David Palmer is a digital visionary, innovator, and author. He is the Chief Product Officer and co-founder of the Pairpoint by Vodafone IoT and Web3 platform Digital Asset Broker (DAB). He is board member of the Asia Web3 Alliance, international speaker on Web3, and the author of a new book entitled “The Business of the Metaverse – How Organisations Can Optimize the Opportunities of Web3 and AI.” David is recognised as one of the top 20 people to watch in Web3, and one of the top 30 Metaverse industry leaders. Most recently he has been working on the opportunities associated with AI, Web3, IoT and Fintech to power new business models for digital businesses and enterprises.
Recently, in an exclusive interview with CXO Outlook Magazine, David shared his professional trajectory, insights on the biggest challenges facing the product teams, personal hobbies and interests, future plans, pearls of wisdom, and much more. The following excerpts are taken from the interview.
Hi David. Please tell us about your background and areas of interest.
I have spent 25 years in telecommunications innovation and technology working on projects to introduce broadband, 3G, 4G, FTTP and IoT. For the last 10 years I have been involved in blockchain with focus on the application of this technology to enterprise. My current role as CPO of Pairpoint combines both these streams of experience as the platform we created is both enterprise and Web3.
What do you love the most about your current role?
The role enables me to combine cellular capabilities with Web3 and AI to help businesses to create new revenue streams from IoT device to device and device to infrastructure transactions and payments. There are forecast to be 70 billion IoT devices in operation in the next 5-7 years, and over 5 billion will be transacting with each other. The convergence of IoT, Web3 and AI will be key critical success factors for businesses to realize this opportunity, and my role gives me the opportunity to be at the ‘cutting edge of the convergence’, but with firm focus on business value added new digital product innovations.
What are the biggest challenges facing the product team, and how are you addressing them?
The market is moving fast, and the traditional processes are not proving responsive enough, as inherently high risk needs to be incorporated into the models given the products are new products for a new market.
There is also sometimes a blur between platform and product, where traditional products have a more structured route to development and market, but where the product is a platform, this is more complicated, and a new approach is required.
How do you stay ahead of market trends and customer needs, and what role does customer feedback play in shaping your product roadmap?
There are 2 streams to the approach:
- Is to ensure that we are aware of technology and innovation and to ensure that value potential value from new platform/technology capabilities are fed into the product development lifecycle. In some cases, this can lead to first mover advantage, but the risk is in some cases you need to make the market.
- Customer and market feedback helps to calibrate the timing of new features with demand to optimize parameters for product market fit.
To keep ahead in the market both streams needed to be blended into the approach.
What role does AI/ML and emerging technologies play in your product strategy?
Supply of Data for AI Models
Our product provides capabilities to enable the sale of IoT device data and services across industry ecosystems. With over 70 billion devices forecast to be generating data by 2034 and over 5 billion of them transacting it there is a direct link with the data required for AI models. Our platform and associated products will provide Ai agents with automated market making capabilities for the sale of IoT data, and the automated contracts and payments orchestration for the sale into AI models.
AI Agents and Algorithms for Monetizable Events
There is sometimes a premium value on data where it is consumed near real time. For example, real time fleet spare capacity can be sold to suppliers of goods who have real time demand to delivery to the same destination. We have developed monetizable event algorithms which are able to detect a monetizable event and use an AI agent to link with demand. We expect that the link between AI and IoT will continue to grow as AI will not only add intelligence to the data generated, but also be a key part of the new dynamic intelligent market making.
Is there a particular person you are grateful for who helped get you to where you are?
There are several inspirations in my career but one of the main ones was Steve Jobs who combined real vision and innovative technology but packaged it in a way which was convenient and easy to use. We are still benefiting today from these innovations, and I think this set the blueprint which I follow today which is “we can bring the future now, we just need to challenge ourselves to see it, then work to bring it to life in a way that users can easily use now”.
What does the term “authentic leadership” mean to you?
To me It means leadership which reflects a leaders’ vision, values, approach, and beliefs.
What are some of your passions outside of work? What do you like to do in your time off?
I am part of the Web3 community, and this takes a lot of my time outside of work. I very much like music and play the piano at every opportunity, as well as traveling. I also believe in the importance of health and exercise and diet play a key role in my everyday routine.
What is your biggest goal? Where do you see yourself in 5 years from now?
My biggest goal is for one of the platforms associated with my ideas and innovation to be a global leader bringing added value globally and making a difference to developing countries and their populations.
There are still 1.7 billion people with no access to financial services and limited access to business opportunities, despite the internet removing some geographic barriers. The creation of platforms and products which can redefine the boundaries of opportunities and make a difference to the current geographic and socio-economic status quo are part of my long-term goals.
What advice do you have for professionals who are just starting out?
- Develop your core product skill sets.
- Keep an open mind and be open to new ideas and approaches.
- Keep your knowledge current and up to date.
- Keep up to date with the market, market trends and the channels to market and social media and other channels can develop quickly.
- Be open to innovation.