Nick Zhang

Staff Data Scientist, Team Lead

P2P & Content Risk AI · Binance · Singapore

I built and lead the P2P and Content Risk AI team at Binance from scratch — scaling it from 0 to a team protecting millions of users across one of the world's largest crypto exchanges. My work spans multilingual LLMs, real-time fraud detection, and agentic AI systems. Published researcher in evolutionary ML and neuroevolution, featured in IEEE Transactions journals.

Interests

AI Policy & GovernanceAI & Machine LearningAgentic SystemsRisk ManagementAnti-Scam Solutioning
LinkedInGet in touch
Experience

Binance

Current

Singapore · Feb 2022 – Present

Senior DS I→Senior DS II, Team Lead→Staff DS, Team Lead

I built the P2P & Content Risk AI team from scratch — a lean, high-impact team hired, structured, and grown to protect millions of users across Binance's P2P trading, Chat, and Customer Service platforms. Day to day, this means shipping multilingual LLMs, real-time fraud detection pipelines, and agentic AI systems that run at global scale.

Multilingual LLMsReal-time NLPFraud DetectionKafka + FlinkFAISSTechnical LeadershipPeople Management

PayPal

Senior Risk Analyst (ML)

Jun 2021 – Jan 2022

Identified high-risk merchants before fraud or bankruptcy using ML models and risk rules — think Minority Report, but for payments.

PayPal

Research Engineer (Data Science)

Aug 2018 – Aug 2019

Researched and built an ML-based seller risk profiling model that shipped to production.

Earlier

2017–2018
Software Engineer (Algorithm)CLEF Intelligence

Full-stack development with a focus on data modelling, NLP, and statistical analysis.

2016
Summer Intern — CryptographyDSO National Laboratories

Implemented the Number Field Sieve algorithm in C++ to crack the Discrete Logarithm Problem.

2016
Teaching AssistantNanyang Technological University

Taught Algorithms & Computing I (Matlab) to undergraduates.

2011–2012
ConscriptionSingapore Army
Education

PhD, Computer Science

Nanyang Technological University

Thesis: Lean Evolutionary Machine Learning by Multitasking Simpler and Hard Tasks

Supervised by: Prof. Ong Yew Soon and Dr. Abhishek Gupta

LLM, Law and Technology

In Progress

Singapore Management University

Selected Courses

  • ›Blockchain and Governance
  • ›Asian and Global Trends in IT Law
  • ›Data Governance
  • ›Financial Regulation in Singapore, Hong Kong and Greater China

BSc (Hons), Applied Mathematics

Nanyang Technological University

Publications

Evolutionary Machine Learning with Minions: A Case Study in Feature Selection

IEEE Transactions on Evolutionary Computation

Addresses computational challenges in evolutionary algorithms through multitasking approaches.

Multitask Neuroevolution for Reinforcement Learning with Long and Short Episodes

IEEE Transactions on Cognitive and Developmental Systems

Introduces the NuEMT algorithm for data-efficient evolutionary reinforcement learning.

Skills

AI / Machine Learning

Evolutionary Algorithms & NeuroevolutionReinforcement LearningNLP & Content ModerationFraud Detection & Risk ModellingFeature EngineeringMultilingual LLMsAgentic AI Frameworks

Data Science

Python (pandas, numpy, scikit-learn)Statistical ModellingA/B Testing & ExperimentationSQL & SparkPySpark / Airflow

Infrastructure

Real-time Inference SystemsKafka + Flink (Streaming)FAISS Semantic SearchML Pipeline DesignModel Monitoring

Leadership

Team Building (from scratch)Cross-functional CollaborationTechnical Roadmap PlanningMentorshipAI Strategy

Languages

English (Native / Bilingual)Chinese (Native / Bilingual)
Contact

Open to conversations about data science, AI research, collaboration, or opportunities. Feel free to reach out via LinkedIn or email.

LinkedIn

linkedin.com/in/nick-zhang

Email

nick.zhang@outlook.sg