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Dinis Guarda on AI, Blockchain, Smart Cities & AgriTech: Key Takeaways from His OneTV x FOFA Interview
02 Jun 2026
In a recent episode produced in collaboration between the Asia-Pacific broadcaster OneTV (亞太第一衛視) and the Family Office Fintech Association (FOFA), UK-based tech entrepreneur and bestselling author, founder and CEO of Ztudium Dinis Guarda sat down for an in-depth conversation about the transformative power of artificial intelligence and blockchain and what these technologies mean for investors, cities, and farmers alike
Who Is Dinis Guarda?
Dinis Guarda is a global thought leader, serial entrepreneur, author, and futurist focused on solving real-world problems for businesses and humanity. He is the author of books including 4IR: AI, Blockchain, Fintech — Reinventing a Nation and has been ranked among the top global influencers in blockchain, AI, and fintech by publications including CoinTelegraph and Forbes. With over 20 years of experience in international business and digital transformation, he has lectured at institutions including Cambridge, King's College London, and Copenhagen Business School and is the founder of platforms such as Citiesabc.com , Businessabc.net , and IntelligentHQ.
The Interview: Themes & Highlights
1. A Journey Combining Academia and Serial Entrepreneurship
Dinis opened the conversation by tracing his personal trajectory — a career that bridges rigorous academic research with hands-on venture building across multiple continents. His work sits at the intersection of technology, policy, and human impact, making him a rare voice that speaks both to investors and to practitioners on the ground. Central to his philosophy is a clear sense of purpose:
I have a mandate and I'm very focused on how we can use these technologies to empower us, not the other way around.
2. Digital Transformation Across Southeast Asia and Africa
One of the interview's most compelling segments focused on cross-border digital transformation. Dinis explored how AI and blockchain are already being deployed in practical, impactful ways across Southeast Asia and Africa, regions often underserved by legacy financial and infrastructure systems. He argued that these technologies are not just theoretical tools for developed markets but are actively reshaping economies at the frontier.
3. Citiesabc — A Blockchain + LLM-Powered Urban Encyclopedia
Citiesabc.com, one of Dinis's flagship platforms, is designed as a digital social impact platform for cities. In the interview, he expanded on the platform's evolution into a 3D urban encyclopedia that combines blockchain with large language models (LLMs). The goal is to give cities a living, verifiable, AI-powered record of their infrastructure, governance, and innovation — a kind of decentralised knowledge layer for urban life.
4. AgriTech: Using AI to Help Farmers and Build Trade Corridors
Perhaps the most socially resonant section of the interview was Dinis's discussion of agricultural technology. He described how AI can be used to meaningfully improve the lives of smallholder farmers — providing better market access, precision agriculture insights, and the foundation for new trade corridors.
On why food and agriculture are ultimately a unifying force, he offered one of the interview's most human moments:
Geopolitics aside, in the end, everyone wants to eat. When you sit people together at the table, everyone makes the geopolitics aside... this is a universal part of humanity.
This connects directly to the broader theme of food security, which he returned to at the close of the episode.
5. Technology Must Be Human-Centered
Dinis was emphatic on one philosophical point: technology integration is an art, not just an engineering challenge. He stressed that AI and blockchain ecosystems should be designed to be simple, accessible, and human-centered, the complexity should be hidden from users, not imposed on them. His approach is deliberately collaborative rather than competitive:
I don't believe in inventing the wheel. It's more about integrating this fantastic technology, scaling it, and everyone wins.
This is a principle he applies across all his ventures.
6. Australia's Untapped Potential
An interesting detour in the conversation was Dinis's analysis of the Australian market — a geography he sees as particularly promising due to its combination of abundant natural resources and a growing appetite for technology innovation. For family offices and investors looking at Asia-Pacific opportunities, he positioned Australia as a compelling destination.
7. Investment Outlook: AI Infrastructure, Quantum Computing & Deepfake Risks
On the forward-looking investment side, Dinis outlined three major trends for family offices and institutional investors to watch:
- AI Infrastructure — The buildout of AI compute, data centers, and model ecosystems remains a long-term structural opportunity.
- Quantum Computing — Still emerging, but with profound implications for cryptography, logistics, and drug discovery.
- Deepfake & Digital Brand Security — A growing and underestimated threat. Dinis issued a direct warning to professionals and public figures:
Take care of your personal brand, because I know a lot of people don't want to have a personal brand or digital brand, but imagine someone creates a fake profile of yours and it might be an AI agent.
But perhaps the most sobering challenge he identified isn't technological at all, it's human:
The biggest challenge that we're going to see for everyone and that's probably the biggest risk ,is that most people, at a certain point, don't want to continue learning. They want to just relax. That is going to be the biggest comfort zone.
In an era of relentless technological change, he argued, the willingness to keep learning is itself a competitive advantage.
About OneTV and FOFA
OneTV (亞太第一衛視) is an Asia-Pacific Chinese-language broadcaster with a global reach. FOFA (Family Office Fintech Association) is a Hong Kong-based organisation dedicated to bridging the gap between family offices and the fintech ecosystem, providing a platform for wealth managers, investors, and tech innovators to connect and collaborate.
Final Thought
This interview is a valuable watch for anyone sitting at the intersection of technology, investment, and global development. Dinis Guarda's breadth, spanning smart cities, agriculture, cybersecurity, and capital markets, makes the conversation unusually rich, and the OneTV x FOFA format brings it to an audience of serious Asia-Pacific investors who are increasingly looking to understand where AI and blockchain are headed next.
Watch the full interview on YouTube:
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Sara Srifi
Sara is a Software Engineering and Business student with a passion for astronomy, cultural studies, and human-centered storytelling. She explores the quiet intersections between science, identity, and imagination, reflecting on how space, art, and society shape the way we understand ourselves and the world around us. Her writing draws on curiosity and lived experience to bridge disciplines and spark dialogue across cultures.
