Pearce is a machine-learning engineer and founder and CEO of Gwaan, a motivational fitness app that uses artificial intelligence (AI) technology.
He launched the app in 2020 and it has since won a UKRI Young Innovators Award in 2020/2021, which offered him a grant, a mentor and a community of innovators to tap into.
Pearce spotted a gap in the market during lockdown in the 2020 pandemic when he realised that when doing workouts smartwatches only record heart rate and steps, and are unable to provide information on improvements in fitness. To get round the problem, he invented Gwaan, patois for ‘go on’, an AI-powered personal trainer. He believes that being dyslexic helped him think differently to come with up solutions.
After gaining a degree in economics, Pearce discovered he had a passion for machine learning and a desire to explore the boundaries of technology. He had always had interest in science but did not pursue it. Rather than formal training, he taught himself about machine learning online. He also gives motivational talks to children on how to become a scientist.
With an Afro-Caribbeans background, he was brought up in London and still lives there, where he runs Gwaan with his wife Laboni Paul.