# Abuzar Royesh

> Abuzar Royesh is the founder and CEO of Pastel (DataServe AI), a U.S.- and Nigeria-based company building agentic AI software that helps regional, mid-tier, and community banks automate onboarding, compliance, fraud detection, and anti-money-laundering work. Born in Afghanistan and educated at Tufts and Stanford, where he was a Knight-Hennessy Scholar, he is a Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree. He is also the founder and board chair of the 30 Birds Foundation, which evacuated more than 450 Afghans, mainly schoolgirls, after the 2021 Taliban takeover.

- **Role:** Founder & CEO at Pastel (DataServe AI)
- **Organizations:** Pastel (DataServe AI), 30 Birds Foundation, Afghanistan Holding Group, Stanford Internet Observatory
- **From:** Ghazni, Afghanistan
- **Nationality:** Afghan
- **Education:** BA, International Relations (magna cum laude), Tufts University, MA, International Policy (Ford Dorsey) & MS, Management Science & Engineering; Knight-Hennessy Scholar, Stanford University
- **Known for:** Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree (Social Impact), Knight-Hennessy Scholar at Stanford University, Tufts Presidential Award for Citizenship and Public Service

## Career timeline

- **2010** — Began working with marginalized and internally displaced youth across Afghanistan.
- **2015-2017** — Research lead / senior research associate at Afghanistan Holding Group, directing projects for the Afghan President's office, ministries, USAID, UNHCR, and GIZ.
- **2018** — Joined Stanford as a Knight-Hennessy Scholar pursuing dual master's degrees; worked as a research assistant at the Stanford Internet Observatory.
- **2021** — Co-founded Pastel with Olamide Oladeji and Izunna Okonkwo; raised a $620K pre-seed round.
- **2021** — Founded the 30 Birds Foundation after the Taliban takeover, helping evacuate more than 450 Afghans, mainly schoolgirls.
- **2022** — Pastel raised a $5.5M seed round led by TLcom Capital.
- **2022** — Named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list (Social Impact).
- **2024-2025** — Pastel pivoted to agentic AI for banking compliance and fraud, launching Sigma for African banks and fintechs.

## Achievements

- Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree (Social Impact)
- Knight-Hennessy Scholar at Stanford University
- Tufts Presidential Award for Citizenship and Public Service
- Founder and board chair of the 30 Birds Foundation, which evacuated 450+ Afghans
- Co-founded Pastel and raised roughly $6.12M in funding
- Built Sigma, an AML and fraud-detection system purpose-built on African data and regulatory standards

## Latest updates

- **2025-07** — Pastel led an industry conversation on AI-powered compliance as Nigerian banks confronted a 52 billion naira annual fraud threat, positioning its Sigma product for African regulators.
- **2025** — Pastel reframed itself as DataServe AI, building agentic AI for onboarding, due diligence, fraud detection, and compliance monitoring at regional and community banks.

## Links

- Website: https://pastelhq.ai
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abuzarroyesh/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/AbuzarRoyesh

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/abuzar-royesh
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-25