Edgar Perez is a renowned Artificial Intelligence speaker who advises global businesses on disruptive technologies, digital transformation and the future of innovation. With experience spanning Wall Street, Fortune 500 companies and high-profile conferences, he has become a leading voice on the opportunities and risks that come with rapid technological change.
From the rise of Central Bank Digital Currencies to the evolution of Web3, Perez explains how organisations can adapt, stay competitive and embrace innovation responsibly. His insights offer a rare combination of technical depth and practical guidance, helping leaders navigate shifts in finance, cybersecurity, and beyond.
In this exclusive interview with The Motivational Speakers Agency, Perez shares his perspectives on digital transformation, quantum computing and the new frontiers businesses must prepare for as technology continues to accelerate.
Q: Central Bank Digital Currencies are gaining traction worldwide. What opportunities and risks do you believe they present for organisations?
Edgar Perez: “Let’s think about how difficult it is today to transfer money. If you have a relative in another country and you want to send, let’s say, 100, how long is it going to take? Days? Hours? How much are you going to pay? One percent? Two percent? And yet we are in the 21st century.
“That is something that is going to change with technology. Today cryptocurrencies are one alternative, but these currencies are decentralised and not backed by any authority. CBDCs come along. CBDCs are Central Bank Digital Currencies backed by central banks all over the world. China, Korea, many different countries are already pursuing this path, offering CBDCs and allowing people to finally eliminate cash.
“That will be extremely helpful when you think about transfers, because this is going to be faster, more efficient, and a great advancement for companies and people. All of us need to send and receive money.
“CBDCs will create opportunities for companies because they will offer faster, cheaper and more secure ways to make and receive payments. They will also enable organisations to access new markets and customers, especially those who are underbanked or who don’t have bank accounts. They will enhance the transparency and traceability of transactions.
“Of course, financial services companies face a challenge because they might think that central banks will take over money. But that’s not exactly the case. You don’t see central banks today offering bank accounts.
“Banks and financial service institutions will still have an important role to play, even though CBDCs will be managed by central banks and will definitely increase visibility in the movement of the monetary system all over the world.”
Q: Digital transformation is accelerating across industries. What advice would you give to businesses determined to stay ahead of the curve?
Edgar Perez: “It is important to ask yourself: where am I, which business am I in, and what is my future? When you think about any digital transformation effort, you need to think about a digital strategy, which is basically a roadmap: what’s your vision, what are your goals, what are your priorities? That will help define initiatives for digital transformation.
“Your digital transformation strategy should align with your overall business strategy and address the needs and pain points of customers, employees and partners. A digital strategy should be flexible and agile, allowing experimentation.
“Every effort will start from the top. The CEO needs to provide strong support for a successful digital transformation. They should communicate the vision and the value of it, allocate resources and budget, empower employees, support teams, and monitor and celebrate success. This has to be a priority.
“Technology is evolving so fast. Fifteen thousand years ago we didn’t have agriculture. Fifteen hundred years ago we didn’t have machines. Fifteen decades ago we didn’t have combustion engines. Fifteen years ago we didn’t have smartphones.
“Today we have all of that and more, and these timeframes are accelerating. We must be ready, and we must think about our own digital transformation.”
Q: Web3 is often described as the next stage of the internet. How do you see it reshaping opportunities for businesses?
Edgar Perez: “We have to think about a potential path for the evolution of the internet. Today, if I open an account with any social media service, for example LinkedIn or Facebook, the company that offers this service owns my information. I cannot take my users, my assets, from one platform to another. I need to start from scratch.
“When you think about this, decentralisation — Web3 is one answer. That doesn’t mean the whole internet is going to move towards a Web3 structure, a decentralised structure, because there are applications where we still need centralisation. However, there are going to be applications where we can leverage blockchain.
“Think about coffee producers in Colombia who want to trace where their product is going, and also give final clients assurance that this coffee really comes from Colombia. That’s a great example where blockchain can be used, because this traceability is very valuable. It serves clients, because they know the provenance of their products, and it serves producers, who can guarantee quality.
“Blockchain can provide these types of applications, and this is the Web3 world we can see in some cases. It is not something all companies need to leverage, but in areas such as land registries, elections, supply chains or record-tracing, Web3 applications will have a great impact in the future.”
Q: Quantum computing has been called a game-changer. How do you anticipate it will transform the way companies operate?
Edgar Perez: “People talk today a lot about artificial intelligence and the impact AI will bring to the world. I’m particularly more excited about the opportunities that quantum computing will bring.
“You may say we still don’t have these computers, and that is correct. Companies around the world are developing the next generation of computers. If you think about where we are with quantum computing today, we are still in the 1940s or 1950s in terms of classical computing, when machines took up a whole block in a city, and when you turned them on the lights across the city would flicker.
“That’s where we are today. However, in 80 years classical computers advanced enormously. That’s the type of progress we will see with quantum computers.
“Why are these so exciting? Imagine something: every time you go to your bank account online, you need to sign in with a username and password. As soon as you enter this information, the connection with your bank becomes secure (SSL). You see a little lock in the browser.
“Imagine a technology able to break that security. That is quantum computing. There is an algorithm that can decrypt the information communicated between you and your bank. That is the power of quantum computers.
“Of course, if they are powerful in breaking encryption, they are also powerful in other applications. For example, think about the travelling salesman problem: a salesman must visit a number of cities in a country, let’s say 20. Today, there is no way to obtain the optimal solution that minimises distance, fuel consumption and time. We only have approximations.
“With quantum computers, we will be able to set up a system that can find the solution in seconds or minutes. That is the power of quantum computing. Why is it so powerful? Because we are leveraging nature. We are leveraging quantum mechanics in the universe.
“The world is quantum. You and I are 70% water. This is the quantum world — the behaviour of particles at the microscopic level. These properties can be leveraged to create a new way to compute, and that will be fantastic for solving problems that are so difficult, or almost impossible, for classical computers.”
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