the reduction sustained over time. Built an account-opening evaluation model and led vendor selection to solve first-party and true-name identity fraud, and paired Tier-1 merchant-facing payment processors and PSPs with in-house rules — continuously tuning thresholds alongside those external partners — to reduce digital payments and EFT fraud by 85%. Identified and closed promotional abuse patterns targeting the launch of a new product, and stood up a 4-person rapid-response team to counter an emerging fraud-pattern spike, shipping a Visa debit card spend analysis model with rules layered on top to bring losses under control in under 3 days — and built the enterprise fraud-loss reporting and daily customer risk-profiling infrastructure that now underpins the program. As part of the debit card fraud work, also built a risk analysis model that triggers the moment a claim is filed on a disputed transaction, evaluating whether the dispute reflects genuine account owner (first-party) fraud or abuse versus a legitimate fraud victim. That analysis also folds in chargeback economics — chargeback principles, chargeback fees, and merchant recovery amounts — so loss reporting reflects true net loss rather than gross write-offs. Repeatedly restructured the fraud engineering org to stay ahead of fast-moving scam and social-engineering trends.
Managed cross-functional engineering teams delivering enterprise-grade platforms. Drove adoption of microservices architecture, API-first design, and cloud-native deployment practices. Partnered with product and business stakeholders to define technical roadmaps aligned with strategic priorities.
Hands-on development of high-traffic web applications and data-intensive services. Specialized in React front-end development, Node.js/Java back-end services, database design, and RESTful API development. Established engineering best practices including CI/CD, code reviews, and automated testing frameworks.
Core Skills
Spanning technical depth and leadership breadth across modern engineering disciplines.
Key Achievements
Measurable outcomes delivered through technical leadership and engineering excellence.
Account Takeover (ATO) Fraud Prevention
Identified the behavioral and login-time patterns fraudsters use to execute account takeover attacks, then translated them into features used to retrain the login risk model. The resulting controls cut ATO-driven losses by 70%, with the impact sustained over time.
🎯 70% reduction in ATO lossesAccount Opening & True-Name Identity Fraud
Led the buildout of an account-opening evaluation model to stop first-party fraud and true-name (stolen identity) fraud. Ran a multi-vendor evaluation across the market and selected the model that best solved for both fraud types in production.
🛡️ Multi-vendor evaluation → best-in-class model selectedDigital Payments & EFT Fraud Reduction
Partnered externally with Tier-1 merchant-facing payment processors and PSPs, pairing their tooling with in-house rules and continuously refreshed detection thresholds to stay ahead of shifting attack patterns — cutting digital payments and EFT fraud losses by 85% versus prior years.
📉 85% reduction in payments & EFT fraudPromotional Abuse Prevention — Product Launch
When a new product launched, identified and closed the promotional abuse patterns targeting the launch incentives — protecting promo economics without disrupting the experience for legitimate new customers.
🎁 Promo abuse contained at launchFraud Spike — Rapid Response
Stood up a dedicated 4-person team when an evolving fraud pattern drove a sudden spike in losses. Shipped a Visa debit card spend analysis model with rules layered on top to detect and contain the pattern, bringing losses back under control in under 3 days.
⚡ Losses contained in under 3 daysDispute & Claims Risk Analysis
Built a risk analysis model that triggers the moment a claim is filed on a disputed Visa debit card transaction, evaluating whether the dispute reflects genuine account owner (first-party) fraud or abuse versus a legitimate fraud victim — closing the loop between transaction-level detection and the claims process.
⚖️ Real-time first-party fraud detection at claim filingEnterprise Fraud Loss Reporting
Built the reporting process that tracks fraud losses across every money-movement channel — debit cards, digital payments, crypto, wire, and ACH — including losses tied to account takeovers and scams, plus account-opening approval/reject reporting by risk score. Extended the debit card trend analysis to account for chargeback economics — chargeback principles, chargeback fees, and merchant recovery amounts — so loss reporting reflects true net loss, not just gross fraud write-offs.
📊 Net loss visibility, incl. chargeback fees & merchant recoveriesDaily-Refreshed Customer Risk Profile
Created a customer risk profile that updates every day from behavioral, transactional, login, and other signals — giving downstream models and investigators a continuously current view of risk for every customer.
🔄 Refreshed daily from behavioral, transactional & login signalsLed Engineering Team of 20+ Engineers
Built and managed a high-performing engineering organization of 20+ engineers, restructuring the fraud org multiple times to match fast-moving priorities and emerging scam trends. Established engineering culture, defined technical standards, and maintained delivery excellence across multiple concurrent product streams.
🏆 Director-level engineering leadershipMobile & Web Apps
Enthusiastic app developer with published apps on the Apple App Store — building consumer-grade mobile and web experiences from idea to launch.
A location-aware companion app that connects users with local businesses, services, and community resources nearby. Built with a focus on seamless UX, real-time location intelligence, and personalized local discovery.
Connect to learn more →Additional mobile and web applications built and shipped across various domains. Each app crafted with attention to performance, design, and user experience — from concept through App Store submission.
Connect to learn more →Full stack web applications built end-to-end — from database design to React frontends. Consumer-facing products and internal tools, deployed and running in production.
Connect to learn more →A self-directed startup project — a fraud-abuse-prevention and money-saving app I'm personally designing and building end-to-end, from the risk models to the full product experience. Actively in development, with a live demo running now.
Try the live demo →Tech Stack
The tools and technologies I work with daily.
Ready to Work Together?
Whether you're looking for a technology leader, a hands-on architect, or want to discuss AI/ML engineering challenges — I'd love to connect.