John Markus is chief executive officer (CEO) and co-founder of Cognite. He is one of Norway’s best-known tech entrepreneurs. In 1997, he co-founded Fast Search & Transfer (FAST), where he served as chief technology officer until 2001, then as CEO through Microsoft´s acquisition of the company in 2008. He held the position of corporate vice president of Enterprise Search at Microsoft until 2009. In 2010, John Markus founded Cxense ASA, a software company listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange in 2014. He holds a master of science from the Norwegian Institute of Technology, and a PhD from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, where he was awarded the Esso prize for best overall PhD in the academic year from 1996 to 1997.