Kobalt Labs hires banking veteran Paul Gallagher to lead bank partnerships

Kobalt Labs has named former Thread Bank COO Paul Gallagher to expand partnerships with banks, credit unions and fintechs as the risk-and-compliance startup scales in 2026. The hire brings a bank-operator perspective to a company that has added multiple new financial institution customers, raised $12.7 million and landed on Forbes' 30 Under 30 Finance list.

Why it matters: - Kobalt Labs is trying to deepen trust with financial institutions that want to modernize risk and compliance workflows without adding more manual work. - Paul Gallagher brings more than 30 years of experience in banking operations, enterprise risk and vendor management to that push. - Gallagher's background gives Kobalt a senior operator who has managed the same back office, risk and oversight responsibilities the platform is built to streamline.

What happened: - Kobalt Labs announced that Paul Gallagher has joined the company to help lead bank partnerships. - Gallagher most recently served as co-founding chief operating officer of Thread Bank. - In the new role, Gallagher will build and deepen relationships with banks, credit unions and fintechs. - Kobalt framed the hire as part of its expansion across financial institutions.

The details: - At Thread Bank, Gallagher oversaw loan, deposit and branch operations, customer support, IT, information security, project management, corporate real estate, and third-party risk and vendor management. - At Pinnacle Financial Partners, he served three years as senior strategic project manager and led post-acquisition strategic initiatives. - At PayPal, Gallagher was director of enterprise risk management and handled second-line oversight of finance functions, including vendor management, through the Risk and Control Self-Assessment process. - At First Republic Bank, Gallagher built the Lending Services Internal Control and Compliance Support function from scratch. - At Silicon Valley Bank, Gallagher led the launch of the Private Bank and ran loan, deposit, card, wire, digital and core operations. - Silicon Valley Bank's Private Bank grew to 1,600 clients, $1 billion in assets and $25 million in operating income in three years, with satisfactory regulatory exams and audits. - At Wells Fargo, Gallagher spent more than a decade in senior roles, including SVP and head of private banking operations. - In one Wells Fargo role, Gallagher ran a 96-person national support center serving 105 regional offices. - In another Wells Fargo role, Gallagher led the business case to decommission a 450,000-square-foot San Francisco data center, generating $19 million in annual savings. - Gallagher holds an MBA from the Yale School of Management and a BA from Brown University. - Kalyani Ramadurgam, Kobalt Labs' CEO and co-founder, said Gallagher has sat in nearly every seat at a bank and understands customer problems from direct experience. - Kobalt says the platform automates manual work across third-party risk management, ERM, fintech partner diligence and marketing compliance by extracting evidence, identifying gaps and generating risk assessments within minutes. - The company says the platform is used by banks, credit unions and fintechs across the country.

Between the lines: - The hire signals that Kobalt is leaning on experienced bank operators to help translate a software pitch into something institutions may view as operationally credible. - Gallagher's background in vendor oversight is especially relevant because third-party risk remains a major burden for banks and fintech partners. - Kobalt is also using senior hires to support growth after adding customers and outside capital earlier in 2026.

What's next: - Gallagher will focus on expanding Kobalt's footprint with community and regional banks, credit unions and fintechs. - Kobalt will continue scaling after being selected in 2026 by Core Bank, Republic Bank of Chicago, InTouch Credit Union, ORNL Federal Credit Union, Chesapeake Bank, Middlesex Federal Savings Bank, SmartBank, MVB Bank and MRV Banks. - The company will also build on momentum from its $12.7 million raise and Forbes 30 Under 30 Finance recognition earlier this year.

The bottom line: - Kobalt is betting that a veteran banking operator can help turn product momentum into deeper institutional adoption.