We Have One Shot to Get Digital Identity Right

A Defining Moment

I’ve spent twenty-three years building technology companies. I’ve watched the internet evolve from an experimental network into a surveillance economy. I’ve seen fortunes rise and fall, paradigms shift, and promises broken.

But nothing compares to the inflection point we face right now.

In the next 24 months, we will determine whether artificial intelligence serves humanity or subjugates it. Whether your data empowers you or exploits you. Whether your digital identity belongs to you—or to the platforms that profit from it.

We have one shot to get this right. And we intend to take it.

The Pattern I Can't Unsee

When the dot-com bubble burst in 2001, many Fortune 500 executives declared the internet dead. I was running AdPredictive, my marketing technology company, and I saw something else: the real work was just beginning.

From that chaos emerged Google, Facebook, and Amazon: the platforms that would redefine human society. They crystallized precisely when others walked away.

Today, I see the same pattern with AI, but the stakes are exponentially higher.

The government’s $500 billion investment in AI infrastructure isn’t just about data centers. It’s about laying the rails for the future of human interactions across the web. We're not far off from a world where agents work autonomously on our behalf, curating our experiences and reality as we know it.

This isn’t hypothetical—it’s already happening. The only real question is: who will control your identity in that world?

The Disaster We're About to Repeat

Web 2.0 was meant to democratize the internet. Instead, it became surveillance capitalism. A handful of corporations captured trillions in value by turning people into products—harvesting, analyzing, and monetizing personal data without meaningful consent or compensation.

Now imagine that same model, but with AI agents that know your medical history, finances, relationships, and private desires. Agents that make decisions for you, represent you, and shape what you see and believe.

If we continue on the current trajectory, those agents won’t work for you, they’ll work for whoever controls the identity layer. Entrenching more of who we are in their corporate silos.

That’s why Aaron Slope and I founded The & Company. And why we made a bold move: we trademarked the ampersand symbol itself—creating a new namespace for human identity, one built on individual sovereignty.

The Vision That Drives Us

Imagine asking your AI agent:

“What should &alice&bob&carol eat tonight?”

Three separate agents—each representing a person with unique preferences and dietary needs—negotiate to find the best restaurant, privately and autonomously.

No platform sits in the middle harvesting data. No company owns the interaction.
The agents work only for the people they represent.

This isn’t science fiction. We’ve built it.

The &tag protocol enables composite identity representation, allowing AI agents to negotiate on behalf of multiple people simultaneously—while preserving each individual’s privacy and control. You own your &tag like you own your phone number, but unlike a number, it can’t be revoked, sold, or monetized by anyone else.

Why This Moment Is Different

AI changes everything because it gives ordinary people extraordinary power.

At AdPredictive, we’ve seen how AI can democratize capabilities that once required massive resources. Small businesses can now create professional marketing campaigns that once cost thousands. That’s just the beginning.

Soon, AI agents will facilitate commerce, manage your lifestyle, optimize your finances, and coordinate with other agents to solve problems before you even identify them. The economic value created will be immense—but who captures it?

If nothing changes, that value will be captured by the same organizations that ushered in the attention economy, maximizing profits without concern for the consequences of digital life.

But if we act now, and establish individual sovereignty at the identity layer, that value flows back to you.
Your data becomes your asset.
Your AI agents become your employees.
Your identity becomes your property.

The Infrastructure Is Already Being Built

While the world debates AI safety and ethics, the real battle is already underway—at the infrastructure level.

Identity. Authentication. Data ownership. Agent communication protocols.
These aren’t glamorous topics, but they form the foundation of the next era of human-computer interaction.

That’s where our focus lies.
We’ve built:

• A universal addressing system that humans can own.
• Composite identity protocols for multi-party negotiation.
• Privacy-preserving computation for sensitive data.
• Agent interoperability standards for a connected ecosystem.
   

We’re not trying to compete with the platforms.
We’re building the sovereign layer—one that ensures you remain in control, no matter which platforms you use.

The Window Is Closing Fast

Here’s what keeps me up at night: we may have only two years before these systems solidify.

Once major AI platforms establish their identity models—once agent communication standards coalesce around centralized control—the pattern will lock in.

And when that happens, it’s over.
We’ll spend decades trying to regulate our way out of another monopolistic nightmare, and behavioral patterns that may not hold the best interest of humanity at heart.

But if we move now and build sovereignty into the foundation, everything changes.

This isn’t about being anti-corporate or anti-technology. I’m an entrepreneur. I believe in capitalism and innovation.
But I also believe the greatest economic value emerges from empowering individuals, not exploiting them.

When people own their data, when agents work for their interests, when privacy and sovereignty are built in rather than bolted on—that’s when AI realizes its true potential.

What We're Building Is Working

I can’t share everything yet, but here’s what I can say:
Major organizations are adopting &tags.
Developers are building on our protocols.
Early users are experiencing what it means to have AI that genuinely serves them.

We’re seeing composite negotiations succeed in practice.
Privacy-preserving decisions between multiple agents.
Intelligent systems that amplify human capability while respecting human agency.

This isn’t theory anymore—it’s real, it’s live, and it’s ready to scale.

The Choice Before Us

Every technological revolution demands a choice.

The printing press could have been confined to the church or shared with the people.
The internet could have remained an academic tool or become a global commons.

Now AI presents perhaps the final choice:
Will we be sovereign individuals in the digital world, or products in someone else’s economy?

The & Company exists to ensure we choose sovereignty.
But we can’t do it alone.

We need developers building applications that respect human agency.
Organizations adopting open standards for identity and control.
Investors who recognize that the greatest returns come from empowering billions, not exploiting them.
And individuals claiming their &tags, asserting ownership over their digital selves.

Above all, we need urgency.

The Future We're Fighting For

I’m 50 years old. I’ve built companies, invested in others, and worked on problems from marketing automation to affordable housing. But this, ensuring human sovereignty in the age of AI, is the most important work of my life.

When I look at my kids and their generation, I see people unwilling to accept exploitation as the price of innovation.
They’re building for change, for impact, for a better world.
They deserve technology that amplifies their agency, not undermines it.

In five years, AI will be embedded in everything. That’s not a prediction, it’s reality in motion.
The only variable is ownership:
Will you own your piece of that world, or rent it from someone else?
Will your data work for you, or against you?
Will your agents serve your interests, or someone else’s agenda?

Join Us

We’re fully funded and building fast.
We have the technology, the team, and the timing.
Now we need momentum and the collective will to choose a better path.

Claim your &tag.
Build on our protocols.
Invest in human sovereignty.

Help prove that technology can empower rather than exploit. That privacy and progress can coexist, and that individual sovereignty is the foundation of collective prosperity.

This is our moment. Our choice. Our one shot to shape an AI future that serves humanity rather than subjugating it.

The ampersand isn’t just a symbol.
It’s a declaration:
In the age of artificial intelligence, human agency comes first.

Join us.
The window is open—but not for long.