5x founder

James Slezak

CEO @ Swayable

Founder

Swayable· Winter 2018 🇺🇸 New York, New York, United States

in LinkedIn 𝕏 @jslez

2026Member Board of Trustees· Advertising Research Foundation (ARF)

Founder · since 1997

Company

Advertising Research Foundation (ARF)

Role

Member Board of Trustees

current

Stage

—

no public source

Raised

—

no public source

Based

New York City Metropolitan Area

current

Founder / co-founder — the company's markEmployee / research role

Source: LinkedIn work history

Profile coverage5 of 7 · missing posts, contact

Swayable

Swayable predicts consumer opinion and the impact of content

Winter 2018

Experience

Career

Swayable
Founder
CEO and Founder · New York City Metropolitan Area · 2017 – Present
2017
Advertising Research Foundation (ARF)
Member Board of Trustees · New York City Metropolitan Area · 2026 – Present
2026
World Economic Forum
Council Member, WEF Global Future Council on Information Integrity · Davos, Switzerland · 2025 – Present
2025
The New York Times
Vice President and Chief of Operations, NYT Global · New York City Metropolitan Area · 2016
2016
The New York Times
Executive Director of Strategy (Digital Product and Technology) · 2014 – 2016
2014
The New York Times
Director of Strategy · 2013 – 2014
2013
Peers.org
Co-founder
Co-Founder, Chairman · San Francisco Bay Area · 2013 – 2015
2013
Purpose
Founder
Founding Partner/Director · New York · 2010 – 2013
2010
McKinsey & Company
Engagement Manager · 2007 – 2010
2007
Win Back Respect
Co-founder
Co-Founder, Head of Digital · Washington D.C. Metro Area · 2003 – 2004
2003
East Village Radio and others
Founder
Radio Show Host · 1997 – 2003
1997
United Nations
Graduate Intern, Division for Sustainable Development · Greater New York City Area · 2002
2002

Bio

James is Founder and CEO of Swayable. He was previously Executive Director of Digital Strategy for The New York Times. Before that, he was a founding partner at Purpose.com, a consultant at McKinsey, and co-founded Peers.org, working closely with the founders of Airbnb. Originally from Australia, James earned a PhD in experimental physics at Cornell, with discoveries published in Science, Nature, and PNAS, and also studied economics under World Bank Chief Economist Kaushik Basu.