AiThority Interview with Dave Dickson Founder of PicoNext

Dave Dickson Founder of PicoNext in this interview discusses the concept of Digital Product Passports, the adoption of Web3 technologies, protection against data breaches, and customer engagement trends. Read the complete Q&A: 

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Hi Dave, welcome to our interview series at AiThority.com. please share your learning journey in the B2B tech industry as a CEO of PicoNext?

Thanks for inviting me to participate. I’ve worked in emerging technologies with brands for many years, including on mobile and AI initiatives at Adobe, as well as at a variety of startups. At PicoNext, we’re helping brands to create Digital Product Passports, which are soon-to-be required for many products in the European Union and help consumers gain insight into the product and sustainability attributes of the goods they buy.

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Can you talk about the concept of Digital Product Passports and how PicoNext leverages it to contribute to sustainability and transparency for brands?

Digital Product Passports (DPPs) allow consumers to see information about a product they’re buying, simply by scanning a QR code. Companies distributing many types of products within the European Union – including electronics, batteries, clothing, furniture, building materials and more –  will be required to have DPPs for their goods within the coming months and years. PicoNext helps companies deliver these DPPs to customers through generative artificial intelligence, the cloud, and blockchains. And in addition to fulfilling regulatory requirements, Digital Product Passports help brands connect with their sustainability-minded consumer – especially Gen Z and Millennial audiences.

PicoNext is pioneering the use of Web3 for experience brands. Could you elaborate on how your platform leverages Web3 technology to enhance customer engagement?

To help companies deliver product data to customers, the PicoNext Digital Product Passport platform allows brands to publish DPPs either on a blockchain or in the cloud. Using a blockchain (also known as a distributed public ledger) gives companies several advantages when they’re publishing sustainability data. Because public ledgers are inspectable by end users, they drive transparency around companies’ sustainability claims. And because they’re immutable, they increase trust in the product data because customers know the information can’t be tampered with. Using generative AI, PicoNext helps brands accelerate publishing of Digital Product Passports in order to meet rapidly approaching regulatory timelines for this data.

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Which industries do you believe are most likely to adopt Web3 technologies for customer engagement, and why?

Digital Product Passports are soon-to-be-required for a variety of product categories in the European Union. We’re also seeing interest worldwide in DPPs from companies who want to connect with their sustainability-minded customers. Initial product categories that will require DPPs are wide-ranging, and include industries such as: information and communications technology, electronics, batteries and vehicles, textiles and fashion, plastics, furniture, construction and buildings, and chemicals. Often, companies in these industries have product data sets that can be difficult to manually sift through in order to produce Digital Product Passports. Using generative AI in PicoNext, companies can summarize their product data into DPPs based on templates, which they can then review and publish on a blockchain or in the cloud.

PicoNext focuses on attracting and retaining Generation Z and Millennial customers. What unique strategies or solutions does your platform offer to engage these demographics effectively?

Generation Z consumers are among the most sustainability-minded of recent generations. According to Deloitte, nearly seven in 10 of Gen Z consumers are actively trying to minimize their impact on the environment. However, they’re also skeptical of the sustainability claims companies make. In fact, 88 percent of Gen Z consumers simply don’t trust companies’ environmental claims. They’re distrustful of greenwashing and want brands’ actions to speak louder than their words. Digital Product Passports help companies detail their sustainability claims and provide evidence to Gen Z customers about environmental actions. And with PicoNext, companies can deliver these Digital Product Passports using generative AI, using a branded experience that engages Gen Z users on mobile and Web platforms.

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What measures does PicoNext take to protect against potential data breaches, and how do you address any security concerns your clients might have?

Using blockchains for Digital Product Passport information, companies can deliver secure experiences for their users. With these distributed public ledgers, brands can cryptographically register their data on-chain, and provide publicly available and inspectable transactions to their customers. DPP data on a blockchain cannot be altered, and is replicated and stored on multiple nodes, mitigating any network failure. In addition, on a public ledger, DPP data persists on-chain, regardless of vendor or company status. By using generative AI to summarize product data, companies can accelerate production of their Digital Product Passports, and by using blockchain, they can deliver secure, traceable product provenance data to customers.

What emerging trends will most impact customer engagement by 2030?

Recently, we conducted a study about Digital Product Passports that surveyed over 1000 consumers across Europe and the United States to determine their thoughts and attitudes about. 73 percent of consumers indicated that increased sustainability information through a Digital Product Passport would increase their trust in a brand. Further, 67 percent said that their purchase likelihood from a company would increase with access to this expanded information.

Additionally, during the next 4-5 years, companies can take advantage of new and rapidly evolving technology trends to increase customer engagement with their brands and drive positive perception around their sustainability efforts. Using generative AI, companies can accelerate the production of these product passports that detail sustainability efforts, while reducing manual effort to publish DPPs. In addition, with blockchains and public ledgers, brands can deliver secure, transparent product data to customers. With the combination of these technologies, companies can meet their customers on the devices and channels they’re using most, and deliver branded experiences that secure customer loyalty far into the future.

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