
The DigitalEkho Channel
Leon Schumacher
The DigitalEkho Channel is your go-to audio production for decoding the future of finance and technology. Join us as we explore the rapidly evolving world of Central Bank Digital Currencies, digital assets and artificial intelligence.
From the latest innovations to new tech challenges ahead, we strive with the help of AI to bring you expert insights accessible to all, via audio book excerpts, detailed explanations and thought-provoking discussions on how these technologies are reshaping our society and the global economy.
Brought to you by Leon Schumacher, former global CIO, entrepreneur and author.
Find out more on www.digitalekho.com
Books available here: https://tinyurl.com/digitalekho
All episodes
Best episodes
Seasons
Top 10 The DigitalEkho Channel Episodes
Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best The DigitalEkho Channel episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to The DigitalEkho Channel for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite The DigitalEkho Channel episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

#28 - AI11 - Stanford's AI Index 2025 and P&G's efforts
The DigitalEkho Channel
06/01/25 • 52 min
This audio production is intended to bring new technologies that impact our lives, like digital assets, central bank digital currencies and artificial intelligence in an easy to understand way to a larger audience.
This episode explores 2 reports on artificial intelligence (AI), with one providing a broad overview of its global state and another detailing a specific study on its impact in professional settings. The first source, the AI Index Report 2025, examines trends in AI research, technical performance, responsible AI, the economy, science, medicine, policy, education, and public opinion, highlighting advancements, challenges, and societal impacts across various sectors. The second source, a research paper titled "The Cybernetic Teammate," presents findings from a field experiment at Procter & Gamble that investigated how generative AI affects team performance, expertise sharing, and collaboration among professionals. Together, the documents illustrate the increasing integration and influence of AI, both globally and within organisational contexts, exploring its capabilities, ethical considerations, and practical effects on work dynamics.

#19 - AI3 - AI Strategies for countries not to be left behind
The DigitalEkho Channel
03/30/25 • 24 min
This audio production is intended to bring new technologies that impact our lives, like digital assets, central bank digital currencies and artificial intelligence in an easy to understand way to a larger audience.
This episode introduces the the subject of Artificial Intelligence and what countries must do not to be left behind. We discuss good strategies for countries to secure their future, the impact of Super intelligence and the threats it poses for countries and their national security. It will become clear that large bets are necessary to cement a country's independence and not to surrender it to one of the 2 leaders of the AI race – the United States and China - or a faster moving neighbour. Input for the discussion comes from the chapter 21 off the book Decoding Artificial Intelligence for CEOs by Leon Schumacher, the report Superintelligence Strategy: Expert Version by Dan Hendrycks, Eric Schmidt and Alexander Wang and Ezra Klein’s NYT Article and podcast: “The Government Knows AGI Is Coming”
This is a the second AI episode, which ramps up our journey into the AI world. As AI will affect all of our lives significantly within 5 years, we will increase the AI content significantly in the coming weeks and months. Don't wait to explore what the future may hold before it hits us.
The corresponding book will be released soon and can then be found on Amazon next to my other publications: http://tiny.cc/cbdc
More information is available on www.digitalekho.com

#23 - AI6 - Google's demands of the US government for AI
The DigitalEkho Channel
04/27/25 • 25 min
This audio production is intended to bring new technologies that impact our lives, like digital assets, central bank digital currencies and artificial intelligence in an easy to understand way to a larger audience.
This episode introduces the the subject of Artificial Intelligence and what Google's proposals to the US government are for an AI action plan, building upon their existing economic blueprint to bolster America's leadership in artificial intelligence. These recommendations address crucial areas including regulatory approaches, export controls for democratic AI, copyright strategies to promote learning, infrastructure development, and government adoption of AI technologies. Reactions to Google's suggestions highlight industry support and opposition, particularly regarding the use of copyrighted material for AI training and concerns about competition from China. The White House initiative seeks public input to formulate a national AI strategy aimed at maintaining US dominance and fostering innovation while considering national security.
This is a the second AI episode, which ramps up our journey into the AI world. As AI will affect all of our lives significantly within 5 years, we will increase the AI content significantly in the coming weeks and months. Don't wait to explore what the future may hold before it hits us.
The corresponding book will be released soon and can then be found on Amazon next to my other publications: http://tiny.cc/cbdc
More information is available on www.digitalekho.com

#9 - Decoding Central Bank Digital Currencies - Part 5: Architecture & Design
The DigitalEkho Channel
01/19/25 • 20 min
This audio production is intended to bring new technologies that impact our lives, like digital assets, central bank digital currencies and artificial intelligence in an easy to understand way to a larger audience.
This episode covers the subject of architecture and design considerations, including bearer instruments. The goal is to bring this important subject closer to the listeners, in an attempt to explain what CBDCs are, how they can be realised technically and how their designs will influence our society.
The corresponding book can be found on Amazon: http://tiny.cc/cbdc
More information is available on www.digitalekho.com

#7 - Decoding Digital Central Bank Currencies - Part 4: Types of Privacy
The DigitalEkho Channel
01/05/25 • 20 min
This audio production is intended to bring new technologies that impact our lives, like digital assets, central bank digital currencies and artificial intelligence in an easy to understand way to a larger audience.
This episode introduces the next chapters of the book Decoding Central Bank Digital Currencies, covering subject of privacy, with the goal to explain to the listeners, what impacts CBDCs may have, how they can be realised technically and how their designs will influence our society.
The corresponding book can be found on Amazon: http://tiny.cc/cbdc
More information is available on www.digitalekho.com

#15 - Decoding CBDC - Discussion 6 of CAP theorem and offline payments
The DigitalEkho Channel
03/02/25 • 25 min
This audio production is intended to introduce new technologies that impact our lives, like digital assets, central bank digital currencies and artificial intelligence in an easy to understand way to a larger audience.
This episode discusses design choices for implementing Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), cryptographic primitives and associated issues, offline payment methods, and the CAP theorem's implications for CBDC architecture.
The goal is to bring this important subject closer to the listeners, in an attempt to explain what CBDCs are, how they can be realised technically and how their designs will influence our society.
The corresponding book can be found on Amazon: http://tiny.cc/cbdc
More information is available on www.digitalekho.com

#14 - Decoding Central Bank Digital Currencies - Design of low fees, usability, programmability...
The DigitalEkho Channel
02/23/25 • 21 min
This audio production is intended to bring new technologies that impact our lives, like digital assets, central bank digital currencies and artificial intelligence in an easy to understand way to a larger audience.
This episode episode covers the second part on the characteristics needed in a CBDC. The focus here us on
- Usability
- Costs
- Settlement and Transaction times
- Performance and Scalability
- Sovereignty and Open Source
- Programmability
The goal is to bring this important subject closer to the listeners, in an attempt to explain what CBDCs are, how they can be realised technically and how their designs will influence our society.
The corresponding book can be found on Amazon: http://tiny.cc/cbdc
More information is available on www.digitalekho.com

#16 - Decoding Central Bank Digital Currencies - Part 7: Design of Fungibility, Inclusion, Offline Payments
The DigitalEkho Channel
03/09/25 • 20 min
This audio production is intended to bring new technologies that impact our lives, like digital assets, central bank digital currencies and artificial intelligence in an easy to understand way to a larger audience.
This episode episode covers the next part of the characteristics needed in a CBDC. The focus here is on Fungibility, Inclusion, Income Transparency, Taxability and Offline Payments. The goal is to bring this important subject closer to the listeners, in an attempt to explain what CBDCs are, how they can be realised technically and how their designs will influence our society.
The corresponding book can be found on Amazon: http://tiny.cc/cbdc
More information is available on www.digitalekho.com

#27 - AI10 - Open Source and the issue of open washing AI!
The DigitalEkho Channel
05/25/25 • 22 min
This audio production is intended to bring new technologies that impact our lives, like digital assets, central bank digital currencies and artificial intelligence in an easy to understand way to a larger audience.
This episode explores the debate surrounding open-source artificial intelligence, contrasting it with proprietary systems. It explores the nuances between "free" software(emphasising liberty) and "open-source" software (focused on access and collaboration), using analogies like a free kitten needing care to illustrate ongoing commitments. The text discusses the benefits of open-source AI, such as innovation, transparency, and community-driven development, but also highlights significant risks, including potential misuse, security vulnerabilities, and challenges for effective regulation. The concept of "open-washing", where companies label AI models as open without full transparency, is scrutinised, along with practical examples like Meta's Llama and Google DeepMind's AlphaFold 3. Finally, the piece touches on the geopolitical implications of open-source AI, particularly concerning the US-China dynamic and the rapid advancements in AI being made independently by China.
The corresponding book Decoding Artificial Intelligence for CEOs can then be found on Amazon next to Leon Schumacher's other publications: http://tiny.cc/cbdc
More information is available on www.digitalekho.com

#22 - AI5 - AI Doomsday scenario in 2028 or a better future?
The DigitalEkho Channel
04/20/25 • 26 min
Today we explore a future scenario on how AI could influence our world between now and 2028. The document is called "AI 2027" by Daniel Kokotajlo, Scott Alexander, Thomas Larsen, Eli Lifland and Romeo Dean, in which they predict that the impact of superhuman AI over the next decade will be enormous, exceeding that of the Industrial Revolution. They wrote a scenario that represents our best guess about what that might look like. It’s informed by trend extrapolations, wargames, expert feedback, experience at OpenAI, and previous forecasting successes. For those that have the time, I suggest that you read the full document or listen to the full two hours of audio at www.AI-2027.ai
Here we will discuss these potential near-future scenarios involving rapid advancements in artificial intelligence, particularly the emergence of artificial general intelligence (AGI) by 2027. "AI 2027" presents two contrasting fictional timelines: a "race" scenario where unchecked AI development leads to a superintelligence capable of surpassing human control, and a "slowdown" scenario where efforts to prioritise safety and alignment lead to a more cautious approach. The document from the AI Futures Project outlines predictions about AI capabilities evolving from advanced assistants to superhuman researchers, impacting various sectors and potentially triggering geopolitical tensions. The "Strategy for countries" document discusses the implications of these AI advancements for national security and suggests strategic approaches for countries to maintain independence and leverage AI for national progress. The document offer a detailed, speculative examination of the transformative power of near-term AI, highlighting both the immense potential and the significant risks associated with its development and deployment.
The corresponding book will be released soon and can then be found on Amazon next to my other publications: http://tiny.cc/cbdc
More information is available on www.digitalekho.com
Show more best episodes

Show more best episodes
FAQ
How many episodes does The DigitalEkho Channel have?
The DigitalEkho Channel currently has 28 episodes available.
What topics does The DigitalEkho Channel cover?
The podcast is about Ai, Money, Payments, Crypto, Podcasts, Business, Artificial Intelligence and Privacy.
What is the most popular episode on The DigitalEkho Channel?
The episode title '#9 - Decoding Central Bank Digital Currencies - Part 5: Architecture & Design' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on The DigitalEkho Channel?
The average episode length on The DigitalEkho Channel is 23 minutes.
How often are episodes of The DigitalEkho Channel released?
Episodes of The DigitalEkho Channel are typically released every 7 days.
When was the first episode of The DigitalEkho Channel?
The first episode of The DigitalEkho Channel was released on Nov 29, 2024.
Show more FAQ

Show more FAQ