Founder & CEO — Strong Interactive
Innovator · Technologist · Speaker
Recognized tech disruptor and transformation leader. Founder of award-winning ventures across AI, mixed reality, and blockchain.
Jonathan Herman is a recognized innovator whose work in transformational technologies is redefining the digital landscape. As Founder & CEO of Strong Interactive, he has launched award-winning initiatives that integrate AI, blockchain, and mixed reality to create next-generation business solutions and consumer experiences.
Having been ranked among the Top 50 CEOs in the United States by Crunchbase, Jonathan has been featured on Yahoo Finance, NASDAQ, Black Enterprise, Advisory Cloud, and more.
A former Adjunct Professor of Business at Baruch College and National Board Member of the Association for Enterprise Opportunity, Jonathan co-founded an entrepreneurship program with two-time NBA All-Star Allan Houston that reached ~100,000 beneficiaries — and advised Warren Buffett's "Secret Millionaires Club" financial literacy initiative.
From AI-powered hospitality solutions like MetaDine — winner of "Best Use of AI in Hospitality (USA)" — to tokenized sports collectibles with Baller Mixed Reality — selected "Top Sports Brand Initiative" — Jonathan's work spans multiple industries and continents.
Named "Technologist of the Year – FLA, USA" by the Management Consultancy Awards, Crunchbase currently ranks Jonathan among the Top 5 people globally in Semantic Web, which is the enabling of AI through machine-readable data that can be understood by agents. Jonathan is also building AirNode, air-gapped AI solutions for regulated industries, and W3B Advisor, an AI learning GPT featured on OpenAI's GPT Store.
As a featured talent with All-American Speakers, Jonathan speaks on AI and emerging technologies. He has been selected to moderate a panel at AI4 — America's largest AI conference — on the topic of AI for Energy Resilience.
He has worked with students at Henley Business School's Executive MBA Program (UK's 5th ranked Executive MBA) toward the adoption of sports technologies across Europe and South America.
Past speaking stages include AEO's National Conference, MIT, UCLA's Anderson School of Business, Florida Alternative Investment Association, Council on Foundations, Miami NFT Week, New York Law School, and Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce.
AI workloads are driving massive power demand, renewing interest in nuclear energy as a scalable, carbon-efficient source of electricity. At the same time, nuclear and energy operators face new cybersecurity, compliance, and operational risks. Jonathan connects these trends and explains how secure AI strategy can support the next generation of energy infrastructure.
As organizations confront cyber risk, data sovereignty requirements, and AI governance challenges, a new model is emerging: local, isolated, and purpose-built AI systems. Jonathan explores how sovereign and air-gapped AI can help enterprises and public-sector organizations capture the benefits of AI while keeping sensitive data under direct control.
Beyond the hype, executives need a practical framework for deciding where AI belongs, where it does not, and how to measure value. Jonathan walks leaders through AI opportunity mapping, risk assessment, governance, vendor evaluation, workforce adoption, and the cultural changes required to turn AI from experimentation into business advantage.
Jonathan uses his experience building AI, AR, blockchain, hospitality, sports, and education ventures to explain what business leaders should learn from the Web3 boom: how to separate durable innovation from hype, how to time emerging-technology investments, and how to build products that solve real customer problems.
Drawing from W3B Advisor and his broader work with custom GPTs, Jonathan explains how AI can package expert knowledge into interactive learning, training, and advisory systems — especially relevant for universities, executive education, workforce development, and professional associations.
AI is rapidly reshaping energy, nuclear operations, industrial systems, government, healthcare, and finance — but the most sensitive environments cannot simply plug into public cloud AI tools. Jonathan explains how leaders can evaluate, deploy, and govern AI in high-security settings where data protection, operational resilience, and regulatory trust are non-negotiable.
Four award-winning ventures spanning sports, hospitality, fine art, and next-generation secure AI infrastructure — built under Strong Interactive.
Intelligence Where Data Lives. AirNode delivers purpose-built air-gapped AI systems for regulated industries — enabling AI-enhanced productivity inside your secure perimeter without cloud exposure, telemetry, or uncontrolled model behavior. Regulated organizations are unable to adopt mainstream AI tools because doing so requires exposing sensitive data to cloud providers with opaque telemetry. AirNode removes those risks entirely: no data leaves your environment, every inference is cryptographically signed to a tamper-evident local log, and multi-node clustering operates wholly within your facility.
Recognition: Air-Gapped AI for Regulated Industries. Visit AirNode
Best Use of AI in Hospitality — USA. MetaDine provides strategic B2B services to high-end restaurants, hotels, and resorts — converting featured menu items into easily accessible AR previews to create unique and memorable dining experiences that customers feel inspired to share. MetaDine's system also tracks key metrics to measure in-restaurant engagement, social media sharing, and increased sales. Currently in service with the Donna Mare Group, F&B provider to the Cadillac Hotel in Miami Beach (part of Marriott's Autograph Collection).
Award: "Best Use of AI in Hospitality — USA". Visit MetaDine
#1 Semantic Web Company Globally — Crunchbase. Ranked among the top Sports Collectibles companies worldwide by Crunchbase, Baller Mixed Reality integrates augmented reality with authenticated digital collectibles, delivering cutting-edge solutions that revolutionize how people engage with digital assets and real-world fan experiences. Baller's approach uses blockchain technology to solve the long-standing problems of fraud and counterfeits in the $412 Billion collectibles market — creating an entirely new way for fans to enjoy memorabilia and engage with their favorite figures in sports and entertainment.
Award: "Top Sports Brand Initiative" — American Metaverse Awards. Visit Baller Mixed Reality
$40M+ of artwork converted at Art Basel Miami. AR-T by Strong Interactive is an innovation in Augmented Reality and Three-Dimensional Digital Art — transforming masterpieces into unique AR experiences, tokenized on the blockchain to ensure authenticity and proof of ownership. Unlike other NFT art projects, the unique experience of viewing three-dimensional reproductions in high resolution provides greater utility and a more engaging experience than two-dimensional flat screen images. In partnership with Beyond Art, Strong Interactive converted more than $40 Million worth of original artwork into AR digital assets displayed at Art Basel week in Miami.
Award: "Mixed Reality Innovator of the Year" — Corporate LiveWire. Learn more about AR-T
Recognized at the highest levels across technology, leadership, and innovation — personally and through Strong Interactive.
Jonathan's AI assistant is trained on his full body of work and can answer questions across three areas:
Strategic guidance across corporate digital transformation, government & public policy, and academic & professional development. Jonathan helps corporations identify the best uses of AI, blockchain, and mixed reality — empowering c-suite executives, boards, and key stakeholders to achieve competitive advantage. He also works with elected officials and policy makers to understand the disruption already underway, and with academic institutions to prepare future leaders for the new economy.
Jonathan makes complex, fast-moving technologies feel urgent and actionable — sparking dialogue that stays with audiences long after the event. Speaking rates: $15,000 in-person (plus travel) · $10,000 virtual. Book via All American Speakers.
Jonathan grew up in Atlanta, studied law and business at Xavier University and Northeastern University School of Law, and built a career defined by seeing what's next — spanning entrepreneurship, philanthropy, and emerging technology. His business career spans leadership at Johnson & Johnson, CEO of Bocazon (one of the first large-scale e-commerce platforms in Panama), and founding Strong Interactive with its portfolio of AI, mixed reality, and blockchain ventures. His philanthropic work includes serving as Executive Director of the Allan Houston Legacy Foundation for over a decade and Founding Executive Director of the Admiral Center, an initiative backed by Living Cities helping professional athletes and entertainers including Chris Paul, Eva Longoria, and David Robinson maximize their social impact.
Dive deeper into Jonathan's work, see interviews, and book him for your next event.
Available for keynote speaking, corporate consulting, and advisory board roles. Speaking rates: $15,000 in-person (plus travel) · $10,000 virtual. Contact: jmh@stronginteractive.io
Book via All American Speakers.