Gabriel Garcia ’24

While studying economics at the University of Pittsburgh, Gabriel Garcia simultaneously developed an interest in computer programming. After graduation, he looked for a graduate school program that would empower him to combine those two passions.

“I was in the middle of my college life when programming struck me, and I knew there was a higher bar to get into some of the positions that I wanted to get into,” he says. “I also loved learning about economics and wanted to get to the next level there.”

With the right grad-school program, he says, “I knew I could become a more of a dual threat.”

LeBow offered him the chance to pursue both interests, and today he is putting both those skills to use as a data engineer at Perpay Inc., a fintech company with an e-commerce platform. From his office in Philadelphia, he can look across the river and see his alma mater.

“One of our main products is the credit-building arm of the company,” he says, explaining that Perpay extends credit to anyone with a stable income and a steady job.

“They can increase their credit score by paying off their balance.”

Garcia helps make that happen, in part, by managing complex data sets. “It involves gathering all the information related to a user’s performance on our platform and their payback behavior, and then getting all of that data cleaned and processed correctly,” he said. That data then gets formatted to fit the often-complex requirements of the major credit reporting agencies.

It takes a high level of skill to make those wheels turn smoothly, and Garcia’s understanding of economics is key here. Helping users improve their credit scores, he says, “requires some understanding of how their credit score is increasing and why is it increasing. How long is your history? How often do you pay it off?”

Garcia regularly analyzes “how using our product affects their credit score, when we control for all of the other pieces in their credit,” and he and the rest of the data science team “need to be well-versed in how these models work, and what’s going on statistically, to contribute to the whole mission of the company.”

Garcia’s experience at LeBow helped prepare him for success here.

A course in game theory, he says, “changed the way that I thought about economic interactions and business strategy. I have found it extremely applicable to a lot of different situations.”

He points, too, to a course in mathematical economics — not just the course material, but the rigor of the experience. He remembers Professor of Economics Chris Laincz, PhD, telling the class up-front: “We’re going to spend a lot of time learning this information, and we’re going to have difficult problem sets.”

The work was indeed challenging, and today he’s grateful. “I had solved hard problems before, but this took it to another level,” he said. “That experience of working on difficult problems, especially with a group of people — it was very helpful in preparing me to work at a startup.”

Garcia’s work these days is challenging, and it’s also immensely satisfying.

“There are people who have steady jobs, and who may be living paycheck to paycheck,” he says. “They may not be able to afford Christmas gifts for their loved ones, and we really help those people to be able to make these long-term purchases.”

“It’s great to be a part of a mission-driven company and to know we’re serving those who are not currently recognized by the existing credit system.”