Jonathan Banks is the Founder and CEO of NCXT. For the past two years, Banks and his Co-Founder Jeff Aguy have developed their unique, human-centric approach to product and business development.
Imagine a place where psychology and blockchain technology meet. Banks and Aguy would be the ones to walk you through it.
As a MHTA member, and a participant in the SciTech Internship Program, we were very excited to speak with Banks, learn more about the work that NCXT is doing and the vision behind it.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Hello Jonathan. Let’s start by learning a little more about NCXT. When it comes to the history of your company and why it came to be, what should everyone know?
Banks: We want to create Our Best World™. Without asking people too many questions, it’s glaringly obvious that humanity’s heart aches for a better life. People simply desire a better today than their yesterday. A better year ahead than the one behind. It’s amazing how ubiquitous and visceral this want for a better world is, yet, how challenging it is for organizations to create that world.
That’s why NCXT exists. We partner with mid-to-large size organizations, as well as funded entrepreneurs, to create technical and non-technical solutions that connect them to their customer’s desire for a better world.
When I got together with my Co-Founder, Jeff Aguy, in early 2018, we decided to combine my expertise in customer experience (CX) and technology modernization with his expertise with design and organizational psychology into a company the puts customer experience (CX) at the center of everything we do, including our name NCXT, which is pronounced Next.
On your website you talk about NCXT’s Data-Driven Human Advantage, the DDHA. What is that exactly, and how does it make you stand apart?
Banks: Data shapes everyone’s ideas, our decisions, and our actions. To put it plainly, data shapes everything we do. Since solutions resemble the data that inspired them, it’s essential to focus on not only having data, but having data that’s representative of the better world we want to create.
NCXT’s data-focus, paired with our human-centered design expertise, allows us to rapidly create smart, elegant, real products, with impact at a global scale.
What can you tell us about your expertise in blockchain and artificial intelligence, and how does that connect to NCXT’s “Our Best World™.”
Banks: Organizations are often deeply entrenched and operationalized to perpetuate the systemic inequities and injustices of modern society. But here’s the good news: Organizations are made of people. People who understand that change is essential to the organization’s immediate bottom-line and long term viability. And here’s some additional good news, both technology families, blockchain and AI, reconceptualize how people and organizations interact.
Being a technologist myself, I’ve seen the power both AI and blockchain have to revolutionize how organizations function, particularly in financial systems and healthcare. And whether they are democratizing capital systems with Blockchain or out-maneuvering mutating virus strains with AI-powered medications, every organization and person has low-cost, world-changing technologies available to them now. It’s humans and technology, together, creating Our Best World™.
What are some of your goals for 2020 and beyond, and who are you partnering with to make them happen?
Banks: In 2020, we want to partner with more organizations and people to create Our Best World™. We work across verticals, but mostly seek partners who are vision-aligned and seeking to have a global impact. We’ve found a great partner with a Minnesota company called MoneyVerbs, whose “money lifestyle” app is revolutionizing how Gen Y & Z build better money habits and live their best money life. It’s a game-changer. I’d expect to see an entire generation, saturated with individuals making smart money-moves; saving, investing, and spending wisely. If you want to reshape the economy, you should try starting by getting money into the hands of as many people as possible. We want to find partners who envision making a similar profitable, global-impact; and we want to find as many partners as we can.
On that note, let’s talk about the connections that you’d like to make. Who in our tech community would you like to speak to, work with or learn from? If given the chance, what would you say to them?
Banks: I think learning is the most important. I love connecting with people who hold world-changing visions or have made their vision a reality. While this work is extremely positive, it’s also really hard. But when we learn from each other, we can do much better than we ever could do alone. No one is self-made. If anyone the tech community wants to share their experience with me, I’m all ears – and happy to return the favor.
As an MHTA member company, how does the Minnesota High Tech Association benefit you and companies/ orgs like you? How can we better help you achieve your goals?
Banks: There are endless benefits to membership with MHTA. The networking and support is remarkable, it seems as if every MHTA member is just a phone call away. Additionally, the MHTA team are incredibly talented and dead set on sustaining a community of technologists and innovators in Minnesota. Lastly, the SciTech program is phenomenal, we’ve connected with some great folks there.
Is there anything else that you’d like to mention that we haven’t covered ?
Banks: NCXT is always building our team. I welcome you to email founders@ncxt.co if you’re interested in joining us now or in the future.
If you’d like to connect with NCXT, you can email Jonathan at jonathan@ncxt.co
Looking for more ways to engage with Minnesota’s tech leaders? Reach out to MHTA’s Director of Membership and Sponsorship, Ray Hoover at ray@mntech.org.