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Kay Firth-Butterfield has enjoyed a successful career as a barrister, judge, entrepreneur, professor and technologist. Currently, she is the CEO of the Good Tech Advisory, having formerly been the founding Executive Director of the Centre for Trustworthy Technology (a World Economic Forum Centre for the 4th Industrial Revolution). The Centre concentrated on cutting-edge technologies from AI to quantum, blockchain to metaverse and synthetic biology. She was the first Head of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for the World Economic Forum and a Member of the Executive Committee of the World Economic Forum, Kay is on a mission to increase awareness of how humanity can benefit from the use of artificial intelligence equitably. As one of the world’s foremost specialists in the governance of AI, and the World’s first Chief AI Ethics Officer, Kay is highly sought after as a keynote speaker on new technologies, especially artificial intelligence – backed by her credible history with some of the world’s leading organisations driving the acceleration of artificial intelligence.
Kay, a qualified barrister and judge, began her illustrious career as a self-employed barrister, before becoming a Judge for the UK Ministry of Justice. For the first part of her career Kay has practised law in the UK and is an Associate Barrister for Doughty Street Chambers and a Master of the Honourable Society of the Inner Temple. Continuing her success as a barrister, Kay was a first mover in the conversations around the benefits and risks of AI. She has been a Member of the Technical Advisory Board of the Foundation for Responsible Robots and an Expert Advisor for the All Parliamentary Group on Artificial Intelligence and co-founded the Responsible AI Institute. Kay is a Liveryman of the City of London of The Worshipful Company of Loriners.
Aside from her success as a barrister, Kay has also forged a respectable reputation in academia – currently acting as the Distinguished Scholar of The Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law and Fellow of the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence at the University Cambridge. She taught the first AI and Law course at the University of Texas Law School in 2016. Kay has held Adjunct Professorships at St. Mary’s University School of Law and a Visiting Professorship at St. Edward’s University; all positions that have helped craft Kay’s expert knowledge of education, governance and AI. When she is not dedicating her time to AI and education, Kay has previously dedicated time to being the North American Ambassador of the Consortium for Street Children. Kay is also a bestselling author, having written the titles Human Rights and Human Trafficking and Domestic Laws on Human Trafficking. In recognition of her commitments to the industry, Kay was recognised as one of the 10 Women Changing the Landscape of Leadership by The New York Times. In April 2023, Kay became the Executive Director of the Centre for Trustworthy Technology, a leading organisation that is working tirelessly to promote ethical design development and the ethical use of technology, and in October 2023 she was appointed as a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Texas.
Kay sits on the Boards of AI4All, AI for Planet and EarthSpecies.org. Also, she advises the US Government via the role of the Government Accountability Office. Dedicated to educating clients on how people and the planet (including companies and governments) can benefit from artificial intelligence, Kay is now highly sought after to take to the stage as a keynote speaker, Conference MC and moderator and after-dinner speaker. A specialist in the law, governance and application of AI, Kay is also renowned as the Vice-Chair of the IEEE Global Initiative for Ethical Considerations in Artificial Intelligence and Autonomous Systems and a previous member of the Lord Chief Justice’s Panel on AI and Law. In recognition of her illustrious career, Kay was announced as the recipient of the TIME100 AI Impact Award in 2024. Sharing her valuable knowledge on the economic and social challenges that are being created due to technological advancements, Kay has formerly spoken on such issues for the likes of WIRED, Deloitte US, Singularity University and the Institute for Experiential AI. When looking for a preeminent authority on AI, using government use of AI, educational technology, AI ethics, digital business transformation and AI for business, Metaverse, Quantum don’t hesitate in hiring Kay Firth-Butterfield today!
In October 2023 we sat down virtually with Kay Firth-Butterfield and discussed the ethical risks around AI and big data. Watch our Exclusive Interview with Kay Firth-Butterfield.
Kay Firth-Butterfield is regularly booked to engage audiences at events, read their latest feedback below:
“Kay is simply amazing and one of the most caring people I have encountered in my career… She is extremely passionate about protecting people from the potential negative consequences of the use of technology, and it shows in every speech she gives and every article she writes. She is also incredibly well-spoken and very thoughtful in everything she says. It is my pleasure to have worked with her…”
“At a high-profile event last week Kay was a guest speaker who took part in a fireside chat with one of our client’s senior business leaders, the topic being ‘Responsible innovation in the age of AI’. Kay was a delight to work with throughout and had a wonderful presence onstage; professional, insightful, incredibly interesting but also with a very warm and friendly air. Kay was also very open pre-event to join a couple of calls, both to enable us to give her a full briefing but she also took the time to virtually meet with her ‘interviewee’ to discuss flow, key topics and develop a relationship which again ensured a much more cohesive, relaxed and engaging tone when in the live situation. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Kay for any speaking engagement.”
“Kay Firth-Butterfield joined our Executive Forum with our key customers in October 2023 in France and I was able to interview her on stage on AI Ethics questions which are currently on top of mind for our customers. Kay’s deep and broad knowledge of AI allowed Kay to raise a lot of awareness and to provide insight into how enterprises should respond to the questions raised by AI, both for AI created by technology companies or AI procured by enterprises in all industry sectors. Kay is very engaging and did not only show a lot of presence on stage but also had great follow up discussions with customers over dinner and throughout the day.”
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