Murat Kutsi Sönmez
Murat Kutsi Sönmez
Mutevelli Heyeti (Board of Trustees)
Board of Trustees Member
Murat Sönmez is an innovative and purpose-driven global business leader with deep technology experience in Silicon Valley and more than six years as a member of the Managing Board of the World Economic Forum (WEF).
He is the co-founder and CEO of pulsESG™, a public benefit corporation founded in March 2021 to help purpose-driven enterprises manage and improve their Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) footprint through a comprehensive technology platform for compliance tracking and insight. The company launched publicly in November 2021 with $9.5 million in seed funding from top-tier global investors.
Murat began his career in Silicon Valley in 1989 as a software engineer automating the world’s leading semiconductor manufacturing facilities. In 1994, he joined Teknekron Software Systems, expanding the company’s operations from digital trading floors to multiple industries. In 1997, he co-founded TIBCO Software, a leading provider of real-time data distribution and analytics software based in Palo Alto, California, where he oversaw customer-facing operations. TIBCO went public in 1999, reaching over $1 billion in revenue by 2013 with 38 offices in 18 countries and more than 4,000 customers.
In 2014, Murat joined the WEF Managing Board in Geneva, Switzerland, focusing on global business engagement. In 2017, he became the founding head of WEF’s Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR) Global Network, a public-private initiative developing inclusive governance protocols for Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies such as AI, synthetic biology, autonomous vehicles, blockchain, and digital currency. He pioneered the concept of the data economy, highlighted in a 2020 IMF publication. Murat left WEF in March 2021 to focus on impact-driven technology startups in Silicon Valley.
He graduated from TED Ankara College in 1981, holds a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering from Bosphorus University, and a master’s degree in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research from Virginia Tech.