Brett Hurt

CEO and co-founder, data.world

Brett A. Hurt is the CEO and Co-founder of data.world, the AI-ready data catalog for the modern data stack. data.world’s cloud-native SaaS (software-as-a-service) platform combines a consumer-grade user experience with a powerful knowledge graph to deliver enhanced data discovery, agile data governance, DataOps, and actionable insights. data.world is a Certified B Corporation® and public benefit corporation and home to the world’s largest collaborative open data community with more than two million members, including 90% of the Fortune 500. The company has 70+ patents and has been named one of Austin’s Best Places to Work seven years in a row. Brett is also the co-owner of Hurt Family Investments (HFI), alongside his wife, Debra. HFI is involved in 135 startups, 42 VC funds, and multiple philanthropic endeavors.

Brett co-founded and led Bazaarvoice as CEO, through its IPO, follow-on offering, and two acquisitions. Bazaarvoice became the largest public SaaS (Software as a Service) business in social commerce and was named by the WSJ as one of the top IPOs of 2012 after becoming a unicorn. Brett also founded and led Coremetrics, which was rated the #1 Web analytics solution by Forrester Research and, like Bazaarvoice, expanded into a global company and leader. Coremetrics was acquired by IBM in 2010 for around $300 million.

In 2022, Brett was recognized by Goldman Sachs as one of the Most Exceptional Entrepreneurs. In 2017, he was given the Best CEO Legacy Award by the Austin Business Journal. Brett is a Henry Crown Fellow and Braddock Scholar at the Aspen Institute. He began programming at age seven and doing so on the internet at age eighteen. He finished the first online edition of his book, “The Entrepreneur’s Essentials”, in August 2019, and the second, expanded edition in May 2022, which is both in print at Amazon.com and for free online at TheEntrepreneursEssentials.com.