Description
About Dr Catriona Wallace keynote speaker
Dr Catriona Wallace keynote speaker sessions come from a globally recognised business leader, entrepreneur and authority in artificial intelligence, ethics and leadership. She was a Shark on Shark Tank Australia in 2023. As a result, her keynotes combine boardroom credibility with more than 20 years pioneering the intersection of technology and humanity.
Dr Catriona Wallace keynote speaker background
Catriona founded Flamingo AI in 2013. It became the second woman-led business to list on the ASX. She also founded the Responsible Metaverse Alliance and chairs the Boab AI venture capital fund. In addition, she holds a PhD in Organisational Behaviour and an Honorary PhD in Business.
Catriona has spent three decades as a CEO, entrepreneur and academic. She advises businesses, communities and governments worldwide on responsible technology and AI practices. She co-authored “Checkmate Humanity: The How and Why of Responsible AI” and founded the Rapid Transformation organisation. In addition, the UK’s Centre for Economic and Leadership Development named her a Global Power Woman, and the Australian Financial Review recognised her as one of the most influential women in business and entrepreneurship.
Catriona is also a recognised voice in the Psychedelic Renaissance movement. She trained with the Shipibo people in Peru. As a result, she speaks internationally on Indigenous plant medicine’s role in leadership development and consciousness expansion.
Keynote topics
In “AI and the Future of Humanity,” Catriona explores the accelerating impact of Generative AI, Extended Reality, the Metaverse and Quantum technologies. She asks how leaders should guide AI development and what its ethical and existential implications are. Meanwhile, “Rapid Transformation: The New Leadership Model for an Age of Crisis” equips leaders to shift from reactive to visionary, combining neuroscience-backed methods with transformative AI.
Her session “Leading with Spirit” draws on ancient wisdom and collective leadership. It helps audiences navigate global crises, including AI proliferation, climate change and polarisation. Browse more AI and technology keynote speakers or read more about Catriona on Wikipedia.
Speaking Topics
AI and the Future of Humanity
With the release of Generative AI in November 2022, the world changed forever.
Technology’s intelligence and consciousness is advancing at a rate faster than humanity’s and we must now ask the following questions:
- Is AI technology useful, harmful or both?
- Who is guiding technology and its relationship to humanity?
- Where are we headed?
- Are we okay to passively continue with AI development knowing that it poses an existential risk, on par with nuclear war and pandemics?
- And … given there are no real laws or regulations that govern AI – what can we do?
Furthermore, just as we are getting our heads around this powerful AI technology, we are faced with the imminent arrival of Extended Reality, Metaverse and Quantum technologies.
In this important and highly topical keynote address, Dr Catriona Wallace will discuss: the current state of AI; humanity entering into the early stages of transhumanism; the power and invasiveness of AI and Metaverse worlds – the good and the bad; technology ethics and responsibility; and strategies for how we might direct technology for humanity’s good.
Key topics include:
- AI and the Metaverse – what are they? Good or bad?
- Technology vs human intelligence and consciousness
- The age of Transhumanism, the future of technology and humanity
- Development moratoriums & re-strategising technology for good
Rapid Transformation: The New Leadership Model for an Age of Crisis
Overview:
In this keynote, Dr. Catriona Wallace unveils a radically new leadership framework built for today’s volatile world. Drawing on her groundbreaking book Rapid Transformation, she introduces a triadic model: Ancient Ritual, Altered States of Consciousness, and Transformative AI. Through this lens, leaders are empowered to shift rapidly — from reactive to visionary, from burnout to purpose.
Key Themes:
- The three pillars of Rapid Transformation
- Initiation, integration, and embodied leadership
- Leading in the face of AI, war, climate collapse, and mental health breakdown
- Shamanic and animist approaches to resilience and collective leadership
Ideal for: Executives, leadership teams, boards, future-focused strategists
Transformative AI: Conscious Technology for Conscious Leaders
Overview:
AI is not just a tool — it is a transformative force. But will it evolve in the image of our trauma… or our wisdom? In this provocative keynote, Dr. Wallace explores the frontier of Transformative AI — systems designed to catalyze insight, not just efficiency. This talk includes case studies on AI, AI-powered ritual, the 7 Principles of Transformative AI and tools for leaders to align technology with human and planetary flourishing.
Key Themes:
- What is Transformative AI?
- Designing AI with ethics, consciousness, and care
- Navigating existential risk with expanded intelligence
- The 7 Principles of Transformative AI
- Tools to lead a Transformative AI practice
Ideal for: Tech and business audiences, AI developers, ethical leadership forums
Leading with Spirit: Ancient Wisdom & Rapid Transformation for Modern Crises
Overview:
The world faces four converging crises — AI proliferation, climate collapse, mental health breakdown, and polarization — that demand more than strategies; they require transformed leaders. Dr. Catriona Wallace shares how ancient rituals, altered states of consciousness, and her Rapid Transformation framework can expand leadership capacity, deepen ethics, and drive systemic change. Drawing on her Shipibo shamanic training and global leadership work, she reveals practical ways to harness neuroscience-backed ritual and collective wisdom to meet this moment with clarity, courage, and purpose.
Key Themes:
- Ancient ritual and altered states as tools for transformative leadership
- Responding to the four global challenges with expanded ethics and resilience
- Collective healing and regenerative systems thinking for complex times
Ideal for: Cross-sector leadership summits, HR and leadership development, global forums, and transformational events
