Catriona Wallace

Dr Catriona Wallace is an entrepreneur in the Artificial Intelligence field, and Founder & Executive Director of the Stock Exchange listed company Flamingo AI – a Machine-Learning company with headquarters in New York and Sydney.

Having recently been inducted into the Royal Institution of Australia in 2019, recognizing her excellence in scientific achievement and commitment to science in Australia, Dr Catriona Wallace is one of the world’s most cited experts on Artificial Intelligence, Ethics & Human Rights in technology and Women in Leadership. Dr Catriona Wallace has established herself as the innovative go-to expert for optimizing customer experience. As a result, she’s the most natural authority to consult with when looking at ways to introduce emerging technologies into business.

In 2014, Catriona founded artificial intelligence FinTech Flamingo AI, a company working at the cutting edge of AI technology to provide Cognitive Virtual Assistants for employees and customers. Flamingo AI is the second only female led (CEO & Chair) business ever to list on the Australian Stock Exchange.

Dr Catriona Wallace has a long list of accolades that has seen her recognized as one of the most influential women in business & entrepreneurship. She has achieved significant awards in technology & innovation and recently won the FinTech Leader and Overall Excellence in Finance award by Women in Finance (2018). In large part, this success comes directly as a result of her ability to analyze data and identify specific problems, giving her the knowledge she needs to develop novel solutions.

With a dedicated passion for encouraging more women to pursue careers in technology, Catriona is leading by example. She has a PhD in Organizational Behavior and is a published author and analyst. Catriona’s links with business schools around the world allow her to share international practice and case studies, and as such brings a strong evidence-based approach to her speaking topics.

Catriona is also a philanthropist, human rights activist and mother of five.

Crisis Leadership – A Sustainability Topic

Summer 2019 saw the world’s attention turn to the devastating bushfires that deeply impacted Australia. 46 million acres were burned. 20 times larger than the Amazon fires.

It was an emergency. A national crisis.

Much commentary focused on leadership from politicians, responders, communities, businesses, agencies and individuals. So, what is Crisis Leadership and how is it done well?

With first-hand experience of the fires destroying two family properties Dr Catriona Wallace presents on the emerging topic of Crisis Leadership – the ability to direct and effectively reduce the duration and impact of extreme situations. Crisis Leadership focuses on multi-level strategy with multi-level contingencies, multi-mode communications, clarity of vision, explicit and actioned values, effective logistics and building empathy and caring relationships. This is done through leading decisively, continuously framing the crisis, ensuring diversity in teams and decision making, actively communicating, logistical excellence, being ready for the unexpected and driving actionable intelligence.

What happens and who leads before, during and after a crisis? Lessons from the Australian Bushfire Crisis are discussed and analysed with a model for effective Crisis Leadership presented.

Key takeaways:

• Identifying a crisis
• Effective leadership attributes during crisis
• Leadership team constructs, behaviours, skills and attitudes
• Leading out of the crisis
• A model for Crisis Leadership

Relevant to:

• Boards
• CEOs
• Leadership teams
• Executive teams
• Community leadership
• All sectors

Background

Dr Catriona Wallace, a speaker in AI, Ethics, Customer Experience and Leadership has a family cattle station of about 10,000 acres, that was destroyed during the Australian Summer of 2019 disastrous wildfires. Sadly, Catriona’s family also had a summer house on the South Coast of NSW which was in the town of Rosedale which bore the brunt of three fire fronts on New Year’s Eve. Since November Catriona has been actively engaged in both the farm and beach communities as they begin their recovery.

Human + Machine – The Rise of Artificial Intelligence

AI is now the fastest growing technology sector globally, expanding in investment 12-fold over the next 5 years. AI is one of the top three strategies for the world’s leading companies and is expected to replace 2 million jobs in the next two years. It’s time for all organisations to plan how they will address this transformational force. In this presentation Dr Catriona Wallace will define and discuss AI, Machine Learning and types of AI including:

• Machine Learning
• Computer Vision
• Conversational Platforms
• Autonomous Machines
• Data Science and Analytics

Also presented will be the current state of the market, investment, best Use Cases and how organisations should be thinking and planning for this tsunami of change that is coming.

Key takeaways include:

• Definitions of AI
• Market size and forces
• How to determine best Use Cases
• AI planning and getting started

AI Strategy – Centers of Excellence, Human Rights & Ethics

We are at an unprecedented time in history, with AI predicted to replace 40% of jobs in Retail, Tourism, Hospitality, Banking, Insurance and Finance by 2026. How do organisations prepare for this transformation and implement AI for good? Dr Wallace will presents the state of the market for AI & Machine Learning and shares how organisations should think about setting up AI Centres of Excellence including Human Rights and Ethics frameworks.

Key takeaways include:

• State of the market – AI & Machine Learning
• AI Strategy planning & Roadmap development
• Developing AI Centres of Excellence
• Developing Human Right & Ethics frameworks

The Future of Customer Experience  – AI powered digital augmenting humans

The future of customer experience will be defined by the augmentation of customer service employees with AI powered digital technologies. By 2021 30% of all customer interactions will be conducted by automated machines and technology giants such as Amazon and Google are entering the enterprise customer experience field. This presentation will outline the state of the market with regard to customer experience and detail how to plan a customer experience strategy that is human+digital+ machine.

Key takeaways:

• What customers actually want
• Customer experience strategy
• Human + machine customer experience jobs
• Customer experience technologies
• Omni channel management

Women in Leadership, Start Up & STEM – How do we do it?

Dr Catriona Wallace shares her story of being a leader of an Artificial Intelligence company in the US and Australia, being in Financial Services, seeking investment funding in a predominately male market and being one of the few women leading a Listed technology company whilst raising 5 children. Catriona, using humour and real-life examples, will share her experiences and unconventional ways of navigating difficult environments in order to be successful.

Key take aways include how to be:

• A Woman of Power and an authentic leader
• A Good Man supportive of women
• An UnMother with unconventional parenting
• Calm in life when everything is on fire. All the time.