2018 was an amazing year for XY — The Persistent Company. We grew from 17 to more than 75 employees, we hosted a world-class conference, and, of course, we launched the XYO Network. 2019 is all about building on these successes. One of the ways we’ll do this is by surrounding ourselves with the best and the brightest — thought leaders in their field who are changing the world. That’s why we’re excited to announce three new members of our advisory board.

XY’s advisory board helps our co-founders guide the company by suggesting strategies, anticipating challenges, and making introductions that will help us develop new partnerships, applications and customers. The board’s newest members are joining a team of industry leaders that already spans the globe.

Marcus Delano East is Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of National Geographic. As a technology executive with a passion for driving change through the use of technology, he has built a global reputation for being a “creative technologist” who enjoys solving difficult problems in innovative ways, whether complex business challenges or life-changing social issues. Marcus spent much of his career working for leading technology companies including Apple and International Business Machines (IBM) building world-class technology, and the other portion of his career helping brands including Comic Relief, Marks and Spencer, and now National Geographic, to harness the power of technology to drive business value. Marcus is a Fellow of the British Computer Society (BCS) Chartered Institute for Information Technology, and a Member of the Chartered Management Institute (MCMI).

Kai Keller is currently Project Lead and a Global Leadership Fellow at the World Economic Forum. Kai leads the World Economic Forum’s work at the intersection of innovation and financial stability. He works with private and public stakeholders exploring changes in the global financial ecosystem as a result of technology-enabled innovation, while considering the wide range of opportunities and challenges in topics as diverse as the appropriate use of customer data, to the future of cryptocurrency. Before joining the World Economic Forum, Kai led equities activities at Credit Suisse, Macquarie Capital and Daiwa Securities.

Ken Au currently serves as advisor to multiple global business, luxury brand, and technology companies including Metaverse, China’s first public blockchain company. At Metaverse, Ken spearheads development of use cases from the ideology stage to product launch, as well as corporate development and partnerships. Ken has forged strong relationships in traditional technology and blockchain spaces, and has a thorough understanding of the power and synergy from integrating the two. Additionally, Ken is co-founder of the Luxchain Foundation, which provides enterprise-level supply chain verification solutions for the luxury goods market. In addition to his strategic work with XYO Network, he provides high-level advisory services to PLAIR.

In addition to these new faces, our advisory board now has new leadership! Paul Hynek, who’s been on our advisory board since early last year, has stepped up to serve as the advisory board’s Chairman. Paul holds an MBA from The Wharton School, and is currently a professor of finance at Pepperdine. Paul also leads the Technology Committee for the $100 million effort to revitalize Pershing Square, the oldest public space in Los Angeles, and is a member of the global-oriented Smart Cities Council. Paul will contribute decades of business and technology insight, expertise, and leadership to the overall direction of the Advisory Board as XYO Network continues executing against its aggressive strategy around the globe and in orbit.