# Sima Gandhi

> Sima J. Gandhi is a fintech entrepreneur and policy adviser who co-founded Creative Juice after leading bank partnerships, policy and strategy at Plaid. She is president and founder of Alton Strategies, a senior adviser at FS Vector and co-founder of the Coalition for Financial Ecosystem Standards. Her earlier career includes American Express, the U.S. Treasury and corporate tax law.

- **Role:** President and Founder at Alton Strategies; Senior Advisor at FS Vector; Co-Founder at CFES
- **Organizations:** Alton Strategies, FS Vector, Coalition for Financial Ecosystem Standards, Creative Juice, Plaid, American Express, U.S. Department of the Treasury, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
- **Education:** BS in Engineering; BA with honors in Science, Technology, and Society, Stanford University, JD; LLM in Tax Law, New York University School of Law
- **Known for:** Helped develop Plaid’s bank partnerships and open banking policy approach., Helped launch American Express’s Bluebird product with Walmart., Co-founded Creative Juice, recognized in her official biography as a Forbes Fintech 50 and Fast Company Most Innovative Company.

## Career timeline

- **2003** — Interned in Senator Dianne Feinstein’s office.
- **2004** — Stanford graduating class.
- **Before 2015** — Worked in corporate tax law, at the U.S. Treasury and at American Express.
- **2015** — Joined Plaid as employee No. 15 and its first business executive.
- **2020** — Concluded her Plaid operating tenure.
- **2021** — Creative Juice launched with Gandhi and Ezra Cooperstein as co-founders.
- **2022** — Creative Juice announced a $15 million Series A and a $50 million creator financing pool.
- **2023** — Creative Juice acquired, according to Gandhi’s current official biography.
- **2024** — Co-founded CFES with FS Vector.
- **2025** — CFES released STARC and 54 initial risk and compliance standards.
- **2026** — CFES launched a Qualified Assessor Program.

## Achievements

- Helped develop Plaid’s bank partnerships and open banking policy approach.
- Helped launch American Express’s Bluebird product with Walmart.
- Co-founded Creative Juice, recognized in her official biography as a Forbes Fintech 50 and Fast Company Most Innovative Company.
- Co-founded CFES, which develops standards for bank-fintech partnerships.

## Latest updates

- **2026-03** — CFES announced its Qualified Assessor Program on March 4; CrossCheck Compliance, FS Vector, FTI Consulting and Wipfli completed the requirements.
- **2026-02** — Listed as a speaker at the University of Utah’s Fintech Xchange on bank-fintech partnerships.
- **2025-08** — Discussed her career transition and interest in writing a book on She Pivots.

## Links

- Website: https://www.altonstrategies.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sima-gandhi
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/simagoo

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/sima-gandhi
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-23