Prior to age 40, Kirstin Stafford spent most of her career in fintech technology, process improvement and finally, the financial operations of what was formerly CompuCredit. An entrepreneur in her soul, she accepted an opportunity to take the reins as managing partner in the earliest stage of one of the first global pre-employment background screening corporations.
“During those years, she bootstrapped an almost impossible task of increasing revenue from $14k to $500k per month but saw the need for an FCRA compliant data search capability for screening individuals and businesses that all consumer reporting agencies could access,” said her staff.
In 2016, Stafford and several of her team contributors branched out on their own to develop an automated solution that would deliver a tech-first approach of her original concept of a globally compliant data search platform and VITAL4 was born.
VITAL4’s mission is to perfect the art of data collection utilizing technology. The firm services corporations big and small, all over the world, so that they can make informed decisions about who they employ and who they choose to do business with. VITAL4 provides world class AI-driven data to its customers; through proprietary artificial intelligence and machine learning that ultimately enables humans to work smarter and make the world a safer place.
“Over seven years ago, I committed my heart, soul, relationships and finances to ensure VITAL4’s success and despite financial hardships, a pandemic and competing with multibillion dollar in revenue legacy competitors, we are experiencing infinite success in our markets all over the world,” said Stafford.
Under Stafford’s leadership, the award-winning fintech leader has used proprietary algorithms for anti-money laundering, sanctions management and continuous risk monitoring in over 240 countries and regions. There is a $160 billion global market in data for financial compliance and monitoring and VITAL4’s automated tools analyze more than 6,000 global watchlists, 1.3 million Politically Exposed Persons profiles and 20,000 qualified media sources to identify subjects involved in financial crimes, terrorism or corruption.
With Stafford as CEO, VITAL4 was named as one of the TAG Top 40 Most Innovative Companies in Georgia, received a GLOBE Award and won the Atlanta Metro Export Challenge. Most recently, Stafford and co-founder Amy Barbieri were featured on the Atlanta Business Chronicle’s Power 10: Fintech Leaders You Should Know list.
As a leader, Stafford said she embraces her ability to develop relationships and solve problems via empathy and transparency. “Integrity, pioneering, motivation and character are the most critical attributes of a great leader,” she said. “This is a bit rare to embody in one personality and that is what makes successful leaders so special.”
