Missional AI Podcast

Missional AI
  • 4.7 (3)
  • Technology
  • Updated Weekly

Join hosts Joshua Seale and James Poulter weekly as they explore the intersection of mission work and AI. Featuring exclusive interviews with innovators using artificial intelligence to expand global impact, this podcast brings you insights from the frontlines of the Missional AI community. Discover how AI is transforming outreach with thought-provoking conversations and practical applications. Where faith and technology converge to create new possibilities for mission work in the digital age.

  1. 2d ago

    Gareth Russell: Your Reputation Now Lives in ChatGPT

    Most of what an AI model says about your ministry doesn't come from your website. It comes from what other people have published about you — and that changes almost everything about comms strategy. Recorded at Premier in Central London on the eve of Missional AI London, host James Poulter sits down with Gareth Russell, founder of Jersey Road, an integrated comms agency working exclusively with Christian organisations across the UK, Australia, and the US — including YouVersion, Gather, and Come and See. Gareth explains why authority beats volume in the new generative-engine landscape, why that's unexpectedly good news for smaller ministries with modest budgets, and why he'd rather talk about reputation governance than reputation management. Christian organisations, he argues, shouldn't be protecting a brand — they should be building trust. Handled well, even a public crisis can leave an organisation stronger. The conversation also covers AI impersonation and misused imagery, the generational divide that leaves leadership teams too slow to respond, what ABBA Voyage and Tim Keller's enduring reach suggest about teaching legacy, and why outsourcing your thought leadership to AI is the fastest way to sound exactly like everyone else. (00:02:22) Who Jersey Road are, and why they dropped "PR"(00:03:58) GEO, AEO, AIEO: the new optimisation landscape(00:06:13) Why earned media drives what the models say(00:08:39) Volume, recency, or authority?(00:10:45) Reputation management to reputation governance(00:13:30) New categories of AI risk(00:16:18) William Booth, brass bands, and meeting people where they are(00:18:35) The generational block in leadership teams(00:19:33) Legacy and posthumous teaching content(00:22:49) Live translation and global reach(00:27:44) Don't outsource your thought leadership(00:30:16) Authenticity is overdone — credibility is the new currency Newsletter and upcoming global gatherings: missional.ai

  2. Jul 27

    Inside Anthropic's Faith Convenings — Live from Premier Christian Radio

    What happens when the companies building the most powerful technology in history start inviting faith leaders into the room? Recorded live in front of a studio audience at Premier Christian Radio in Central London, on the eve of the Missional AI London Summit. Paul Taylor joins us fresh from Anthropic's faith convenings and describes the posture in those rooms: we feel the burden of what we're creating, and we want you to share it. From there the conversation opens up — why researchers are still working out what they've actually built, why AI is a shift in what it means to be human rather than another leap in distribution or connection, and why writing an AI policy is where the hard conversation starts rather than ends. Plus: pastoring people through layoffs, congregants falling in love with chatbots, seven-year-olds who assume Alexa is never wrong, and whether Africa's so-called adoption gap might turn out to be a leapfrog. Host: James PoulterGuests: Paul Taylor (Faith, Work & Tech, Silicon Valley), Gareth Russell, and Kit Powney (Tearfund) (02:23) Live from Premier Christian Radio(06:24) Is Silicon Valley hostile to faith?(08:43) Inside Anthropic's faith convenings(13:39) "They built the trellis on which AI grew"(14:57) Why this isn't Gutenberg, and isn't social media(16:52) Beyond the policy — finding the edges(21:18) AI, work, and the ministry of the layoff cycle(24:36) New pastoral territory: AI relationships(27:12) Parenting when Alexa is the fount of all knowledge(32:49) Audience Q: are we becoming digitally dependent?(37:11) Sovereign AI and models that understand local context(41:30) Audience Q: bridging the Africa adoption gap Newsletter, Slack community, upcoming events, and the full archive from Silicon Valley and London: https://missional.ai

  3. Jul 16

    It's Not a Conference, It's a Movement — Geof & Mark (Biblica) on Last Mile First

    Six years ago, Missional AI was 45 people on a Zoom call trying to figure out what AI meant for the mission of God. This year, we recorded this conversation in a sold-out room in Silicon Valley — 650 people, 30 speakers from around the world. In this special episode, we sit down with Geof and Mark from Biblica, the team stewarding the Missional AI movement. What happens when a 217-year-old organization decides its best move is to give its work away? Open licenses. Shared learning. "We'll make the first mistake for you." We get into "Last Mile First" — Biblica's most ambitious initiative in two centuries — and the staggering shift from a mission once measured in hundreds of years to one now within sight in our lifetimes: every language with at least a portion of Scripture. As Mark puts it, that's not the finish line. That's the starting line. A conversation about translation and technology, but really about collaboration, unity, and going further together. In this episode:• Why Biblica took on stewarding Missional AI• From Bible translation to evangelism, mobilization, and first reach• Why innovation isn't just digital• Going to the hardest, least-reached places on the planet — on purpose• The content gap facing frontline pastors• Close the Bible Gap, and what it means to partner well• Why Silicon Valley — and why the movement can't stay there Missional AI returns to San Francisco, March 30 – April 1. Registration opens soon: missional.ai Brought to you by Transform Iran and Kairos, a free AI-powered evangelism and discipleship platform designed for Farsi and other right-to-left languages, now used in more than 150 countries and dozens of languages: kairoschat.ai Join the movement — Slack community, resources, and more episodes: missional.ai

  4. Jul 10

    Hello Bible: The Story Thus Far — 5 Million Conversations with an AI Bible Companion

    What happens when people start talking to an app the way they might talk to God? In this episode, we sit down with the team behind Hello Bible — the AI-powered Bible companion born in France, one of the most secular countries in the world. Founder and pastor Eric shares how a vision he first introduced in Orlando became a reality now measured in 120,000 downloads and more than 5 million conversations. We hear from Eric on the vision, from the product and engineering team on the technology behind the app (including a squad of AI agents named after Greek gods), and from investor Reg Allett on why he backed Hello Bible as a business rather than a ministry line item — and what impact investing really means. Along the way: how AI is reshaping the way a small team builds and ships, why a Bible companion became a safe place for people to bring their deepest questions, and where Hello Bible is headed next — from the Netherlands to a global vision of tens of millions of users. This episode covers reaching the 5-million-conversation milestone and what those conversations reveal, how new technology is reshaping the way people live their faith, building and shipping with AI agents, the choice between nonprofit and business as the right "vehicle" for the mission, what impact investing looks like from the investor's side, and the vision for a free, global Bible companion for everyone, everywhere. Missional AI London is happening July 15. If you care about where faith and technology meet, this is the room to be in. Get your spot at missional.ai Learn more about Hello Bible and the Missional AI movement at missional.ai

  5. Jul 6

    AI Isn't Taking Your Job — It's Taking Pieces of It | James Poulter on "AI at Work"

    Is AI really coming for your job — or just the parts of it you never wanted in the first place? We turn the tables on one of our own: innovation strategist and futurist James Poulter (JP) joins host Josiah to talk about his first book, AI at Work (out August 20, 2026). They dig into the "full stack organization," why the future belongs to creative generalists rather than specialists, agentic AI as digital employees, and the "wisdom gap" — plus, for people of faith, the crucial difference between your identity and your calling when the nature of work is shifting. A conversation about what it means to work — and to be — in this new age. 📖 Preorder AI at Work on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or wherever you buy books.🎟️ Missional AI London — July 15, Plaisterers' Hall. Register at https://missional.ai

  6. Jun 26

    Building AI for the Persecuted Church | Lana Silk (Transform Iran) on KAIROS

    Tens of millions of Iranians consume gospel media — but only thousands ever make the phone call. Fear of punishment, fear of shame, no safe person to ask. How do you bridge the gap between curiosity and connection at scale? Stu Cranney sits down with Lana Silk of Transform Iran to talk about KAIROS, a free AI-powered evangelism and discipleship platform built for Farsi and other right-to-left languages. Lana shares her own story: born in Tehran on "Black Friday" in 1978, raised by pastor parents who felt called toward the persecuted church, and shaped by a family friend's martyrdom on the day of her own baptism. Together they explore why Transform Iran has spent 35+ years preparing for what they call "Open Iran," how AI solves the problems of access, scale, and safety, and the safeguards behind KAIROS — emotional intelligence, risk red-flagging, 24/7 human oversight, and the moment the tool started praying for people. Lana also looks ahead to trauma support in the wake of recent events, and makes a candid ask about keeping the platform free as demand surges. A conversation about laying track for a train that hasn't arrived yet. Explore KAIROS: kairoschat.aiLearn about Transform Iran: transformiran.org This episode is brought to you by Transform Iran & KAIROS, and by Gloo — helping the faith and flourishing ecosystem build technology with innovation and trust in mind. Learn more at studio.ai.gloo.com. Missional AI London is coming July 15 at Plaisterers' Hall, Westminster — one day of real conversations on how we use this technology with wisdom, not fear or hype. Tickets £99. Register at missional.ai. Chapters (00:00) Praying but not preparing(01:57) Sponsor: Transform Iran & KAIROS(02:49) Why this episode is different(05:09) Meet Lana Silk(05:33) Born on "Black Friday," 1978(07:01) Leaving Iran and a ministry for the underground church(07:55) Baptism day and the cost of faith(09:34) How the current conflict shapes Transform Iran(11:04) Rethinking the impossible with AI(12:12) The real problem: access, scale, safety(13:41) Surveillance, privacy, and tools for good(14:23) Why a machine removes fear and shame(15:36) Emotional intelligence and human oversight(16:28) What is KAIROS?(17:19) From 7,000 articles to a discipleship tool(18:14) Training on Scripture(18:41) Sponsor: Gloo(19:47) How the crisis changes who engages(20:44) "I've had Jesus on my mind for a year"(21:24) Can God work through technology?(22:10) The day KAIROS started praying(23:46) Dreaming bigger: scale and trauma support(25:09) Getting involved and keeping KAIROS free(26:28) A picture of the Iran to come(29:11) Outro: Missional AI London

  7. Jun 18

    From NASA to the Kingdom: Inside Gloo AI's Mission to Build Faith-Aligned AI | Missional AI Podcast

    What does it look like to shape AI for the glory of God? In this episode of the Missional AI Podcast, guest host Josiah sits down live from Silicon Valley with Steele Billings (President of Gloo AI) and Nick Skiltin (former NASA technology and innovation leader, 25 years) of Gloo — the Boulder, Colorado technology company serving the faith and flourishing ecosystem. They unpack the unconventional journeys that brought a team of major-league technologists together at a faith-driven organization, including the arrival of former Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger and former Intel CTO Greg Lavender, and why Gloo chose an open rather than closed AI strategy. The conversation digs into:• The origins of the Gloo Hackathon and why 2026 is "the year of the builder"• Flourishing AI (FAI) — Gloo's benchmark for grading frontier models like Claude, ChatGPT, Grok, and others on how well they support human flourishing, built on research from Harvard's Human Flourishing Program, Baylor, and Gallup's Global Flourishing Study• The seven dimensions of flourishing — and why models score lowest on meaning and faith• Safety, accuracy, hallucinated Scripture, and theological alignment• Gloo AI Studio — production-grade, values-aligned AI infrastructure for ministry builders Whether you're a developer, ministry leader, or simply curious about the intersection of faith and emerging technology, this is a conversation worth your time. 🔗 Explore the FAI benchmark: gloo.com/fai🔗 Build with Gloo AI Studio: aistudio.gloo.com🔗 Join the Gloo Hackathon — Boulder, CO, October 6–8, 2026 🎟️ Missional AI London is coming July 15 — gather with a global community at the intersection of faith and AI. Tickets are going fast: missional.ai #MissionalAI #FaithAndTechnology #AI #Gloo #HumanFlourishing #ChristianTech

  8. Jun 5

    "Pray Before You Prompt" — James Kelly on Building AI Redemptively

    What does it look like to build technology redemptively in the middle of war, an industry-wide identity crisis, and the fastest technological shift of our lifetime? Recorded on-site at the Missional AI SV'26 Global Summit in Silicon Valley, James Poulter sits down with James Kelly — founder of FaithTech and a global leader of the faith-and-technology movement. Now active in 50 cities worldwide, with a waiting list of over 100 more, FaithTech gathers volunteer-led communities of believers to build technology grounded in the gospel. James shares how the movement began with a simple coffee-shop gathering of 30 people, the crisis-response hackathon his Middle East community is running under the banner "redemptive technology in a time of war," and the role AI can play in guiding — not replacing — human care in trauma healing. At the heart of the conversation is a framework James has spent years developing: the movement from reckless to responsible to redemptive technology. He unpacks the "killer app trap," why a build-first instinct isn't biblical, the crucial difference between human flourishing and holiness, and how church leaders can pastor the technologists in their communities. He closes on a practice as simple as it is profound: pray before you prompt. A timely, hope-filled conversation for builders, pastors, and anyone wrestling with where AI is taking us. Missional AI is coming to London this July — a one-day gathering of a global community at the intersection of faith, AI, and calling. Find out more at missional.ai Learn more about FaithTech and find or start a community in your city at faithtech.com Subscribe to the Missional AI Podcast wherever you listen

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About

Join hosts Joshua Seale and James Poulter weekly as they explore the intersection of mission work and AI. Featuring exclusive interviews with innovators using artificial intelligence to expand global impact, this podcast brings you insights from the frontlines of the Missional AI community. Discover how AI is transforming outreach with thought-provoking conversations and practical applications. Where faith and technology converge to create new possibilities for mission work in the digital age.

Information

  • Creator
    Missional AI
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    42
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Missional AI
  • Show Website
    Missional AI Podcast

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