The past year I have been an evangelist about digital trust. In the beginning, nobody really knew what I was talking about. That has changed.
People now see why it matters, and more importantly they start to see it on a larger scale. Digital trust is not only cybersecurity. It is not only putting guardrails around your AI, or ticking off the compliance rules. It is an ecosystem, and every part of it is interwoven.
The Uncomfortable Part
Here is the part I keep coming back to, and it is an uncomfortable one.
You already pay for trust. You spend real money and real effort keeping your customers safe — and they have no idea you are doing it. You are paying the bill for trust and getting none of the credit.
Meanwhile every customer makes a quiet decision, every day, about whether to bet on you. Your reputation is what you are asking them to bet on. A competitor can copy your product overnight. They cannot copy your reputation.
That is why I keep saying digital trust is a communication problem at least as much as a security one. The work is often already being done. The story around it is not.
The question that started the episode:
"Does your business deserve the trust it's asking for?"
It sounds simple. Then you try to answer it honestly, with evidence, in front of a customer — and it stops being simple.
What We Talk About
Kristiana Kuneva sat down with me for the first episode of The Digital Trust Podcast. What followed was a conversation about the invisible infrastructure holding the digital economy together: what it actually takes to build it, why most organisations are getting it wrong, and what is coming that most boardrooms have not seen yet.
- What digital trust actually is Why it is an ecosystem — not a security budget line, an AI policy, or a compliance checklist.
- Why it is a communication problem You are already paying for trust. Your customers do not know it. That gap is the opportunity.
- Reputation as the real asset Products get copied overnight. Reputation is the one thing a competitor cannot lift from you.
- The European Digital Identity Wallet What it means for your business well before 2027 — and why waiting for the deadline is the expensive option.
The Digital Trust Podcast is hosted by Kristiana Kuneva, tech storyteller and community builder. Episode 1 is a Sourcelab production. I am the guest, not the host — which meant answering the questions instead of asking them, and that turned out to be the useful part.
A competitor can copy your product overnight. They can't copy your reputation.
Then We Take It Into a Room
A podcast is one direction. The next step is a conversation that goes both ways.
Later this year we take this into a room: The Digital Trust Forum in Sofia. Half a day, invitation only, with people who actually build, regulate and use this stuff — from Bulgaria and the Netherlands.
Everywhere else you get the polished version. I want the room where people say what they have really tried, and what did not work.
The Digital Trust Forum
An afternoon for senior business and technology leaders who want to engage with these questions in person — not the polished version.
Want to talk about how Digital Trust applies to your business?
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