Adam Jackson, the dynamic CEO and co-founder of Braintrust, is quietly leading a revolution in how companies hire top-tier tech talent. While traditional staffing firms continue to profit from a broken system, Jackson’s platform flips the model, allowing skilled professionals to own and govern the very network they work through. If there’s one powerful reason to pay attention to Jackson, it’s this: he’s building a decentralized, talent-owned future of work that actually works for everyone.
Launched in 2020, Braintrust is the world’s first user-controlled talent network that connects enterprises with highly skilled freelancers in fields like software development, design, and data science. But unlike platforms like Upwork or Toptal, Braintrust doesn’t take a massive cut from workers’ paychecks. Instead, it charges a flat 10% fee to clients and gives network control to the community through its native BTRST token. It’s a bold Web3 experiment that’s proving to be more than just hype.
A Builder at Heart
Born and raised in the United States, Adam Jackson has always had a builder’s mindset. He studied computer science at Vanderbilt University and dove into entrepreneurship early. His first major startup, DriverSide, a platform for car owners, was acquired by Advance Auto Parts. Later, he co-founded Doctor on Demand alongside Dr. Phil McGraw ,a virtual healthcare platform that now serves millions of patients.
These ventures didn’t just sharpen his leadership skills they exposed the inefficiencies of traditional business models. After watching intermediaries pocket massive profits while doing little of the actual work, Jackson began to envision a more equitable system. That vision took form in Braintrust, a Web3 hiring platform that puts talent in control.
The Braintrust Breakthrough
By the time Braintrust launched, Jackson had already earned a reputation in Silicon Valley as a forward-thinking, no-BS founder. But even in a crowded market of freelance platforms, Braintrust stood out.
Here’s why: Jackson’s Braintrust is governed by its users. Professionals who earn on the platform also earn tokens, giving them voting power over product development, dispute resolution, and even client policies. It’s not just a gig economy,it’s a Web3 hiring economy built on shared value and trust.
In just a few years, Braintrust has onboarded major enterprise clients including Nestlé, Porsche, and Goldman Sachs. More impressively, it’s returned over $100 million in earnings to its global network of freelance professionals all without sacrificing fairness or transparency.
“Why should billion-dollar staffing companies get richer off the backs of people actually doing the work?” Jackson often asks. With Braintrust, his answer is clear: they shouldn’t.
Betting on Web3, Not Hype
While the term “Web3” can often trigger skepticism, Jackson’s approach to the space is grounded, not speculative. Braintrust doesn’t rely on token speculation to function. Instead, its token is utility-focused used for governance and incentivization, not day-trading. This positions it uniquely in a landscape flooded with hype-driven crypto startups.
Jackson believes in real-world adoption of blockchain to solve actual problems, not just as a tech buzzword. “We’re not building for crypto bros,” he’s said. “We’re building for the global workforce.”
His leadership philosophy emphasizes transparency, fairness, and decentralization not just as buzzwords, but as operating principles. It’s why Braintrust has gained support from investors like Coatue, Tiger Global, and IDEO CoLab Ventures.
A New Model of Leadership
Jackson’s leadership style is also a departure from the norm. At Braintrust, he doesn’t act as a top-down CEO making all decisions. Instead, he sees himself as a steward empowering a decentralized team and community to lead and shape the platform’s future.
This shift is key in the platform’s resilience. Even during crypto market downturns, Braintrust continued growing, driven by strong fundamentals and user trust. “When you build a network owned by the people who use it, they stick around,” Jackson noted in an interview.
Challenges and the Road Ahead
Of course, Jackson’s journey hasn’t been without roadblocks. Skepticism around crypto and decentralization means he’s constantly explaining why Braintrust isn’t just another tokenized gig site. Convincing large corporations to adopt a Web3 hiring model also takes time, but Jackson remains steadfast.
His long-term vision? To make Braintrust the go-to platform for hiring skilled professionals in a way that’s ethical, cost-effective, and transparent. That’s not just disruption,it’s a reinvention.
Adam Jackson is not your typical startup CEO. He’s a serial entrepreneur who has taken big swings, learned from failure, and come out the other side with a vision that could transform how work works.
In a world where middlemen still rule much of the hiring ecosystem, Jackson’s Braintrust is a powerful antidote a decentralized network that rewards those who actually create value. Whether you’re a freelancer tired of losing 30% of your pay, or a company sick of outdated staffing models, Jackson’s model offers something refreshingly different.
And that’s the powerful reason the tech world and the future of work should keep watching.
