Zak has been involved in the blockchain space since 2012 and Ethereum development since 2016. He received his training as a communications engineer in the United States Marine Corps where he and his unit were responsible for building and maintaining the communications and Internet infrastructure for Iraq's Al Anbar Province during Operation Iraqi Freedom 07-08. These efforts included the engineering of field data centers, satellite communications, and the implementation and management of mission-critical cryptographic assets. After retiring from the Marine Corps, Zak worked in the field of cyber security, network engineering, and applied cryptography. He also ran an Internet agency and worked with Google prior to founding Whiteblock, a blockchain testing company whose clientele includes the Department of Defense, ConsenSys, Beam, RChain, Syscoin, and the Ethereum Foundation.