Zia Chishti
Zia Chishti | |
|---|---|
| Born | Wilson Lear 1971 (age 53–54) |
| Alma mater | Lahore American School Columbia University Stanford University |
| Occupation | Business executive |
| Known for | Orthoclear, Afiniti |
| Spouse |
Sarah Pobereskin (m. 2020) |
| Partner | Tatiana Spottiswoode (c. 2017) |
| Awards | Sitara-e-Imtiaz for IT (2018) |
Muhammad Ziaullah Khan Chishti (né Wilson Lear; born 1971) is a Pakistani-American investor and business executive. He is the founder of Afiniti, TRG Global, and co-founder of Align Technology.
After starting his career as a Morgan Stanley investment banker, Chishti invented the medical device Invisalign and co-founded Align Technology to market the product in 1997. He was CEO of Align until 2003, when he founded the investment fund The Resource Group. In 2005 he co-founded both Orthoclear and Afiniti, the latter of which develops artificial intelligence for use in customer call centers. Chishti was a named inventor on around 150 issued patents by 2018, and had co-founded three unicorn startup companies. In 2021, he resigned after accusations of sexual harassment and violence in his career were made public.