Vincent M. Walden, CPA, CFE

CEO

Kona AI

Vincent Walden is CEO of Kona AI, a global, AI-driven technology company focused on anti-fraud, anti-corruption and compliance risks. He specializes in forensic data analytics, continuous controls monitoring, information governance and legal discovery services. With over 25 years of professional anti-fraud and forensic technology experience, his primary area of focus is in providing leading technology innovations on both proactive compliance programs and reactive investigations.

Prior to joining Kona AI, Mr. Walden was a Managing Director at Alvarez & Marsal’s (A&M) Disputes & Investigations practice for approximately three years.  Prior to A&M, Mr. Walden spent 14 years at Ernst & Young’s Forensic & Integrity Services Practice in Dallas, New York and Atlanta, where he served as a Partner for nine years leading a global team of forensic data analytics professionals and supporting white-collar investigations. Before EY, he worked at KPMG and Arthur Andersen. During his career, he also served as President and CFO of a privately-funded Internet company, which was subsequently sold to a Fortune 500 Company in 2001.

As an industry thought leader, Mr. Walden was recognized as “Certified Fraud Examiner of the Year” in 2022 and has been featured in many publications including Internal Auditor Magazine, Compliance Week, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review and The Economist. Since 2018, he has been a regular columnist for FRAUD Magazine writing on anti-fraud innovation. As part of COSO’s Anti-Fraud Task Force, Mr. Walden co-authored its “Fraud Risk Management Guide”, which was released in September 2016 and was also part of the 2023 update. He also teaches Compliance Innovation as an Adjunct Professor at Fordham Law School in New York. 

Mr. Walden earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Southern California. He completed the Harvard Leadership Program at Harvard Business School and is a Certified Public Accountant and a Certified Fraud Examiner. Mr. Walden also volunteered as the President of The Association of Certified Fraud Examiner’s Education and Research Foundation (2017-2021), which provides academic scholarships to students and anti-fraud research to qualified recipients.