Taras Kowaliw is a Managing Director in Human Resources and Head of the People Analytics team. He leads HR’s team of data scientists, reporting specialists, and data managers to partner with other HR professionals and management teams across the firm. Through self-serve reporting and bespoke advanced analytics, he and his team help make data-driven decisions to help employees firmwide, especially in hiring, experience, and retention.

Before joining Blackstone, Taras spent ten years with Goldman Sachs, working as a quantitative strategist in their Public Equity, Alternative Investments, and People Analytics teams. This included work in fund performance attribution, portfolio optimization, predictive modelling for recruiting and retention, and behavioural finance systems for equity portfolio managers. Prior to this, Taras did academic research in machine learning and synthetic biology, including with the CNRS in France.

Taras has a PhD in artificial intelligence from Concordia University and a BSc in mathematics from the University of Toronto.