Mark Pesce

Co-inventor of the technology behind the metaverse, and one of the few AI speakers with genuine technical credibility to match the vision

Overview

In 1994, Mark Pesce co-invented VRML — the first 3D standard for the Web — convincing Microsoft, Netscape, Silicon Graphics, Sun Microsystems and Sony to adopt it as an industry standard. It laid the technical foundation for what we now call the metaverse. Three decades later, Pesce brings that same rare combination of deep technical credibility and futurist vision to how organisations should actually think about AI — not as commentary from the sidelines, but from someone who has spent a career building the technologies he speaks about.

His 2023 book, Getting Started with ChatGPT and AI Chatbots, sits alongside earlier works including Augmented Reality: Unboxing Tech's Next Big Thing. A three-time winner of Best Columnist at the Australian IT Journalism Awards, Pesce writes for The Register and COSMOS Weekly, hosts the podcasts The Next Billion Seconds and This Week in Startups Australia, and co-created the award-nominated series A Brief History of the Metaverse with fellow VRML co-inventor Tony Parisi. His work has taken him to the G20 and World Bank, and clients include Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Telstra, Essential Energy and Endeavour Group.

Career Highlights

• Co-inventor of VRML (1994), the first 3D standard for the Web and technical foundation of the metaverse

• Author of Getting Started with ChatGPT and AI Chatbots (2023) and Augmented Reality: Unboxing Tech's Next Big Thing (Polity Press, 2021)

• Three-time winner, Best Columnist, Australian IT Journalism Awards (2018, 2019, 2021)

• Seven years as a judge/panellist on ABC's The New Inventors

• Honorary appointment, University of Sydney; founded interactive media programs at USC and AFTRS

• Advises organisations including the G20, World Bank, Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Telstra

• Co-creator of the award-nominated series A Brief History of the Metaverse

Key Speaking Themes

• Artificial intelligence and generative AI, from first principles to real-world application

• The metaverse, virtual and augmented reality

• Emerging technology and its impact on business, creativity and society

• Technology history and its lessons for what comes next

What Your Audience Will Gain

Audiences get a genuinely rare combination: the technical depth of someone who actually invented foundational technology, paired with the storytelling and communication skill of an award-winning broadcaster and columnist. Pesce tailors every presentation specifically to the audience and event — reviewers consistently note there's no cookie-cutter version of his talk.

Ideal For

• Technical, R&D and innovation conferences

• AI and emerging technology summits

• Corporate strategy and technology leadership events

• Government and institutional briefings (G20, World Bank-level audiences)