Fintech expert Dr. Efi Pylarinou is the new guest in this citiesabc YouTube interview. Hosted by Dinis Guarda, both experts discuss the present and future of finance and the impact of Fintech and technology, including blockchain and crypto, in the future of the industry.
Efi Pylarinou Interview focus
1. An introduction from you – background, overview, education: Greece – Mathematics; USA studies
2. Career highlights: PHD – Chaos theory in finance; Solomon Brothers – WallStreet
3. How do you see the chaos and changes we have been facing when it comes to our society, governance and financial models?
Change around parameters
Human rights / rational descrimination
Attractors – we are lost in defining the attractors – uncertainty issues especially when it comes to technology. And it seems it creates more complexity.
What solutions we can provide to this: Universal Income… disparity issues
4. When it comes to the financial systems we have the legacy established systems, the Fintech systems and now also the disruptive blockchain powered Finance… and at the same time we have powerful players like the Silicon Valley and Chinese players…
5. How do you see the financial services – fintech industry ecosystem now?
6. We have major challenges with financial inclusion and digital ID. How do you see this and how can we solve it?
7. What are you doing with your work?
8. With Covid-19 what ways do you envision to redesign our society with technology and social impact?
Efi Pylarinou Interview Notes
About Efi’s background. I was born and raised on an island between Greece and Italy (the only part of Greece that wasn’t occupied by the Ottomans). This impacted the culture of the Ionian islands. I was always interested in mathematics, especially after a great maths teacher I had. I went on to study finance in the USA and did my PhD in chaos theory and how it affects the stock markets. I started my career on Wall Street at Salomon Brothers. I think that finance is the one of the fast pace sectors in the world and I did experience that when I was working there. After a while, I wanted to expand my horizons and moved to emerging markets, specifically Latin America. When I met my husband in New York, a Greek diplomat, I started reinventing my worklife: I have lived in 6 countries and worked in different capacities.
About chaos theory. Chaos theory is not about chaos per se. It is more about modelling phenomena that are seemingly random but are actually deterministic but very sensitive to changes in parameters. What solutions can actually shed light on the current chaos? UBI might help with the inequality distribution of wealth; we are also reaching out to technology to help us tame the uncertainty but we are still learning how that can help us as a whole.
About the complexity of the financial system and disruptors. In the last decades, we were witnessing a conflict between legacy systems and new technologies. That war is still on. Fintechs promise to put the focus on the consumer providing tailored services; blockchain and decentralized finance promises to change how finance is done from the roots. But these changes, especially the ones coming from the blockchain, need a cultural change too. It is a challenge for society too as it affects how we do certain things that we have taken for granted for so many years. The questions that arise from blockchain, decentralization are fundamental: how value is created and distributed?
Innovation in fintech has been happening for the last two decades. Most of it has come from emerging markets and from the East. The reason is that they didn’t have these legacy systems there so they innovative from scratch. In the Western world, there has been a lot of progress in terms of making services more accessibles, reducing the costs… but more of the capital that has funded these innovations are Silicon Valley-minded. So they are not really about fintech for good, social impact but user impact and heavily profit driven. Capital markets haven’t been changed that much though, the same legacy mechanisms that worked decades ago are still present. So my takeaway is that for now fintechs have had more impact on costs and efficiencies for both users and providers but very little has been achieved in fintech for good.
More Interviews
Video Interview: Mamadou Toure, Founder Africa 2.0 Foundation – Digital Transformation In Africa
Efi Pylarinou Biography
Efi Pylarinou is a Fintech & Blockchain thought leader and influencer. Efi holds a Ph.D. in Finance and is a seasoned Wall Street professional who has grown into a global Fintech influencer. She is No.3 influencer in the finance sector and No.1 woman influencer, by Refinitiv Global Social Media 2019. In 2020 Refinitiv recognized her as No.1 woman influencer, in Data and No. 5 globally.
Also included in the 2020 Onalytica Top 100 Fintech Influencers & 2019 Onalytica Top 100 Wealth Management Influencer list & 2019 Onalytica Top Women in Finance list & 2019 Onalytica Top Ten Social Amplifiers in Regtech & 2019 Onalytica Top 100 Gender Equality and Diversity Influencers & 2019 Onalytica Top 100 Finserv Environmental Sustainability Influencers, 2019 Thinkers360 Top 50 Thought Leaders & Influencers, 2016 & 2017 Innovate Finance Women in Fintech Powerlist, Women in Fintech DACH social ranking, the Global Fintech 80, The Planet Compliance Top 50 RegTech Influencers.
She is the cofounder and author of Daily Fintech. She has over 184,000+ followers on Linkedin and 11,000 on Twitter. Her domain focus is Digital Wealth Management & Capital Markets.
She is the author of Wiley Fixed income books with Frank Fabozzi. Also a contributing author of the 2018 WealthTech book by Wiley, the 2019 ‘4IR: AI, Blockchain, Fintech – How to Reinvent a Nation?’ by Dinis Guarda , and the 2020 ‘Theories of Change – Change Leadership Tools, Models and Applications for Investing in Sustainable Development’ by Springer.
Links and sources
Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/efipylarinou/
Twitter https://twitter.com/efipm
Medium Blogs https://medium.com/@efipm
Youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/c/efipylarinou/
My FB business page https://www.facebook.com/efipm/
Hernaldo Turrillo is a writer and author specialised in innovation, AI, DLT, SMEs, trading, investing and new trends in technology and business. He has been working for ztudium group since 2017. He is the editor of openbusinesscouncil.org, tradersdna.com, hedgethink.com, and writes regularly for intelligenthq.com, socialmediacouncil.eu. Hernaldo was born in Spain and finally settled in London, United Kingdom, after a few years of personal growth. Hernaldo finished his Journalism bachelor degree in the University of Seville, Spain, and began working as reporter in the newspaper, Europa Sur, writing about Politics and Society. He also worked as community manager and marketing advisor in Los Barrios, Spain. Innovation, technology, politics and economy are his main interests, with special focus on new trends and ethical projects. He enjoys finding himself getting lost in words, explaining what he understands from the world and helping others. Besides a journalist, he is also a thinker and proactive in digital transformation strategies. Knowledge and ideas have no limits.
