Jerry Cuomo

Jerry Cuomo is vice president of blockchain technologies at IBM, where he and his team demonstrate how blockchain can revolutionize business and redefine companies and economies. Jerry is recognized as one of the most prolific contributors to IBM’s software business, producing products and technologies that have profoundly impacted how the industry conducts commerce over the World Wide Web while dramatically improving the consumer experience. Jerry has exhibited a repeating pattern of breakthrough innovations in software design, engineering, and business strategy across IBM’s most financially successful and industry-recognizable software product offerings. Jerry holds the prestigious title of IBM Fellow—the highest technical position at IBM, with only 300 Fellows having been named in the 106 years of IBM’s existence. Jerry has pioneered emerging technology projects in the areas of the blockchain, API economy, mobile computing, cloud computing, web application servers, integration software, Java, and instant messaging software, filing over 60 US patents across these areas. Jerry is most recognized as one of the founding fathers of WebSphere Software, whose innovations defined WebSphere as the industry-leading application server, currently serving over 80,000 customers. His inventions in web server security, performance, scalability, and availability are the reasons why many of the world’s most visible institutions are able to securely conduct commerce over the web. Jerry’s most visible patent is the first use of the “Someone is typing…” indicator found in instant messaging applications. This invention is used by billions of users around the world every day, via their iPhones, Microsoft’s Messenger, and IBM’s Sametime. In March 2016 and February 2018, Jerry was called upon by the US government as an expert witness to testify to the US Energy and Commerce Committee on Digital Currency and Blockchain. During his testimony, Jerry urged the Obama administration to adopt the blockchain as a primary means to protect citizen identity and enhance national security. His testimony can be seen on YouTube and is often referred to in social media.