Marc Jones started to imagine the power of wireless technology in the early 2000s, when he and his wife built a basement in their Palo Alto home. “A decade earlier when we remodeled, we had to have CAT 5 wiring all over the place, and then suddenly it was all wireless. It was so much easier,” he recalls. “That got me thinking about all the things that wireless technology could enable. Like what if there were sensors in forests that could communicate to emergency responders when a fire starts?”

Jones, JD ’82 (BA ’79), is not a “techy kind of guy,” he says, adding, “I wouldn’t get hired today.” But as chairman and CEO of Aeris Communications, an “internet of things,” or IoT, company, he is at the forefront of some of the most transformative technology. IoT is taking the digital revolution wireless, freeing technology in ways that affect virtually all aspects of life and work. Today, monitoring our homes remotely, controlling television recording schedules, overseeing temperature and security are already common. Tomorrow, smart appliances will be able to communicate with food suppliers and repair services, wearable detectors will alert doctors when patients are in trouble, and irrigation systems will know when plants need water rather than relying on timers. And that’s just the beginning.

JONES GREW UP IN THE MOSTLY AFRICAN-AMERICAN working-class suburbs south of Chicago, where the public schools were struggling.

“I’m haunted by the fact that there were kids who were academic and intelligent where I grew up, but very few were actually able to go to college and move on to maximize their potential,” says Jones, whose parents made education a priority and sent him to private schools. His mom was a source of inspiration for Jones. “She was 19 when she got married and in the course of raising my sister and me, she worked full time and went to school. She got her BA, her masters, and her PhD in education. I’ve got a long way to go before I catch up to the amount of energy that she put into her family,” he says.

Jones knew from the time he was in high school that he wanted to become a lawyer, inspired by his friend’s father, a prominent Chicago lawyer.

“Doug Montgomery (BA ’79) and I went to Stanford undergrad together, and we’re still friends. His father is James Montgomery who had an incredible career. He represented Bobby Seale of the Black Panthers and he was corporate counsel for Harold Washington [the mayor of Chicago]. It was because of him that I wanted to be a lawyer. Of course, I didn’t have any clue as to what that meant or what I’d be doing, but growing up around Doug and his dad gave me that idea,” he says.

Jones went straight from undergraduate studies to Stanford Law, where he did well—but found he preferred the practice side.

“Running a business and being a CEO is all about problem solving and knowing how to identify the problem that should be solved. …And lawyers are excellent in both of these—it’s what we do—stay calm and dissect the problem.”

— Marc Jones, JD ’82 (BA ’79), chairman & CEO of Aeris Communications

“I didn’t figure out the whole law game until after I left law school,” he says. “I also think being African-American and from my background I wasn’t fully confident—not enough to really take advantage of Stanford Law. This is, I think, still a problem for some students. People think that because you got in, you’ll be at the same level of readiness as all of your classmates. But sometimes you aren’t and there’s a continued adjustment you have to make in a high-achieving environment. It’s not a question of intelligence or merit, it’s simply one of exposure and experience. I was fortunate and had my choice of top schools, but it didn’t mean that I had the confidence to compete.”

He calls a semester working with the National Women’s Law Center in Washington, D.C., a highlight of his time at Stanford Law. “I sort of got a front-row seat to the work that Marcia Greenberger was doing on Title IX,” he says. After graduation, he joined Pillsbury, Madison & Sutro (now Pillsbury Winthrop), where he thrived as an associate doing securities law.

“I started in 1982, which is when tech was just getting started. And again, I was fortunate. I worked with a senior partner, Bruce Mann, who became a mentor to me. And it was just deal after deal. I probably did 75 to 100 deals, working on VLSI Technology and the Chevron-Gulf merger, Software Publishing Corporation, Autodesk. It was an exciting time,” he recalls.

“Marc is extraordinary with people. He senses where they are, sizes them up and is very diplomatic in dealing with them. He knows what is important and what isn’t. And he’s very smart but he doesn’t parade it,” says Frank Currie, who was an associate at Pillsbury with Jones and is still in touch with him. He adds, smiling, “We both had an aversion to filling out timesheets, so we were kindred spirits.”

After four years with Pillsbury, Jones moved from law to investment banking, joining Mann, who had left Pillsbury for the investment firm L.F. Rothschild, Unterberg, Towbin. “I enjoyed the interactions I was having with CFOs and CEOs on the business side, and learning their businesses, so the move made sense,” says Jones. But only two years in, the stock market crash of 1987 hit Rothschild hard and he was out of a job—the same year he was getting married.

“We started dating just before Lisa’s first year at Harvard Business School, so she transferred to Stanford’s GSB—giving up a fellowship. And suddenly I was looking for a new job. It was incredibly scary,” he recalls. While he was considering several opportunities with investment firms, the CEO at Chips and Technologies (Chips), Gordon Campbell, offered him a job. Jones was planning to take an investment job—when his wife, Lisa Jones (MBA ’88), weighed in. “She said, ‘I’ve been listening to you talk about these job offers and the only time you get excited is when you’re talking to Gordie about Chips, so why aren’t you taking that job?’ At the time no one talked about doing what you were passionate about. But I did it—and I took the job with Gordie. It was a seminal decision for me.”

Jones joined Chips in 1987 as general counsel and head of corporate development and by the time he left he was running a $270 million division. “Gordie helped guide me from law to an operations role. I learned all the things that are associated with running a business. And that was crucial in my transition from investment banking to running a company,” he says. He went on to become president of Madge Networks and took the company public in 1993.

His legal training, Jones says, helped him at every juncture of his career. “Running a business and being a CEO is all about problem solving and knowing how to identify the problem that should be solved. Knowing how to look past the mess and red herrings and get to the core of the problem is so important. Remaining calm through it all is also very important. And lawyers are excellent in both of these—it’s what we do—stay calm and dissect the problem.”

Montgomery, for one, isn’t surprised by Jones’ success. “Marc has always had a quality of being able to galvanize people from all walks of life—and to stay in touch with them. It’s not really networking—he goes out of his way to help people no matter who they are.” Montgomery offers an example of a classmate who was diagnosed recently with cancer. “Marc got on a plane and visited with him. Most of us are too busy to do that, but he did. It’s just who he is.”

In 2004, when Jones’ daughter was entering high school, he decided to take time off from work to focus on family. “I spent my career traveling around the world and I wasn’t home much. And the clock was ticking.” So he immersed himself in parenting with his wife—coaching the kids and spending time with the family. He also sat on several boards, one of which was Aeris. He was asked to become chairman of the board in 2007, which he did. And he took the role seriously—digging into the company’s technology.

“After I started looking into the business, I realized that the company was going to fail—the leadership hadn’t seen that a big technology transition was coming and we hadn’t moved quickly enough to support digital wireless networks,” he says.

Jones went to the parent company, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, and offered his resignation, but he was persuaded to stay on to help turn the company around. He agreed, but added some strings: Once he got the plan in place, it would need to be backed up with a $5 million investment in Aeris. It was agreed upon and Jones became executive chair of the board with the CEO reporting to him. “We came up with the plan and I felt confident we could turn Aeris around, so I went back to the parent company to get the funding—but Caisse said no. They weren’t going to stick to the commitment,” says Jones.

At that point, however, Jones was a true believer in the potential of Aeris and IoT—as well as in the team he’d been working with—and he wasn’t willing to let it fail. “So my wife and I started writing checks,” he says. “It’s a huge market and a big opportunity. When I was comfortable that we were going to be cash-flow positive, I raised more investment from friends and family. And today, with employees, we own 96 percent of the company.”

Jones is quick to point out that in technology—all areas of technology— there’s huge potential and also huge responsibility. In IoT, security and privacy are issues at the top of his mind. But he’s also looking at the broader issue.

“We’re taking the benefits from technology, but we’re not taking our share of the responsibilities that come from introducing these new technologies into our lives,” he says. “Any tool can be used for good and bad, and we’re seeing that now with social media. Look at jobs, for instance. Have we really thought through and planned for the losses we’re going to see in jobs for drivers—of trucks, buses, cabs, etc.? I think it’s important to ask the question: What responsibility do tech companies have to sort through these challenges? I don’t think we can or should hold back technology, but there should be a balancing. Things are happening, or soon will happen, that we’re not addressing.”

Though life is busy, Jones still finds time to give back. Along with volunteering at Stanford Law School, where he was on the Board of Visitors, and Stanford University, where he recently joined the Board of Trustees, he is or has served on boards of the California Health Care Foundation, Working Partnerships USA, and Green for All and on the National Cyber Security Partnership’s Enterprise Task Force. But nearest to his heart is Management Leadership for Tomorrow (MLT)—a nonprofit that focuses on mentoring high-potential, under-represented minorities. Many of the MLT fellows are the first of their families to attend college or graduate school. The goal of the group hits home for Jones: to help the fellows find their way up the ladder to the executive suite, which still has a disproportionate number of white men.

“I love MLT. The organization has created the definitive playbook for helping our fellows achieve their full potential and become senior leaders in their respective fields,” says Jones. “MLT fellows generate higher incomes and have better career trajectories than their peers. However, the most rewarding part is that as they become leaders, they are demonstrating the important value of paying it forward. They have taken on the responsibility of mentoring and guiding the next set of emerging leaders and we’re seeing why having a diverse set of social, governmental, and corporate leaders will make a positive difference in our country. It’s a joy to see how one organization, much like Stanford, has had such an impact on thousands and thousands of young people and their families.” SL