Dr. Catriona Wallace is truly an extra-ordinary human. She has been acknowledged as one of the country’s preeminent scientists and experts in the field of artificial intelligence and the metaverse.

But what I believe makes Catriona (who I affectionately call Doc) deeply incredible is her courage.

Catriona’s journey has been far from linear, but when you hear her reflect on her path, the theme is clear. Justice, a persistent quest for her true self, and an abiding love of this exquisite life.

Starting out as a policewomannot only taught Catriona deep empathy but also all about the things that can hurt humans. This caused her to ask the bigger question of what may harm humanity, society and our Earth in the future. And the answer she came up with was technology.

Pursuing this question led Catriona to become the CEO and Chair of Flamingo AI, the second-only woman-led business to list on the ASX. An impressive feat in itself. But alongside this hero’s journey-career she has always heard the call of spirit.

Initially, Catriona’s spiritual work sat to one side of her career, but recently she has been able to step into a life that deeply entwines her training and knowledge in AI with her spirituality and training as a Shamanic healer.

Catriona believes that sharing knowledge about the responsible use of technology is her true calling. Her message is for us to take pause, and consider the catastrophic and existential risk that is posed by AI to humans, society at large, and to the planet. Raising awareness of this is her true purpose and her true passion.

Catriona has been into the jungle and into the jungle, she will go again. She never steps back from the call of Spirit, just as she never shies away from seeing the truth, in all its darkness and difficulty.

Over a warming cup of Purrr chai, we explore Catriona’s calling, the ways she has reckoned with her life, and how she is helping make sure humanity survives the future.