The rise of AI agents is poised to transform coordination itself—enabling distributed groups to reason, decide, and act at scales and speeds once inconceivable. What happens when groups wield permissionless tools to coordinate across jurisdictions and institutions? As the marginal cost of software approaches zero, a new layer becomes possible: a programmable substrate for structuring, financing, and executing complex, high-impact initiatives. This architecture fuses legal enforceability, AI mediation, and governance into a cohesive, responsive, automated, and natural language system. For research communities, it offers a pathway from insight to action—transcending disciplinary and geographic boundaries. Charters, contracts, constitutions are ‘just words on a page’ … and now they can talk back. Which mega-project will you kickstart?
*Tim has spent two decades at the intersection of law, startups, and technology. A serial founder and executive, he is currently building AI-first ventures in law, healthcare, and complex systems. Most recently, he co-founded Polymathic, a Layer 1 blockchain for the agentic AI knowledge economy. Previously, he served as Executive Director of the MIT Office of Innovation, led innovation programs at MIT and Harvard I-Labs, and co-authored Innovation Systems: Blueprints and Lessons from MIT with Prof. Dame Fiona Murray. A former international tax attorney, Tim lives in Cambridge, MA, where he’s also a new founder in parenthood.