mike be nimble
“I was there when they first launched the iPad,” says Broderick. “I remember helping a grandmother connect with her grandkids. She was so happy and shouted, ‘I can finally see them!’”
Technology to build and understand relationships is a North Star that Broderick, now the head of AI and Web3 ecosystem for the NEAR Foundation in New York City, still follows.
But it wasn’t just Apple that shaped his outlook — his majors in anthropology and religious studies at the College also played a pivotal role.
“Anthropology as a means and a lens with which to understand and connect with people fueled a lot of work in my career,” he says. “CofC taught me how to spot the waves and dive into them.”
A study abroad trip to northern India with religious studies professor Zeff Bjerken was also especially formative: “That trip helped me look at problems in the world from different angles and fostered a sense of curiosity about other people and cultures.”
That same curiosity shaped another big life decision.
While at Apple, Broderick had a choice: continue on the company’s leadership track or take a leap of faith and travel across the world to work for the Japan Exchange Teaching Programme. He leapt.
For three years, Broderick taught English in rural Japan, an experience that deepened his interest in cross-cultural connection. That global perspective proved invaluable when Bloomberg business development recruited him to Hong Kong, placing him at the heart of international finance.
“I was this humanities major who didn’t know the difference between a stock and a bond,” he said. “From 2014 to 2019, I was getting a front-row education.”
During his time with Bloomberg, he first saw how technology could disrupt old systems. By the mid-2010s, cryptocurrency and blockchain had captured his attention. Sending money back to the U.S. to pay student loans had been slow and complicated. Thanks to emerging fintech companies, what once took weeks only took Broderick three days.
“Blockchain technology democratized my access to finance,” he says, referring to the underlying technology of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.
Broderick came to understand blockchain not just as a technical tool, but as a way to empower and connect people globally. That insight carried him into roles with Fireblocks, Amazon Web Services and now NEAR, where his mission is about more than building products — it’s about building trust.
“Our thesis is that blockchain is trust with a capital T because of its speed and transparency,” he says.
With AI evolving at an unprecedented pace, he must stay nimble. And thanks to his time at the College, he’s ready for the challenge.
“Studying the humanities leads to critical thinking and lifelong curiosity,” he says. “If I didn’t have that, I wouldn’t be able to adapt as much as I do to emerging technologies.”