John James is a nonresident senior fellow with the Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative at the Atlantic Council’s Middle East programs. He is the chief executive officer of BOKA Capital Ltd, a global investment advisory firm focused on new technologies with dual-use capabilities.
James has over two decades of experience as an institutional investor, asset manager, and founder and operator of multiple technology businesses. He served as chief executive officer and director of Fusion Acquisition Corp. II from 2021 to 2023, and previously as chief executive officer of Fusion Acquisition Corp. prior to its merger with MoneyLion. He co-founded ScalaMed in 2017, prior to its sale to Cardinal Health in 2022, and founded BetaSmartz, a global financial technology business, in 2015. Earlier, he co-founded BOKA Group, an emerging market fund management and sovereign advisory company, in 2005.
After serving as a reserve officer in the United Kingdom’s Royal Naval Reserve, James began his career at London-based Anglo-Suisse Capital, where he managed equities portfolios and advised on mergers and acquisitions. He is routinely quoted in global financial news publications on fintech, deep technology, and defense technology, and is the author of works focused on new technologies and their role in geopolitical and national security affairs.
James received a BA with honors and an MA from the University of Oxford, with further studies in law at the University of London and in managerial accounting and digital marketing at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He is a fellow of the Financial Services Institute of Australasia and a chartered member of the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment.