The Pope's AI Warning, and Why Women Need to Reclaim Their Agency | Julianne Hickey

The Pope just signed his first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, and it's about AI. His warning to the world: protect the human person before artificial intelligence erodes our work, our relationships, and our agencyWhile tech companies race to build agents and automate everything, the Vatican did something unexpected. It created a commission on AI, not to celebrate the technology, but to protect human dignity. And when Pope Leo XIV presented the document, he did it standing beside a co-founder of the AI company Anthropic. What an unexpected twist.So what does this actually mean for women navigating AI at work right now?In this episode of AI Ready Women, Georgie and Lou sit down with Julianne Hickey, a social justice leader, AI governance expert, and former director of Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand.Julianne has met Pope Francis twice, worked in Gaza and Palestine responding to humanitarian disasters, and now leads AI strategy for a major government organisation in New Zealand.This is a conversation about what happens when we stop asking what AI can do, and start asking what it should do. And why the future of AI isn't just a technical question. It's a spiritual one.Recorded just before the encyclical's public release on 25 May 2026.)Connect with Georgie:🔵 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgiehubbard/🟪 Instagram: http://instagram.com/georgielhubbard♦️ Website: https://www.georgiehubbard.com____________Connect with Lou Compagnone:🔵 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/loucompagnone/____________Connect with Julianne Hickey:🔵 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliannehickey/____________CHAPTERS2:40 Julianne's journey: Zimbabwe, Ubuntu, and "I am who I am because of who we all are"4:15 From London consulting to humanitarian work in Gaza and Palestine: power, dignity, and who gets left behind7:00 Inside Empire of AI: the extraction problem and AI's concentration of power10:30 The Pope's first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, and human dignity in the age of automation14:30 The Rome Call and the Builders AI Forum: "What business does the Pope have in AI?"18:00 What this means if you're not Catholic: agency, power, and why women get left out of the room22:00 AI agents vs human agency: why the language we use matters more than we think25:30 The Vatican's AI commission: seven departments, rotating terms, and a cross functional governance model27:00 Why most organisations treat AI as a tech project when it's a strategic one30:00 Burnout, fear, and feeling unsafe at work: what leaders get dangerously wrong about productivity and people38:00 Final thoughts: making sure AI serves people, not the other way around____________If this episode resonated with you, reach out to Julianne, Lou, and Georgie on LinkedIn. Let us know your biggest takeaway. And if you know an incredible woman working in AI, ethics, governance, or social justice who should be on this podcast, send us her name. We want to amplify women's voices. We want representation. We want you in the room.The future belongs to the women who are ready for it.Let's make sure that's you.Georgie and Lou 💜