About
Dr Catriona Wallace is an Australian tech entrepreneur and thought-leader who has spent three decades asking a simple question: “How do we make technology work for people?” She first came to global notice as the founder and CEO of Flamingo AI, one of the world’s earliest conversational-AI platforms and only the second woman-led company ever listed on the Australian Securities Exchange. Today she is best known as the founder of the Responsible Metaverse Alliance, chair of the Boab AI venture fund, an adjunct professor at UNSW, and a straight-talking investor on Shark Tank Australia. Awards such as the Australian Financial Review’s “Most Influential Woman in Business & Entrepreneurship” and Onalytica’s “Top 10 Global Speakers in AI” underscore her impact while her 2022 book Checkmate Humanity highlights her passion for ethical AI.
Before Fame
Wallace grew up in rural New South Wales, craving adventure and community service. At just 19 she joined the NSW Police Force, patrolling the tough streets of Kings Cross and The Rocks during the late 1980s—a role that taught her courage and crisis communication. After four years on the beat she swapped the uniform for academia, earning an arts degree followed by a master’s and, in 2007, a PhD from the University of New South Wales that explored how computers can substitute for human leadership. Before launching Flamingo AI she co-founded the customer-experience consultancy Fifth Quadrant, setting the stage for her later focus on data-driven decision-making.
Trivia
- ASX trailblazer: When Flamingo AI floated in 2016 it made Wallace only the second woman to helm a company at IPO on the exchange.
- Identity: She identifies as non-binary and often uses she/they pronouns, adding an inclusive voice to Australia’s tech scene.
- Big family, bigger ideas: A mother of five children (and now a grandmother), she jokes that household diplomacy prepared her for high-stakes boardrooms.
- Psychedelic reformer: After exiting Flamingo AI in 2020 she began championing safe, Indigenous-led psychedelic retreats for leadership development.
- Published thinker: Checkmate Humanity (2022) distils her research into practical guidelines for responsible AI.
Family Life
Despite her public schedule, Wallace calls family her “north star.” She raised five children while bootstrapping startups, relying on early-morning work sprints and shared calendars to keep life flowing. Now a proud grandmother, she splits time between Sydney and regional New South Wales, embracing nature, surfing, and the arts as restorative counterpoints to her tech work. Her children occasionally appear at conferences—sometimes as critics, sometimes as co-creators—affirming her belief that technology should be a family conversation, not a background noise.
Associated With
Wallace’s network spans business, academia, and media:
- Shark Tank Australia (2023–): She invests alongside fellow sharks Sabri Suby, Davie Fogarty, Jane Lu, and Robert Herjavec, bringing an ethics-first lens to startup pitches.
- UNSW & AGSM: As an adjunct professor she mentors MBA students on responsible innovation and AI governance.
- Boab AI & Interpol: She chairs Boab AI’s investment committee and serves on Interpol’s Metaverse Expert Group, guiding global safety standards.
- Responsible Metaverse Alliance: Through the RMA she collaborates with policymakers, creatives, and technologists to build safer virtual worlds.
- Checkmate Humanity co-authors: Researchers Richard Vidgen, Sam Kirshner, and others joined her in writing the 2022 book that frames AI ethics for everyday leaders.
From outback beginnings to the Shark Tank set, Catriona Wallace continues to prove that bold ideas and human values can grow side by side.
