Kevin Dinino President of KCD PR, made an appearance on ESPN 1700’s BisTalk Radio show on August 2. BisTalk, which focuses on entertaining and inspiring stories from trailblazers in San Diego, came to Kevin for his expertise on fintech, financial services and technology. During the segment, Kevin walked host Bob Ryan and his listeners through everything from blockchain and cryptocurrency to cybersecurity and artificial intelligence – providing background, perspective on trends and insights on communications within these rapidly growing sectors.
Here are the highlights:
Blockchain
The show started out by Kevin being asked who the “Levi Strauss” of the blockchain industry would be during this “new tech gold rush.” He stated that to no one’s surprise it would be Google, Amazon and Apple leading this push, but plenty of worthy competitors are in the mix, such as IBM, Qualcomm, etc. They have positioned themselves as important players with this type of technology, but more importantly because they have the capital to invest in the space. Right now, there is a huge ecosystem emerging that will be powered by blockchain , with so many startups and traditional brick and mortar companies investing in this technology.
Knowing this, Kevin explains that now is the ideal time to get involved in blockchain. “IThis technology isn’t going away, and big companies and banks are starting to invest in it.”
When asked to simplify, Kevin explained blockchain as a spreadsheet that takes out the middle man, like a bank, from a transaction. The real power of blockchain comes from the fact that the technology is decentralized, making it much safer and more secure for a company to use.
Cybersecurity
According to Kevin, when it comes to a company being breached or hacked, it’s no longer a question of “if,” but “when.” He explained that the key to avoiding a complete downfall is having a proper cybersecurity infrastructure in place.
The first step to building this cybersecurity infrastructure is first and foremost appointing a CISO, chief information security officer. Pairing this position with your communications team will align a company’s clients, customers, shareholders and employees in the right way if the company were ever to come into a sticky situation.
Tech Communications
Kevin explained that every (tech) company needs a good technology PR agency team, because PR is most effective when used proactively. It is beneficial to have a team that can create a comprehensive communications plan that looks proactively, rather than reactively. In addition to thought leadership and disseminating company news, this plan should include a risk management component that spells out exactly how the team will respond to and handle a negative situation – having a communications team in place now is much more beneficial to a company as opposed to bringing someone in after a disaster hits to pick up the pieces. It can help mitigate the risk of having the company’s reputation drug through the mud.
PR helps a company with both its “Wonders and Blunders,” also the name of fintech PR leader KCD PR’s newsletter, which provides perspective on tech and financial news of the day – covering all things fintech, finance, blockchain, deep learning and more in everyday terms people understand.
Last Words
Kevin left the show’s listeners with this piece of advice, “Invest in these technologies today because this is where the world is shifting –, it’s not going away. For example, so many cool things are being created and utilized with AI (artificial intelligence) like autonomous cars. And when it comes to cryptocurrency, I don’t think the winner in that space has been determined yet.”
If you weren’t able to tune in to Kevin’s live segment on ESPN 1700 last week, it’s not too late! To learn more about trends in fintech, blockchain and cybersecurity, check out a recording of the Facebook Live stream NOW.
