Dr. Michael J. Becker · Identity Praxis, Inc.
Trusted relationships across data, identity and AI.
I help people and organizations build them. We rent intelligence, storage, networks and compute; the most important lasting asset we own is our knowledge. Own your knowledge; rent the rest.
Why “Identity” Praxis
Identity is more than who you are and what you can access.
“Your identity is your most valuable possession. Protect it. And if anything goes wrong, use your powers!”
Most people hear “identity” and think of logins: authentication, and who has access to what. That is only the doorway. Your identity is also your data, your knowledge, your relationships and your agency: everything that makes you you, online and off.
Praxis (from the Greek πρᾶξις) is the practice of putting theory into practical application. Identity Praxis puts this broader idea of identity to work, for people and for organizations.
We are standing at a confluence, the Identity & Data Meeting of the Waters, where organization-centric approaches to identity, data and knowledge, in which organizations collect and control, meet people-centric ones, in which individuals act with agency on their own terms. The two run side by side, distinct but in the same riverbed, and how they blend will shape the next decade.
The Identity & Data Meeting of the Waters →The Relational Nexus™
Explore where the ideas meet.
The outer ring is the wider web. Pick one focus area, then a second, to see where they meet.
The frame
The Relational Nexus™
The web of relationships any information, product or decision sits in: technology, people, AI agents and twins, regulation, business, society, culture and context.
It is also a new layer we all must learn to manage: our relationships are no longer only with people, but with non-human intelligences too.
Within that web, my work focuses on four areas, and the most interesting work happens where they meet.
Thirty years of practice, research and teaching
Practitioner. Researcher. Teacher.
For thirty years I have done the work, studied it and taught it: building and advising as a practitioner, testing ideas against evidence as a researcher, and helping others master them as a teacher.
Practitioner
Co-founder of iLoop Mobile; product manager for Pocket Geek Identity, one of the first carrier-grade PIMS; patent holder in messaging. Today, Praxamark™. More.
Researcher
Doctoral research showing trust is the strongest predictor of whether people intend to use personal information management systems. Read the summary.
Teacher
Co-author of Mobile Marketing Essentials, now in its 15th edition. Teaches at universities and for the ANA. More.
“Dr. Becker is one of the most brilliant thinkers I’ve had the privilege to work with. He connects dots across disciplines and scales, bridging individual insight, organizational clarity, brand purpose, and systemic transformation.”
Work with me
Advisory. Speaking. Training.
For organizations
Advisory
Strategy and execution where SSI-principled identity and data, knowledge and AI meet.
Advisory →For conferences, executive teams and offsites
Speaking
Keynotes, workshops, panels, podcasts and courses on what comes next for identity, data, knowledge and AI.
Speaking →For executives, leadership teams and students
Training
From a keynote to multi-month programs and 4-, 8- and 15-week university courses, in AI, knowledge management, marketing, and identity and data.
Training →Start with a conversation: an AI decision, an identity or data strategy, a program for your leaders, or a knowledge system that has outgrown its folders.
Explore my frameworks, writing and upcoming events.