Inrupt

"You guys are risking everything if all of this data is being uploaded into these LLMs." That's Nicholas Thompson pretty much nailing the threat lots of large consumer-facing organizations face with the rise of AI agents. Check out our full VivaTech session and find out which feature convinced Nick to name us "The Most Interesting Thing in Tech." https://lnkd.in/gjfWkvaj

"We used to be pathfinders. Now we're wayfinders." - John Bruce on stage at VivaTech, on what it means to lead a company through AI. His point: nobody knows where this ends up — not the enterprises, not the LLM vendors building the tools. The task isn't to find the destination. It's to move in the right direction now, so you and your customers are safeguarded for whatever comes next.

57% of bank customers say they'd consider using a third-party AI financial agent if their bank doesn't offer one. 20% reduction in net interest margin is the "consensus estimate" across McKinsey, Oliver Wyman, PwC, and Accenture if banks don't respond. The window is real, but it's not staying open. Bob Hedges on the threat → https://lnkd.in/eAZ_eM-q John Bruce on the solution → https://lnkd.in/gfFArtnM

Why trust Charlie with your data? Why trust Inrupt? That's the question Nicholas Thompson asked us on stage at VivaTech. John Bruce's answer: You don't. You trust the organizations that have already earned the trust to distribute Charlie, like your bank. In return for earning your trust, the organization gets an antidote to AI disintermediation.

The Attention Economy captured eyeballs. The Memory Economy will capture minds. At SXSW London, John Bruce put it plainly: "They will know us in ways that, frankly, we don't even know ourselves. They never forget." We've been sounding this alarm for over a year. In June 2025 — when OpenAI first began rolling out persistent memory to ChatGPT users — John wrote about exactly this threat: that whichever AI platform captures enough personal memory becomes the controller of people's decisions, not just their data. (https://lnkd.in/efPu7Z9u) That warning looks prescient now. ChatGPT's recent memory upgrades and Gemini's ongoing Personal Intelligence rollout are accelerating this consolidation. The companies building these systems aren't doing it to help you — they're building the most powerful lock-in mechanism ever created. But the future is not set. And we've built an answer that works for both people AND organizations, not platforms. Consumer-controlled data vaults let any AI deliver deep personalization without giving platforms ownership of your memory. And a personal, trusted AI agent makes them simple and fun to manage. Meet Charlie: https://lnkd.in/gg5chpu5

Last week, former Visa Chief Data Officer Bob Hedges asked: Who does the agent work for? Today, our CEO John Bruce answers. And introduces the agent that works for both the bank AND the consumer. Bob's prescription for banks facing agentic AI disruption comes down to five things: 🛡️ shield consumer identity, ✅ enable real data consent, 🚫 delete PII before it travels, 💼 give consumers portable memory, 🧠 and assemble intelligent context that serves them — not the platform. That's a precise description of Charlie 🤓 Built on Sir Tim Berners-Lee's Solid standard, Charlie is Inrupt's answer to the OpenAI/Plaid partnership that landed in May. Banks no longer face an implicit threat on the horizon. It's here. Read John's post: https://lnkd.in/gfFArtnM

Friend and Inrupt advisor Bob Hedges just put into writing something we've been thinking about in some form or fashion for years. His thoughtful piece in Open Banker is the most clear-eyed analysis I've read of what agentic AI actually means for banking. It's the same as the threat across many industries; complete disintermediation and the dominance of a few platforms that know the global population more intimately than we know ourselves.  The question he poses — "Who does the agent work for?" — is one every bank exec should take seriously. Worth your 10 minutes: https://lnkd.in/gBHEhQzA

Banks have survived five waves of disintermediation since 1971. Agentic AI is different — because for the first time, it attacks both the customer interface and the data simultaneously. Inrupt advisor and former Visa Chief Data Officer Bob Hedges just published a sharp, sobering piece in Open Banker asking the question every bank executive should be sitting with right now: "Who does the agent work for?" Spoiler: it's not the bank. And it's not the consumer. https://lnkd.in/eAZ_eM-q We have thoughts on what banks can do about it. More shortly.

Is it rational to fear AI? At SXSW London, our CEO John Bruce didn't sugarcoat it: yes. Not because of the tech per se — but because of who controls it. Today's AI systems are built on a model where the platform owns your data, accumulates a comprehensive picture of who you are, and never forgets. John calls it the "Memory Economy." And there's no opting out once you're known that intimately. The good news? There's a better architecture. One where your data stays yours, consent is real and revocable, and AI works for you — not for the platform. That's what we're building at Inrupt.

After moderating our session at #VivaTech — "Your AI Is Building a File on You. Tim Berners-Lee Has a Fix." — Nicholas Thompson, CEO of The Atlantic, went back and named Charlie his most interesting thing in tech. Nick hosts one of LinkedIn's most-followed daily tech series and has interviewed every major AI CEO. He knows the landscape. We'll take it. Sir Tim Berners-Lee and John Bruce introduced Charlie to the VivaTech stage on June 17th. Watch Nick's take — and learn more about Charlie — at the links below. #VivaTech #AI #Charlie #DataPrivacy #Inrupt