DENVER, January 30, 2025 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Steve Collins has been selected for inclusion in Marquis Who's Who. As in all Marquis Who's Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.

Mr. Collins is a distinguished professional in data analytics, statistical analysis, machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI). As the vice president of data at Plooto, he is responsible for designing and implementing a new data platform. Mr. Collins is also working on developing and expanding the data team, including data engineering and analytics for business intelligence and data science. Plooto is pursuing a new growth strategy and developing machine learning models to enhance their effectiveness, including a customer churn model to optimize marketing spending.

Before his venture with Plooto, Mr. Collins was the head of data and analytic products at Convera in Denver, one of the world's largest non-bank, B2B cross-border payments companies, from 2023 to 2024. He also worked for NYDIG, a leading bitcoin company, as the vice president and head of data science from 2018 to 2020 and as the head of data and analytic products between 2020 and 2022. Moreover, Mr. Collins was a principal data scientist and senior consultant at AArete from 2016 to 2018.

Serving his country before transitioning into the civilian sector, Mr. Collins's extensive military experience spanned from 2005 to 2014. His roles included senior counter-terrorism data and reporting analyst at the National Security Agency/Central Security Service, where he focused on counterterrorism in the Southeast Asian region. Subsequently, Mr. Collins served as a principal data analyst and assistant team leader for Special Operations Team Alpha (SOT-A), third special forces group (airborne), analytics director for Special Operations Team Bravo (SOT-B), third special forces group (airborne) and senior director of advanced analytics for the 244th Digital Liaison Detachment/Army liaison team. During his tenure in the military, Mr. Collins completed two combat deployments in Afghanistan and 18 months at Base Salerno in Khost, Afghanistan, where he was involved in target analysis.

Highly educated, Mr. Collins graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in intelligence studies with a concentration in criminal intelligence analysis from American Military University in 2012, a Master of Business Administration in technology entrepreneurship, international business and marketing and a Master of Science in management information systems from the University of Illinois Chicago in 2016, and a Master of Science in business analytics with a focus on predictive modeling and machine learning application from the University of Illinois Chicago in 2017. In addition to his degrees, Mr. Collins holds many professional credentials from LinkedIn in AI, DeepLearning.AI in building systems with theChatGPT API, Coursera in graph analytics for big data, graph theory, and more.

Mr. Collins holds professional memberships with the Chicago Innovation Exchange and the World Future Society. He is also actively involved in civic organizations. He notably as a consultant for the In-Kind Non-Profit Consulting Program at the University of Illinois at Chicago from 2013 to 2015, was a mentor for the Innovation Corps at the National Science Foundation in 2015 and served as a big brother with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metropolitan Chicago from 2013 to 2017.

Mr. Collins has been decorated with numerous honors, including an Army Good Conduct Medal from the 732nd Military Intelligence Battalion in 2008, an Army Commendation Medal from the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force Afghanistan and the Illinois National Guard in 2012 and 2014, respectively, and the Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal in 2014.

Mr. Collins is establishing a consulting practice focused on providing machine learning and AI services for small businesses that may not have access to these technologies. He also envisions leveraging his entrepreneurial education to explore technologies not utilized outside academia, ultimately helping others improve their businesses through his consulting practice. Mr. Collins attributes his success to his genuine interest in technology and his passion for working with data and uncovering patterns, and he looks forward to continued success in this sector.

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