Bruce Pon is the Founder of Ocean Protocol, a decentralized exchange protocol that unlocks data for AI. He has a background in consulting, entrepreneurship and engineering, and has presented guest lectures at institutions such as MIT, Oxford, NYU, and ESMT, in addition to delivering over 200 public talks focused on blockchain, cryptocurrency, and decentralized technologies. ^[1]

Education & Early Life

Pon earned a Bachelor's Degree, B.Sc. in Engineering from the University of Saskatchewan between 1991 and 1996. He held various positions within student organizations during their time at the university, including serving on the University Senate and the Academic Affairs Committee in 1994, and holding the role of Vice-President Academic in the University Students' Union during the same year. He was also a Member-At-Large in the Engineering Students' Society in 1993 and served as Class President for the 2nd Year AgBio Department within the Engineering Students' Society in 1992. ^[2]

He received an Executive Education in Driving Strategic Innovation, and obtained an Advanced Certificate for Executives in Management, Innovation and Technology from the MIT Sloan School of Management. ^[2]

Career

From May 1996 to March 2002, Bruce Pon worked as a Consultant at Accenture. In this role, he specialized in building large-scale enterprise systems for clients in three key industry groups: ^[3]

- Telecom (Sprint PCS, US West, Alltel/GTE, AT&T Canada, Sprint Canada)
- Government (Ministry of Community & Social Services, Ontario)
- Chemical/Energy (Suncor, Dupont)

In 2003, he started working at Daimler AG as the International Project Manager, where he held various roles within the Financial Services arm, primarily focusing on global and strategic projects. ^[3]

Pon founded ascribe in 2014. Ascribe provides a service allowing creators to register and monitor their intellectual property using blockchain technology, which enables creators to establish ownership, create limited digital editions, securely share their work, and track its online distribution. ^[3]

In 2009, he co-founded Avantalion Consulting Group, where he helped building banks and financial services in various countries for clients such as   Daimler, Volkswagen, Hyundai, Mitsubishi, Jaguar-Land Rover, and D'Ieteren. ^[3]

From 2021 to 2023 Pon was part of the Technology Pioneer at the World Economic Forum. The World Economic Forum's "Technology Pioneer" community comprises early to growth-stage companies worldwide. These companies specialize in developing and deploying new technologies with the potential to significantly impact business and society. Selected companies, recognized as Technology Pioneers, actively contribute insights and perspectives to the Forum's global discussions and initiatives. ^[3]

Ocean Protocol

Pon's journey into crypto began with the idea of utilizing blockchain technology to transform data and intellectual property into tangible assets. He recognized a critical issue in the financial world - many individuals lacked access to capital because they didn't possess assets that could be converted into financial value. Drawing inspiration from Hernando de Soto's seminal work, "The Mystery of Capital," he realized that just as land needed titles for monetization, intellectual property could similarly benefit from this concept. By granting individuals titles to their intellectual property and data through blockchain, there was a potential avenue to monetize these intangible assets. ^[4]

This notion held significant power for him. In an evolving landscape dominated by AI, big data, and powerful entities like corporations and governments, it became imperative to empower every individual with control over their ideas. He believed in providing people the agency to contribute value to society, to take their concepts and offer them on a global scale without borders, and crucially, to assert ownership and authority over their data, deciding who has access to it and where it goes. ^[4]

In 2017, Pon founded Ocean Protocol with the mission to serve as the coordination and revenue-generating mechanism for data and AI, fostering a transparent Data Economy that promotes equal opportunities for all involved parties. ^[5]

”We are looking forward to having thousands of marketplaces spring up around the data economy and then for millions of people to discover the data and start to use it while solving many of the problems the world faces.”^[6]

In an interview, Pon shared that the idea behind Ocean Protocol emerged from the belief in restoring individuals' control over their ideas and data. Recognizing the immense value of data in addressing complex global challenges, the founders understood the necessity of unlocking its potential. However, a pervasive fear of losing control hindered data sharing. Leveraging blockchain technology, Ocean Protocol addresses this trust barrier by facilitating secure and private data exchange. This breakthrough lays the foundation for an open data economy, where individuals wield greater influence and authority over their own information. In doing so, Ocean Protocol empowers people to contribute meaningfully to solutions for some of the world's most pressing issues. ^[4]