Ruben Verborgh – Professor of Decentralized Web Technology

We can build safe and sustainable AI
when we align societal imperatives
with economic incentives.

Ruben Verborgh

My name is Ruben and I’m a professional hallucinator. I dream up the world we want and build the technology we need. I’m an Associate Professor at Ghent University, and a technology consultant to innovative enterprises that envisage an exciting and inclusive future for all of us. I co-founded Res PublicAI, a European foundation that aims to bring responsible AI to people, companies, governments and research.

Together with a network of doers, I’m implementing a vision for the Insight Economy. We align technological, legal, and business incentives so everyone benefits from a wider deployment of artificial intelligence. A technology-positive match of personal and business needs encourages all of us to make sustainable decisions of when, why, and with whom we experience AI—without causing harm to ourselves or others.

The Insight Economy

My book The Insight Economy launches worldwide in January 2027 with Wiley.

The Insight Economy challenges the assumptions driving how organizations collect, manage, and extract value from data. I introduce a framework where value comes not from accumulating data but from streaming insights—paralleling the shift from physical media distribution to on-demand content delivery infrastructure. My book examines mismatches between technological, legal, and economic ideals in current data and AI practices.

Through diagrams, real-world use cases, and concrete examples, my book maps the intersection of technology, law, and economics to show where current data and AI strategies fail and how to redesign them.

Read my blog post for a sneak preview of what’s to come!

The Future of Data and AI

These blog posts are an excellent introduction to my vision on how to leverage data for a future where AI works for everyone:

Inside the Insight Economy

For centuries, trade has embodied mutual benefit. Let’s restore what data broke.

Trust takes time

Only people can trust, but only machines scale well.

No more raw data

Trust envelopes enable responsible data reuse.

Browse more blog posts.

Decentralized Data Technology

Dive deeper into my technological vision through the blog posts below:

The Web’s data triad

Querying decentralized data is a solved problem, but why do we prefer some solutions over others?

Reflections of knowledge

Designing Web APIs for sustainable interactions within decentralized knowledge graph ecosystems.

Paradigm shifts for the decentralized Web

As separate markets for data and apps emerge, Web development needs to adopt a new shape.

Browse more blog posts.