The Web’s Inventor on Building AI That Benefits Everyone

More than 35 years after creating the web, its inventor and Inrupt’s CTO, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, continues to push for digital innovation on the foundations of user empowerment and open standards. Last week in the Financial Times, Sir Tim addressed today’s dysfunctions around personal data and AI, and highlighted the untapped potential for businesses, individuals, and society at large if they could put that data to use for mutual benefit. 

The Problem with Personal Data Today

In his op-ed, Sir Tim focuses on one of the digital world’s fundamental flaws preventing this today: how personal data is stored, managed, and used. Currently, a user’s data is stored in disparate siloes controlled by a few major platforms, greatly hindering its value for businesses, limiting utility for consumers, and increasing risks for both. 

Sir Tim affirms that a decentralized, user-centric approach to personal data holds the key to digital innovation that delivers transformative value for both businesses and their customers.

“If you have all your data in one area, you can make links between it. That’s where the real magic happens, where insights between different data points can be seen.”

To make this “real magic” possible, he created the Solid protocol and co-founded Inrupt. 

Rather than storing a user’s personal data across fragmented proprietary platforms, it is all stored with the user in Data Wallets — secure, interoperable data storage that allows individuals to curate and share all types of personal data with trusted businesses or organizations. With the ability to manage, curate, and consent to share their own data, consumers are empowered with agency while benefitting from much more personalized services or products. Businesses, on the other hand, benefit from reduced liability and compliance restraints while gaining access to better customer insights. 

The Next Phase of the Web: Better, Safer AI 

Most importantly for the future, this approach to personal data unlocks transformative opportunities for AI-driven innovation. One of the most exciting and promising applications for this fundamentally new approach to personal data is in the realm of agentic AI.  

“The next level is to make these data insights accessible to everyone via artificial intelligence agents. But in order not to repeat the worst mistakes of the social media era, we need to make sure these agents really work for you.”

It’s no secret that the more an AI agent knows about us, the better it can work for us. Existing personal data infrastructures and AI systems, however, aggregate data under the control of different corporations. Aside from creating major privacy concerns, that approach means personal data is fragmented from the perspective of the individual, which greatly limits their ability to receive personalized value or utility from their data. Today’s agents still deliver powerful intelligence, but they’re difficult to personalize because customers don’t have the tools to tell them what they really need and why — all the necessary information lives in fragmented data silos.

This is precisely why Sir Tim envisions a future where AI agents serve as secure, personal digital assistants that holistically understand a user’s needs, preferences, and more. At Inrupt, we’ve built the foundations and enterprise infrastructure (powered by Sir Tim’s Solid standard) that businesses need to deliver safe, innovative, and personal AI-driven experiences for their customers.

“I co-founded Inrupt to build a data wallet on top of Solid that can store everything from your driving license to photos to medical data.”

This fundamental shift will define the next phase of the web — one where individuals can manage and curate their own data, while businesses can drive AI-driven growth and innovation not previously possible. 

To learn more about how Agentic Wallets™ are turning Sir Tim’s vision into a reality, watch our latest webinar or get in touch.