The coveted ‘challenge speaker’ keynote gives the chosen delegate free rein to share their true views around some of the more contentious elements of the global environment in which banks operate.

This year, Talwar will be exploring the metaverse and digital currencies – diving headfirst into the trends receiving heavy media, regulatory and technological attention across the globe. Disruptive, exponential technologies are familiar territory for the futurist, who will undoubtedly push audience members to reconsider the horizons of what is possible and what is on the horizon for digital payments.

Talwar recently wrote: “In executive suites across the globe, information technology (IT) induced stress levels keep rising. On the one hand, executives are bombarded with talk of exponential technologies, becoming an infinitely flexible artificial intelligence (AI) centric enterprise, and the need to embrace blockchain, the crypto economy, and metaverses. On the other hand, the stark reality is that most digital transformation initiatives are failing to deliver on their $500M – $1Bn+ price tags.”

“The crypto economy, the adoption of AI, as well as environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors are all rapidly growing developments that financial sector businesses will have to plan for and deal with over the coming years,” he added.

Talwar has big shoes to fill, following in the footsteps of Nick Ogden and Chris Skinner, who have graced the EBAday stage as challenge speakers in recent years.

After two years as a virtual conference, EBAday 2022 will run in person for its seventeenth year, welcoming a host of board directors, chief executive officers, and payments and technology heads from Europe’s leading banks, as well as selected fintechs.

Register now to attend EBAday 2022 in Vienna, Austria on the 31st of May and 1st of June.