E82: Make Ethereum Your Base Layer: EY’s Paul Brody on Leveraging Ethereum for Business

Beyond the Code

EY’s Global Blockchain Leader Paul Brody joins Yitzy on Beyond the Code to peel back the curtain on how big companies really operate (“chaos on the inside”), why public blockchains beat private networks, and what it takes to ship serious enterprise workflows on Ethereum.

We trace Paul’s zig-zagging path—Nigeria during a coup, Apple’s textbook S&OP, a Samsung prototype with a young Vitalik—to EY’s privacy stack (Nightfall/Starlight) and his “pragmatic ETH-maxi” thesis. Also: the lore behind EY’s most coveted swag.

• Paul on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pbrody/

• Paul on X: https://x.com/pbrody

• Book — Ethereum for Business (in Plain English): https://www.amazon.com/Ethereum-Business-Plain-English-Generate-Management/dp/1954892101

  Buenos Aires event:⁠ https://luma.com/kylnbzb8

• EY Blockchain (Nightfall/Starlight code): github.com/eyblockchain ・ blockchain.ey.com

Timestamps:

• 00:00 EY boxer-shorts 😄

• 07:06 Paul’s backstory: Africa studies → Nigeria mobile → first trip to Israel

• 10:49 The coup, payroll, and a Swissair IOU

• 13:35 “Chaos on the inside”: Samsung & big-company reality

• 21:33 Apple’s S&OP masterclass (sales/marketing/supply chain in lockstep)

• 33:48 Bitcoin → Ethereum: CES 2015 prototype with Vitalik; the light-bulb moment

• 37:43 EY Blockchain: services + software; why zero-knowledge privacy mattered

• 45:36 OpsChain, tokenizing “stuff,” notarization, contract manager; Xbox case study

• 51:15 “Pragmatic ETH-maxi”: why standardization and network effects matter

• 54:37 Enterprise Ethereum Alliance: becoming chair; back to public-chain roots

• 56:50 ETH as an asset; closing notes & where to follow Paul