Hannes Sjöblad goes by the “nom de guerre” Hannes ‘Sapiens’: a reference, of course, to humankind, or perhaps the famous book by Yuval Noah Harari. The subject of our collective humanity has come into focus recently. As the capability of AI has filtered into mainstream consciousness, the debate on our relationship to machines is no longer hypothetical.

Isabella Williamson is Associate Director at Consulum. She is examining how governments in the GCC and around the world are positioning themselves in what might be the future of the digital economy. From Seoul to Saudi Arabia, Dubai and Norway, this episode provides up-to-date case studies and hints at a broader question: is government itself profoundly transforming?

From October 2020 to very recently Aisha Sheikh has worked as an Experience Lead and UX Architect for Magnopus, where she led the design team for the Expo2020 Dubai Xplorer App. Some of our listeners have probably used the app: it allowed anyone with an internet connection to experience Expo through the eyes of a robot or avatar, engaging in treasure hunts, puzzles and augmented reality.

Alex Shevchenko, the CEO and Co-Founder of Aurora, doesn’t fit nearly into either of these camps. He believes blockchain developers urgently need to learn from and assimilate with the best of Web2, particularly when it comes to consumer acquisition and UX.

This week we’re talking to Marta, on her journey from a Mom working in retail in Ireland, to falling down the rabbit hole that is crypto trading… and learning to love it. Please note that none of this is financial advice. Always remember to do your own research.

According to Sabrina, Paris was one of the first jurisdictions in the world to begin regulating this space. More recently the European Law on Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) was approved in April, replicating and perhaps in some cases improving on the French Law in some areas.

Karl Tlais is the CEO and co-founder of Iadvisory, a Dubai Future Fellow, and a strategic advisor in the Digital Economy in the UAE. Back in the heady days of early 2021, Karl held a notable discussion on Artificial intelligence at the Capital Club. Shortly after, John Lillywhite worked with Karl to combine three emerging aspects of the UAE digital economy into a single white paper: AI, Virtual Assets and Massive-Multiplayer Online Worlds.

Scott Page talks so fluently on NFTs and emerging Web3 infrastructure, that it’s almost easy to forget his previous incarnations as a saxophone and rhythm guitarist for Pink Flloyd, Supertramp and Toto.

This is an unusual episode at the intersection of tech and human aspiration. What if instead of registering, cataloging and surveilling human beings, technology could be repurposed to helping them start their lives anew?

The quick pitch for Metapolis is “shopify in the Metaverse.” Co-founder and chief commercial officer Sandra Helou has dubbed it MaaS, or “Metaverse as a service platform.” Behind the clear business use-case of an interoperable and accessible sales and events platform, are some astute insights into how the digital economy will emerge over the coming decade.