SINGAPORE, July 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Ascenda, the rewards infrastructure company for the world, today announced the appointment of Gautam Thapar as the company’s Chief Product Officer (CPO). Gautam joins their executive team to lead their product vision as the company addresses the growing demand from financial services brands across the globe for Ascenda’s best-in-class rewards infrastructure.

Thapar brings nearly two decades of technology and product leadership experience at big tech firms like Microsoft, Meta and Amazon. At Microsoft, he incubated their low code apps platform, PowerApps which has since grown to millions of monthly active users with a revenue north of $2B. He also led the development of their low code AI platform, AI Builder. At Meta (fka Facebook) he built a suite of products in the Ads & Analytics team helping B2B partners better manage Risk and Fraud. Most recently, Thapar was VP Enterprise and GTM at Rapid (fka Rapid API) where he launched the company’s enterprise business and product led acquisition/growth strategy.

“Ascenda brings together the best-in-business rewards professionals, a robust and scalable technology platform and a reputation for launching industry changing products,” said Thapar. “I am truly humbled and excited to join the Ascenda team at this exciting inflection point in their growth journey; from supporting the who’s who in banking rewards programs to becoming the rewards platform of choice in the growing world of modern Financial Services. “

As part of Ascenda’s leadership team, Thapar will lead Ascenda’s product function to drive best-in-class culture and execution across product management, growth, delivery, and design.

Kyle Armstrong, CEO and co-founder:”We are delighted Gautam will be joining our executive team. Gautam brings world class experience in building and scaling business products at startups and global technology companies alike. I am truly excited about the leadership Gautam brings to Ascenda as we deliver on our mission of accelerating the growth of financial services.”

About Ascenda

Ascenda powers innovative premium rewards programs that accelerate the growth of financial services and merchants. The company delivers easy-to-deploy rewards infrastructure to rapidly scale acquisition, engagement, cross-selling, and retention.

Serving major financial services brands and disruptive fintechs across the globe, Ascenda’s clients include Brex, HSBC, Virgin Money, American Express, and Capital One.

For more information about Ascenda, please visit ascendaloyalty.com.