# Alex Vratskides

> Alex Vratskides is the Greek entrepreneur, CEO and co-founder of Persado, the enterprise AI company he founded with Assaf Baciu in 2012. Previously he co-founded mobile marketing company Upstream and served as its CEO from 2004 to 2012. Trained in applied mathematics at Columbia and operations research at Cornell, he has focused on using data and experimentation to improve the language of business communications.

- **Role:** CEO and Co-Founder at Persado
- **Organizations:** Persado, Upstream, Founders Pledge, OC&C/McKenna Group, United Airlines
- **Nationality:** Greek
- **Education:** Secondary education, Anatolia College, BS in Applied Mathematics, Columbia University, M.Eng. in Operations Research, Cornell University
- **Known for:** Co-founded Upstream and led it as CEO during expansion to mobile operator clients in more than 40 countries., Co-founded Persado in 2012 and continues as CEO., His Founders Pledge biography credits him with two international patents through his work at Upstream and Persado.

## Career timeline

- **Before 2001** — Worked in the United Airlines R&D group and as a management consultant at OC&C/McKenna Group in Boston.
- **2001** — Co-founded Upstream with Marco Veremis.
- **2004-2012** — Served as Upstream CEO; the business served mobile operators in more than 40 countries during his tenure.
- **2010** — An Upstream team began researching automated marketing message generation.
- **2012** — Co-founded Persado with Assaf Baciu; became its CEO.
- **2013** — Persado raised a $15 million Series A led by Bain Capital Ventures.
- **2015** — Persado announced a $21 million Series B led by StarVest Partners.
- **2016** — Persado raised a $30 million round led by Goldman Sachs.
- **2025** — Persado launched Marketing Compliance AI for financial services.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Upstream and led it as CEO during expansion to mobile operator clients in more than 40 countries.
- Co-founded Persado in 2012 and continues as CEO.
- His Founders Pledge biography credits him with two international patents through his work at Upstream and Persado.
- Persado says eight of the ten largest US banks use its technology.

## Latest updates

- **2025-09** — In an FS Vector interview, Assaf Baciu recounted founding Persado with Vratskides and identified American Express as its first US customer.
- **2025-05** — Persado introduced Marketing Compliance AI for financial services on May 22.
- **2025-05** — Panathenea’s May 9 agenda listed Vratskides for the session Agentic AI: The Enterprise Breakthrough.

## Links

- Website: https://www.persado.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexvratskides

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/alex-vratskides
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-25