Stephan is the Founding Member and Chairman of the Verifiable Trade Foundation, a Swiss not-for-profit organization. In March 2024, he was appointed Chairman of the Industry Advisory Board of the Digital Standards Initiative (DSI) by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), supporting global alignment and adoption of digital trade standards. Since 2023 he has also been a member of the Board of ICC Germany. From 2014 to 2024, Stephan was CEO of the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (GLEIF). Earlier, in 1989, he co-founded IS Innovative Software GmbH, which later became part of Interactive Data Corporation (NYSE-listed), where he held the position of Global Chief Technology Officer.