Gilles Fedak

Gilles Fedak is a French computer scientist and entrepreneur, best known as the CEO and co‑founder of iExec, a blockchain-based decentralized cloud computing platform built on the Ethereum blockchain, which he co‑founded in 2016 in Lyon, France.^[5] His background includes research in parallel and distributed computing at INRIA in Lyon, and his work at iExec focuses on confidential computing and Web3 data privacy.^[5]​^[6]​^[7]​

Early Life & Education

Gilles Fedak earned a Master's degree in Computer Science from Paris-Sud University (Paris XI) in 1999. In 2003, he earned a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Computer Science from the same university.

Career

Fedak's career combines academic research in parallel and distributed computing with entrepreneurial work in Web3 and confidential computing. He conducted research at INRIA and the University of California, San Diego before co-founding iExec in Lyon, and he also serves on the boards of organizations involved in crowdfunding and blockchain research.^[5]​

INRIA

After completing his Ph.D., Gilles Fedak worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, San Diego from 2003 to 2004.^[5] He then joined INRIA as a Research Scientist based at LIP/ENS-Lyon, a position he held from September 2004 to October 2017.^[5] His research focused on parallel and distributed computing, in particular the use of large, loosely coupled, distributed computing infrastructures to support computationally demanding and data‑intensive scientific applications.^[5]​

During his time at INRIA, Fedak co‑authored approximately 90 academic papers, two of which received Best Paper Awards.^[5] In 2012, he co‑edited the book Desktop Grid Computing with C. Cérin, published by CRC Press, and in 2015 he received the Chinese Academy of Sciences PIFI Award.^[5]​

iExec

Gilles Fedak co-founded iExec in October 2016 and serves as the CEO of the company.^[5]​^[6] Based in Lyon, France, iExec is a Web3 company that provides decentralized confidential computing and data‑privacy tools on Ethereum, operating a marketplace that allows users to monetize computing resources, applications, and datasets while preserving data ownership and confidentiality.^[5]​^[6]​

Under Fedak's leadership, iExec has focused on trusted and confidential computing, collaborating with Intel since 2018 on technologies based on Intel SGX and co‑authoring the Off‑Chain Trusted Compute Specification within the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance.^[7]​^[6] iExec has also been an early Web3 member of the Confidential Computing Consortium since 2019, promoting decentralized confidential computing (DeCC) for privacy‑preserving applications.^[6]​

In 2017, iExec launched the RLC ERC‑20 token via an ICO, using it as the primary medium of exchange on its decentralized computing marketplace.^[4]​

Boards and Industry Roles

Gilles Fedak has held several board and industry roles alongside his work at iExec. Since June 2018, he has served on the Board of Directors at WiSEED, a European crowdfunding platform.^[5] In April 2021, he became Deputy Director of Redchain Lab, a joint research laboratory focused on scalability and privacy in decentralized marketplaces, created with the LIRIS lab at INSA/CNRS/University of Lyon and funded by the ANR.^[5]​

From January 2020 to May 2021, Fedak was also a founding member of Adan, the French professional association representing digital asset industry actors.^[5]​