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Dinis Guarda Recognised by MSN Among 2026’s Top 10 Inspiring Men in Leadership and Innovation
06 Oct 2026
Dinis Guarda, founder and CEO of ztudium and creator of Citiesabc, Businessabc and Wisdomia.ai, has been featured by MSN among ten men recognised for their work across leadership, innovation, entrepreneurship, healthcare, communications and social impact in 2026. The recognition highlights Dinis’s work connecting artificial intelligence, smart cities, digital governance and human-centred technology.
LONDON, October 2026 — Dinis Guarda, author, entrepreneur, global thought leader and founder and CEO of ztudium, has been named among the “Top 10 Inspiring Men You Should Know in 2026” in a feature published by MSN.
The list, compiled by digital PR and branding agency Presszila, brings together ten professionals working across technology, entrepreneurship, healthcare, communications, leadership and social impact.
Alongside Dinis Guarda, the list features Dr. Kanans Visvanats FRSC, Greg Aguirre, Dr. Keith L. Marshall, Tim Thomas, Mark Lee Hegarty, Dr. Craig Taylor, Maxim Behar, Dr. Ollie Evans and Anton Guinea.
Published through MSN, the feature reflects a broad view of contemporary leadership, bringing together individuals whose work spans business, society, communications, health and technological transformation.
Dinis Guarda: AI, cities and human-centred digital transformation
Dinis Guarda is an author, entrepreneur, global thought leader and founder and CEO of ztudium, whose work spans artificial intelligence, digital transformation, smart cities, blockchain, fintech, digital identity, media and emerging technologies.
Through an ecosystem that includes Citiesabc, Businessabc, Wisdomia.ai, IntelligentHQ, Fashionabc, HedgeThink and TradersDNA, his work increasingly examines how technology is reshaping cities, institutions, economies and human participation.
A central theme across Dinis' work is the idea that the development of artificial intelligence should not be separated from questions of governance, education, identity, culture and social inclusion.
For cities in particular, AI is becoming part of a wider transformation involving digital public infrastructure, smart mobility, urban data, automation, digital identity and citizen services. These technologies can make cities more efficient, but they also raise wider questions around transparency, participation, accessibility and trust.
Dinis’s work places these questions within a human-centred framework, examining how cities and institutions can adopt increasingly intelligent technologies without reducing citizens to data points or automating decisions without sufficient accountability.
Cities in the age of AI
The rise of generative AI and autonomous agents is creating a new stage of digital transformation.
Cities are increasingly operating as complex networks of people, infrastructure, platforms, sensors, institutions and data systems. AI can help analyse transport flows, improve public services, support sustainability strategies and help institutions respond more quickly to changing urban conditions.
Yet technological capability alone does not define a smart city.
The wider challenge is to ensure that digital transformation improves quality of life, supports economic participation and strengthens rather than weakens the relationship between citizens and institutions.
Through Citiesabc, Dinis has developed a platform focused on cities, urban innovation, sustainability, digital transformation and the future of communities. His broader work explores how AI, blockchain, digital twins and new data infrastructures can be connected with more inclusive forms of urban governance.
AI.DNA, digital twins and new models for cities
Through initiatives including AI.DNA and Wisdomia.ai, Dinis has also focused on AI agents, digital twins, immersive technologies and AI-powered knowledge systems.
Digital twins are becoming especially relevant to the future of cities.
By creating digital representations of physical environments, infrastructure or systems, cities can simulate conditions, analyse data and test possible interventions before applying them in the physical world.
The combination of digital twins and AI agents could eventually create increasingly adaptive city systems capable of analysing problems and recommending actions in real time.
This creates significant opportunities, but also new governance challenges.
Questions around who controls these systems, how data is used, how algorithms make recommendations and where human oversight remains necessary will become increasingly important as AI becomes more deeply integrated into urban infrastructure.
Connecting technology with human knowledge
Dinis is also the creator of Leonardo da Vinci: The Genius Mysteries, a 20-episode AI-powered documentary and edutainment project exploring what Leonardo da Vinci’s interdisciplinary thinking can teach society in the age of artificial intelligence.
The project connects art, science, engineering, philosophy and technology, reflecting a wider argument within Dinis’s work that future innovation will require more than technical specialisation.
Leonardo’s ability to work across disciplines offers a historical example of the kind of systems thinking increasingly required to understand contemporary cities.
Urban challenges such as climate change, mobility, housing, digital inequality and AI governance cannot easily be solved within a single discipline. They require collaboration between technology, public policy, economics, design, culture and civic participation.
A career across technology, cities and global innovation
Dinis has collaborated with organisations including UN/UNITAR, UNESCO, the European Space Agency, IBM and Siemens, and has lectured at institutions including Copenhagen Business School.
He is also the author of books including 4IR: AI, Blockchain, Fintech, IoT – Reinventing a Nation, which explores how emerging technologies are reshaping economies, institutions and national development.
His work has been recognised by Thinkers360 across fields including artificial intelligence, blockchain, fintech and smart cities.
Across his books, platforms, interviews, research and technology projects, Dinis has consistently focused on the interaction between emerging technologies and wider social and economic systems.
The other personalities featured in the MSN list
Dr. Kanans Visvanats FRSC
Dr. Kanans Visvanats is the founder of Zoar Limited, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and a board member of the Institute of Economics. His profile combines scientific expertise, entrepreneurship and involvement in economic and institutional leadership.
Greg Aguirre
Greg Aguirre is a small business advocate, commercial lending expert and founder of U.S. Capital Source Corp. His work focuses on helping businesses gain access to finance and supporting entrepreneurial growth.'
Dr. Keith L. Marshall
Dr. Keith L. Marshall is a Doctor of Clinical Psychology, behavioural health executive and advocate for recovery and resilience. His work combines clinical expertise with leadership in behavioural health and community wellbeing.
Tim Thomas
Tim Thomas is the founder of RISE, a former corporate headhunter and an author. His work draws on experience in recruitment, leadership and personal development, with a focus on professional and personal transformation.
Mark Lee Hegarty
Mark Lee Hegarty is a filmmaker and documentary director whose work also extends into community impact. His work explores the use of storytelling and documentary filmmaking to communicate ideas, experiences and social issues.
Dr. Craig Taylor, D.C.
Dr. Craig Taylor is a Doctor of Chiropractic and co-founder of Taylor Chiropractic & Wellness. His career combines healthcare practice, wellness and business leadership.
Maxim Behar
Maxim Behar is a global public relations expert, communications strategist and international business leader. His career spans strategic communications, reputation, media and international business.
Dr. Ollie Evans
Dr. Ollie Evans is a chiropractor, founder of Georgia Chiropractic & Massage and Clinic Director. His work combines healthcare practice with entrepreneurship and the development of patient-focused clinical services.
Anton Guinea
Anton Guinea is a leadership coach and speaker whose work focuses on leadership development and professional performance, supporting individuals and organisations through periods of change.
Leadership and the future of cities
The individuals included in the MSN list work across different industries, but their inclusion points to a broader evolution in the meaning of leadership.
As cities, economies and institutions become more digitally connected, leadership increasingly requires the ability to operate across technological, social and organisational boundaries.
For urban environments, this will become particularly significant.
The next generation of cities will not simply be defined by how much technology they deploy, but by how effectively they use that technology to improve the lives of the people who live within them.
AI, smart infrastructure, digital twins and connected platforms will play a growing role. Yet governance, trust, accessibility, culture and human participation will determine whether those systems ultimately create more inclusive and resilient cities.
Dinis's inclusion in the MSN feature reflects his contribution to this wider conversation at the intersection of artificial intelligence, smart cities, digital transformation and human-centred innovation.
About Presszila
Presszila is a digital public relations and branding company founded in 2023 and led by CEO and Co-Founder Evelyn Foster.
The company works with organisations, entrepreneurs and brands seeking to strengthen their visibility across the digital media landscape.
Its approach reflects the wider transformation of public relations, where traditional media relations increasingly overlap with digital publishing, online visibility, search, social platforms and strategic brand storytelling.
As communication increasingly takes place across both human and AI-driven discovery systems, digital visibility is becoming an important part of how organisations and leaders build trust and communicate their work.
Read the MSN feature:
https://www.msn.com/en-xl/news/other/top-10-inspiring-men-you-should-know-in-2026/ar-AA2dAk1Y
