Busylike CNN Interview: Decentralized media and audio communication

Published in CNN Turk originally - this interview was recorded during Consensus Austin. Source: https://bit.ly/3aF7x5U

By integrating blockchain and Web3, creators are finally finding ways to build long-term financial sustainability for their digital ecosystems. While decentralized communities and visual media like NFTs initially led the charge, the focus is now shifting toward audio communication and the podcasting sector.

Although this evolution hasn't fully hit the mainstream yet, the surge of investment into voice-based technology startups across the United States is a clear signal of what's coming. As a podcaster, I am particularly excited about this shift and the potential it holds for the future of the medium.

CNN Interview - Çiğdem Öztabak and Vadi Efe

Consensus event in 2026

n 2026, the Consensus conference is expanding its global footprint with a dual-city strategy, making a high-profile return to Hong Kong (February 10–12) and a massive North American debut in Miami (May 5–7). The Miami event, hosted at the Miami Beach Convention Center, is expected to draw over 20,000 attendees and features a powerhouse lineup including SEC Chairman Paul Atkins, Galaxy CEO Mike Novogratz, and even cultural figures like Alex Rodriguez. The 2026 agenda shifts focus toward the "Institutional Era," with major tracks dedicated to the tokenization of real-world assets, the integration of agentic AI into on-chain execution, and the implementation of bipartisan U.S. crypto legislation.

Between the "Consensus Cup" at the Happy Valley Racecourse in Hong Kong and the high-stakes PitchFest in Miami, the conference has solidified its reputation as the "Super Bowl of Blockchain," serving as the primary hub for global deal-making and the convergence of digital finance with traditional capital markets.

Consensus in Austin and Busylike Interview

First of all, I would like to talk a little bit about Austin, Texas. Currently, it can be said that it is the city that receives the most immigrants in the world in the field of technology. While many technology companies have moved their headquarters to this city with the pandemic, it has also become a center of attraction for entrepreneurs and professionals working in the field of technology. At the Consensus festival, the world's largest and most influential companies came together with startups around finance, crypto money market, blockchain technology, NFT and metaverse.

During the festival, I had an interview with the Turkish entrepreneur Vadi Efe, who is incorporated in Austin, working on the future of media - audiovisual technologies.

Thousands of conversations about business and technology take place on podcasts and voice chat platforms every day. Busylike provides technology infrastructure and consultancy services for companies to improve their training and marketing activities by accessing decentralized media, voice communication data and an endlessly updated pool of creative content.

What was the topic that caught your attention the most in Consensus?

The speed of media transformation is astonishing. Media, which has transformed with user content and social networks in the last fifteen years, is now on its way to becoming a network of creators who can finance themselves on a decentralized and performance basis, thus feeding the world. The technologies that interested me the most were the companies that provide blockchain integrations for creators who can interact with their followers in the field of publishing and multimedia. Many creative individuals and institutions, large and small, have the opportunity to develop their own production and consumption platforms, nurture the content and stories they create for a long time, and create an economy over it. At an event we attended, I was impressed when I saw a project that turned the life, career, and interests of world-renowned Hollywood star Bill Murray into NFTs with powerful storytelling, operating in a way that would engage its fan base for years to come.

When we look at the path of visual and audio media, what is on the horizon?

After working in marketing, social media, video content and technology for many years, we are now focused on audio technologies, which is the fastest growing area of ​​media (in terms of consumption and advertising turnover). The fact that individuals who are overly exposed to video conferencing during the pandemic process have turned to voice chat, and the increase in the use of smart speakers and airpods has brought about a serious increase in podcast production and consumption. The business world shares what it produces and consumes every day with podcasts. At the moment, web3 is in its early stages, but it is advancing at a rapid pace, while the trend of audio content and podcasts is on its way to finding its consistency and becoming mainstream media. Here, too, creators will have the opportunity to support their independent voices with financial infrastructures and collaborate with companies involved in decentralized media. While companies plan their marketing and training activities as mobile and interactivity-centered, they will have the opportunity to include their consumers in their economies. We are moving towards a future where interactive advertisements are integrated with content, where creators can share and reproduce their ideas and productions financially with their followers.

So, what are the details of the product you created in this field? Did you move forward with investments?

For a long time, I have implemented different initiatives focused on digital media, and I had the opportunity to turn these initiatives into collaborations and acquisitions with big technology and media companies. My new project, Businesswise, which I am currently focusing on, is a platform that offers personalized content and data to companies in the field of audio - that is, audio content and technology - which is the most growing (as user consumption and advertising pie) in the field of digital media. We are focused on creating the world's first cases in this field. So far, we have collaborated with Microsoft globally, and investors and business partners from technology and media companies such as Indeed.com and Descript, which are leaders in their fields in Silicon Valley, have started to support our company. We launched the platform at SXSW in the spring, currently 67 different companies are using it, and we are in talks with companies that are looking for innovative models, especially in the field of education.

Finally, what would you say about being an entrepreneur in Austin?

Austin is a thriving city of culture and innovation in the USA. It is a very dynamic place where you can live comfortably and the ecosystem can be reached quickly. It is in a location within easy reach of different cities of the USA, and there are many job opportunities. Many tech companies are opening offices and startups are also in demand. It is also an attractive city for international companies that want to open up to the US market, I would definitely recommend it. It will continue to grow for the next 20 years. Over 400 thousand new ventures have been launched in the city in the last year, and this is above the US average.