Sardine has appointed Mike Lemberger as Chief Operating Officer, succeeding Co-Founder Aditya Goel as the AI-powered risk platform prepares for global operational scaling. Lemberger, a veteran of the payments industry, has served as an advisor to Sardine since 2025 and is tasked with strengthening enterprise relationships following the company's reported 500% revenue growth over the last two years.
Lemberger joins Sardine from Visa, where he spent 12 years in various senior leadership capacities. Most recently, he served as Chief Risk Officer for North America, overseeing risk strategy for the world's largest payment network. His background also includes a tenure as a Senior Advisor at global consultancy Oliver Wyman, specializing in data solutions and product strategy.
Aditya Goel, who co-founded Sardine in 2020 alongside Zahid Shaikh and CEO Soups Ranjan, will remain on the company’s Board of Directors and act as a strategic advisor. Goel is departing his operational role to launch a new venture in the fintech and AI space. CEO Soups Ranjan credited Goel with building the firm’s "agentic AI" foundation and scaling the platform to hundreds of enterprise clients including Brex, GoDaddy, and FIS.