About

James is founder and chief executive of Swayable, the data platform company based in New York and California. Swayable is backed by investors including Y Combinator, and is used by many of the world’s largest marketing and advocacy campaign organizations to measure the impact of their content and messaging.

He was previously Vice President and Chief of Operations of NYT Global, the international digital team of The New York Times, where he worked with designers, journalists, technologists and marketers to plan the next generation of experiences for millions of people who read NYT globally. Before that, he was a founding partner at New York-based social change agency Purpose, a strategy consultant at McKinsey, and co-founded Peers.org, working with the founders of Airbnb.

Originally from Australia, James moved to the U.S. to earn a PhD in experimental physics at Cornell in the Davis Lab, where he published discoveries in journals including PNAS, Science, Nature and Physical Review, while also studying economics under Kaushik Basu, the Chief Economist of the World Bank. He was later appointed as an affiliate to Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society, as well as Princeton’s Kahneman Center for Behavioral Science and Public Policy.

James was listed by Origin Magazine as "one of the top creatives changing the world” and is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, the social impact organization led by UK’s Princess Anne. He serves as a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Information Integrity for the 2025–2027 term.

Work

SWAYABLE

Swayable is a cloud-based web application that uses automated data science to measure the impact of content on opinion, attitude and intention. It drives major increases in the effectiveness of the world’s most important campaigns.

New Economy lab

New Economy Lab is a social innovation firm that creates new digital social enterprises and initiatives, and offers expert advice to leading global and national organizations.

NEW york times

James was Chief of Operations of NYT Global, the international digital team of The New York Times, which he played a central role in establishing during his earlier tenure as NYT’s Executive Director of Strategy for Digital Product and Technology.

PEERS

Peers.org was the world's largest sharing economy advocacy and community group, representing hundreds of thousands of participants in the sharing economy during its rise in 2013–2015, winning victories in cities across the U.S. and globally.

Purpose

Purpose builds large-scale online digital communities in support of social change, including starting several of the world's largest progressive digital advocacy groups. James was a founding partner and member of the original leadership team.

McKinsey & Company

Working with around 15 different clients on strategy, technology and finance projects, James began his career at the management consultancy McKinsey. Clients included state and national governments, global and national non-profits, and major businesses.

UNITED Nations

James was a graduate intern at the UN Division for Sustainable Development in 2002, writing a report on the use of scientific expert advice in the UN system. He also participated in the 1997 Kyoto COP-3 climate change negotiations, as well as Copenhagen COP-15 (2009) and Paris COP-21 (2015) in various NGO, journalism and advisory capacities.

physics

Studying experimental condensed matter physics at Cornell under J. C. Séamus Davis, James discovered relationships between the quantum and geometric properties of high temperature superconductors, developing new computational algorithms and atomic-resolution electron microscopy technology.

Speaking

James speaks on digital media, technology, social innovation and movement building at institutions including those listed below. For booking enquiries, contact Tara Berthier at Outspoken (info@outspokenagency.com, +1 646 863-4000).

Writing

Climate change & Australia

Co-authors: Ben Saul, Steven Sherwood, Jane McAdam, Tim Stephens

"Climate change is one of the most hotly debated issues of this century. This book provides a clear, balanced account of the science on climate change, how it is affecting the planet, and the policy options available to deal with it. It draws on the expertise of its authors from the disciplines of science, economics, geography and international law."

Sharing economy's rapid growth raises vital questions

Co-authors: Natalie Foster, Jeremy Heimans

"The sharing economy offers an antidote to overconsumption, an eroding middle class and rising concentrations of wealth and power, through use of idle assets – parked cars and empty apartments, Peers.org founders write."–Guardian

The path to deep carbon reductions

Co-authors: Stephan Görner, Liana Downey

"The report by the management consultants McKinsey and Company, advisers to some of the world's biggest corporations and institutions, says that the cuts could be made without a big technological breakthrough or dramatic lifestyle changes, and by 2030, emissions could be slashed up to 60 per cent." –Sydney Morning Herald

Fun