Kia Dalili

About Kia Dalili

I build data science organizations and production ML systems that move business metrics (activation, retention, LTV and more) not just dashboards.Over the last 15+ years I’ve led DS/ML/DE teams shipping:personalization systems (personalization, recommenders, segmentation) powering real-time product and lifecycle experiencesExperimentation & causal inference platforms that help product teams learn fast and safelyCustomer & identity foundations (CDPs, identity resolution, CLV/churn modeling) that unlock targeting and measurement at scaleMerchant & consumer analytics surfaces used daily by millionsRecent highlights include leading a 35+ person DS/DE/ML org at Shopify (Engage and Customers), launching one of Shopify’s first LLM-powered merchant tools, building production CLV + model monitoring early at Shopify, and partnering with engineering to rebuild merchant-facing analytics with automated data quality.Prior to that, at Facebook I led analytics for mobile-first location products (Check-ins, Local Search, Places). I shipped experiments that drove statistically significant engagement lifts across millions of users and improving geo/places entity quality globally.I love ambiguous, high-leverage problems at the intersection of product, data, and systems. I hire and develop managers and ICs, set strategy with execs, and still care deeply about methodology and code quality.

Experience

1. Senior Manager, Data Science and Engineering - Admin & Analytics

   Shopify

   May 2025 — Present

Education

• Rutgers University

  PhD, Mathematics

  1999 — 2005

• Sharif University of Technology

  B.Sc, Mathematics

  1995 — 1999

Skills

• Statistics
• Data Analysis
• Programming
• Numerical Analysis
• University Teaching
• Research
• Algorithms
• Monte Carlo Simulation
• Mathematics
• Applied Mathematics
• Mathematical Modeling
• Simulations
• Game Theory
• Teaching
• Network Science
• Matlab
• Linux
• Modeling
• C++
• Python
• Latex