- Javed Khattak is an skilled finance and expertise chief, with over twenty years working throughout actuarial science, FTSE100 consulting and innovation in digital id, blockchain and AI.
- As co-founder and CFO of cheqd, Javed brings business, monetary and technical self-discipline to constructing reliable, privacy-preserving digital id infrastructure.
- Javed is pushed by a dedication to fixing actual belief and id challenges, making certain cheqd’s options are each privacy-centric and commercially viable.
- Javed leads with a values-focused, impact-driven method, empowering groups and positioning cheqd on the intersection of id, belief information and rising AI programs.
Inform Us About Your self and cheqd
I’m Javed Khattak, Co-founder and CFO at cheqd. I’ve spent twenty years working on the intersection of finance, expertise, and innovation, from main multi-billion-pound funds to constructing ventures in digital id, blockchain, and AI. I began my profession as an actuary and went on to advise senior management at FTSE100 firms and international manufacturers together with HSBC, Thomson Reuters, GSK, M&S, Aviva, PwC, and PA Consulting.
All through that journey, one theme has been fixed: the necessity for reliable, privacy-preserving digital infrastructure. That’s what in the end led me to co-found cheqd. My focus now could be bringing business, monetary, and technical rigour to an area that’s remodeling how people and organisations confirm info and set up belief on-line. Just lately, we’re extending these capabilities into AI brokers, making it doable for brokers to confirm info, show provenance, and construct belief in automated interactions.
What Impressed You to Begin cheqd? What Drawback Had been You Aiming To Remedy?
cheqd started when Fraser Edwards and Ankur Banerjee realised, throughout their work at Accenture, that self-sovereign id had sturdy technical foundations however no sustainable business mannequin. Each dialogue with purchasers returned to the identical problem: how do you make SSI work at scale? That unanswered query grew to become the spark for cheqd.
What impressed me was easy: digital id is the spine of the long run, but it surely should be commercially viable. I nonetheless keep in mind after I spoke to them about SSI – which was new to me on the time. It was clear that this was the long run. This was not factor to have, however a necessity – for privateness, for safety, for giving folks their information and sovereignty again. So I used to be excited to affix them on this journey. I, Javed Khattak, joined quickly after as Co-founder and CFO.
cheqd exists to make that doable.
What Has Been Your Largest Problem So Far? How Did You Overcome It?
One among our greatest challenges was proving that decentralised id may very well be commercially viable. For years, the trade targeted on rules and privateness, however not on sustainable enterprise fashions. Convincing organisations that verifiable credentials may create actual business worth required breaking with conventional pondering. We overcame this by constructing cost and trust-layer infrastructure immediately into the expertise stack, enabling clear incentives for issuers, holders, AI brokers, and verifiers. Demonstrating this in actual deployments and displaying how id and belief information improve AI programs helped shift perceptions. It proved that SSI can scale when it aligns with enterprise drivers.
Describe A Pivotal Second That Considerably Formed the Route of cheqd?
A defining second got here after we recognised that the rise of AI brokers launched the identical belief hole we had seen in digital id. Organisations had been enthusiastic about autonomous brokers however lacked methods to confirm provenance, authenticity, or accountable use. This realisation expanded our imaginative and prescient past folks and organisations to incorporate AI itself. It pushed us to adapt our id infrastructure to help verifiable AI and content material credentials.
That shift opened a completely new class of use circumstances, positioning cheqd not simply within the SSI market however on the intersection of digital id, belief information, and the way forward for autonomous AI programs.
How Do You Outline Success?
For Your Enterprise: Success for cheqd is creating expertise that turns into genuinely worthwhile and broadly adopted. If organisations can confirm information with belief and transparency, and people achieve actual management over their digital identities, then we’re fulfilling our mission. Sustainable progress and significant influence are the measures that matter.
As A Founder: Success is constructing one thing purposeful that improves how society manages id and belief. It’s not outlined by titles or milestones, however by creating lasting options and empowering the groups round me to do their finest work. If I obtain that, I contemplate myself profitable. And having enjoyable whereas doing it’s a bonus!
What Recommendation Would You Give To Somebody Contemplating Launching Their Personal Startup?
Begin with the issue, not your answer – validate that folks even have the ache you’re fixing. Perceive your market deeply, speak to potential clients early, and be sincere about whether or not your answer meets their wants. Encompass your self with a robust group whose abilities complement yours, no founder can do it alone. Be ready for setbacks, however keep dedicated to the mission, not simply the metrics.
Lastly, take into consideration sustainability from day one: a startup that’s commercially viable and ethically sound could have far larger long-term influence than one chasing hype.
What’s Subsequent For cheqd? Are There Any Thrilling Developments We Ought to Hold An Eye Out For?
Wanting forward, cheqd is concentrated on increasing the attain and capabilities of verifiable credentials into new markets and use circumstances. A key space is AI brokers: we’re enabling autonomous programs to carry verifiable credentials, show provenance, and work together with trustable information in a privacy-preserving approach.
We’re additionally strengthening integrations with enterprise and authorities ecosystems, making it simpler for organisations to undertake SSI at scale. Count on to see new partnerships, real-world deployments, and improvements that bridge digital id, belief information, and AI,creating infrastructure that powers safe, accountable, and verifiable interactions.
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Founder’s 5 with Javed Khattak
Right here’s TechRound’s unique Founder’s 5 with Javed Khattak of cheqd.
1. Favorite Enterprise Instrument?
Excel – reveals my age – however AI Brokers will quickly be overtaking it as soon as they’re extra dependable and reliable!
2. One Lesson You’ve Discovered the Laborious Manner?
Market timing beats good execution. We constructed world-class infrastructure years earlier than the market was prepared – being proper too early appears so much like being flawed.
3. A Future Development You’re Watching?
The intersection of AI and blockchain – to me the deterministic nature of blockchain is the truth is a necessity for AI to scale because of its probabilistic nature.
4. One Quote You Stay By?
“One of the best of individuals are those that are most useful to others.” Success is measured by the worth you create for others.
5. A guide/podcast you advocate?
“Pondering, Quick and Gradual” by Daniel Kahneman. As an actuary, I typically felt my method to danger and decision-making was out of step with standard pondering. This guide validated a lot of my hypotheses and reassured me I wasn’t going loopy. It deepened my understanding of cognitive biases and when to belief instinct versus evaluation—invaluable for every little thing from fundraising technique to product choices.
Need to be featured as TechRound’s Founding father of the Week? Know somebody who deserves to be recognised as a founder making waves within the startup panorama? Discover out extra about this weekly characteristic and tips on how to become involved right here.
