# Vahe Andonians

> Vahe Andonians is the founder and CEO of Cognaize, which applies AI and human financial expertise to document and data workflows. A former banker and serial entrepreneur, he previously led SCDM, whose businesses were sold to Moody’s Analytics and Deloitte in 2017. He is also a senior lecturer at the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management and hosts the Hybrid Minds podcast.

- **Role:** Founder and CEO at Cognaize
- **Organizations:** Cognaize, Frankfurt School of Finance & Management, SCDM, Traidum
- **From:** Tehran, Iran
- **Education:** Engineering degree in information and high-frequency technology, Federal Higher Technical Institute for Education and Experimentation, Mödling, Austria, MBA, University of Liverpool, Leading and Managing People (course), The Wharton School, Essentials of Marketing (course), The Wharton School
- **Known for:** Led SCDM through sales of its structured credit and valuation businesses to Moody’s Analytics and Deloitte in 2017., Founded Cognaize, which announced an $18 million Series A led by Argonautic Ventures in July 2023., Combines financial AI entrepreneurship with teaching at Frankfurt School.

## Career timeline

- **1998** — Worked as a trader in Austria; subsequently wrote trading code. Frankfurt School identifies his banking employer as Erste Bank.
- **2001** — Began building startups; his first venture converted PowerPoint material into web-based training and was sold to a customer after six months.
- **2003** — Founded SCDM, initially providing structured credit data services.
- **2017** — SCDM’s structured credit business was sold to Moody’s Analytics and its remaining valuation business to Deloitte.
- **2018** — Describes beginning the financial PDF extraction work that preceded Cognaize; LinkedIn lists his AI Lab knowledge-lead role from April.
- **2020** — Founded Cognaize, according to his Frankfurt School biography and Cognaize’s 2026 announcement.
- **2023** — Publicly identified as Cognaize founder, CTO and CPO; the company announced an $18 million Series A.
- **2024** — Identified as founder and CEO at the AI Week Frankfurt fireside chat.
- **2025** — Participated in the Yerevan Dialogue AI panel.
- **2026** — Continues as founder and CEO; hosted FIS executive Chris D’Agostino on Hybrid Minds and announced Cognaize’s founding membership in FinTech Armenia.

## Achievements

- Led SCDM through sales of its structured credit and valuation businesses to Moody’s Analytics and Deloitte in 2017.
- Founded Cognaize, which announced an $18 million Series A led by Argonautic Ventures in July 2023.
- Combines financial AI entrepreneurship with teaching at Frankfurt School.
- Hosts Hybrid Minds, including conversations with financial technology leaders.

## Latest updates

- **2026-10** — Public LinkedIn activity discusses professional identity and AI adoption, and announces a planned DigiTec appearance in Yerevan on November 20–22, 2026; this remains a future event.
- **2026-05** — Cognaize announced that it joined FinTech Armenia Association as a founding member; Andonians described a goal of connecting the company to the wider ecosystem.
- **2026-01** — A Hybrid Minds episode published January 26 features his conversation with FIS Chief Data and AI Officer Chris D’Agostino.
- **2025-05** — Cognaize reported his participation at the Yerevan Dialogue AI panel.

## Links

- Website: https://www.andonians.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vaheandonians

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