Salesforce Exec: Web3 Needs a 'Reboot'

AUSTIN, Texas — Web3 isn’t dead, but it will need a makeover to achieve mass adoption, Salesforce Innovation Lead Marc Mathieu said on stage at the Consensus 2023 festival.

Countless internet think pieces have eulogized the metaverse and the larger concept of Web3, once championed by tech powerhouses such as Meta Platforms and Nvidia following the onset of the crypto market downturn. But Web3 could make a comeback, Mathieu said, if the people building it focus on creating a community around decentralization and other values important to young people who will ultimately populate these experiences.

“Decentralization of the internet for the people [and] by the people … is one of the key elements that needs to be part of the reinvention of the reboot of Web3, " said Mathieu. “It’s going to come back because it fundamentally is not just a technology but corresponds to the values of the new generation.”

Read full coverage of Consensus 2023 here.

The values of Web3 are generally understood to be the promotion of decentralization, transparency and self-sovereignty. But those values won’t be the only driver of the mass adoption of the internet’s next iteration, according to Mathieu: The movement must also adopt a business model that responds to the needs of the next generation of internet users. Citing the landmark release of the iPod, which put 1,000 songs in your pocket, Mathieu alluded to Web3 still needing its killer app.

“The iPod was not a huge technological innovation, but it was a user interface [and] business model innovation, and it was also a communication innovation,” said Mathieu. “It gave birth the way we live with mobile and web technology today. That's what we are still missing.”