Missional AI Podcast

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.

Missional AI Podcast is a technology podcast hosted by Missional AI, with 45 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

Missional AI hosts Missional AI Podcast, a technology show with 45 episodes published.

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  Missional AI Podcast

  Should You Even Raise Capital? Faith, Funding & Building in the AI Age | Henry Kaestner, James Cham & Jess Chin

  Sep 29, 202625 min

  Money is one of the most uncomfortable conversations in the faith and mission world, so we went straight at it. Recorded live at Missional AI SV26, this panel with Henry Kaestner, James Cham, and Jess Chin tackles financing, investment, and building things that last at the intersection of mission and marketplace. Henry argues that the first question isn't how to raise capital but whether you should raise it at all. James makes the case that the best source of financing is a customer, not an investor. And Jess shares a surprising insight: the next generation doesn't value free things. They want to pay for what they believe in. We also explore how AI is forcing investors back to first principles, why trust networks may be the one moat AI can't replicate, and a bold vision for the Body of Christ pooling its data to tackle foster care, hunger, church planting, and human trafficking. ️ Super Early Bird for Missional AI SFO 2027 is open until October 8! It's the lowest price of the year, and we'd love for you to join us in San Francisco, March 30 – April 2, 2027. Register at https://missional.ai Chapters: (00:00) Highlights (01:07) Welcome & episode overview (02:44) Missional AI SFO 2027 Super Early Bird (03:24) Where do you start? On your knees (04:57) Three routes to funding (07:32) The best source of financing is a customer (09:39) Gen Z doesn't want free (11:43) Philanthropy isn't "easy money" (14:01) AI and the investor's deal box (16:56) AI that accelerates human care (20:06) Trust networks: the moat AI can't replicate (22:06) Pooling Kingdom data to solve the world's biggest problems (23:57) Closing

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  Missional AI Podcast

  Gaylen Washington: YouVersion Platform, AI & Leading Through Disruption

  Sep 20, 202623 min

  Gaylen Washington of YouVersion joins the Missional AI Podcast to talk about the YouVersion Platform, the next chapter in the YouVersion story. The platform opens up the Bible app's content, licensing, and infrastructure so developers anywhere in the world can build their own faith experiences: Bible readers, Scripture-infused apps, and even Bible experiences inside Roblox.But this conversation goes well beyond the tech. Gaylen shares how AI is reshaping the way he leads a team of over a hundred engineers, what direct, gospel-centered conversations about disruption and fear look like inside a ministry, and what kind of people are thriving in this AI-first season. Hint: it's not about the degree, it's about curiosity and humility.In this episode:- What the YouVersion Platform is, and how anyone can start building within minutes- The road to simpler Bible licensing for builders- How agentic AI workflows help a product leader stay across a large engineering org- Naming fear and disruption openly in a ministry team- The traits of people who thrive in an AI-first organization- Practical advice for believers navigating corporate workplacesRecorded live at Missional AI SV26 in Silicon Valley.Get started with the YouVersion Platform: platform.youversion.comMISSIONAL AI SFO27Global Missional AI Summit | March 30 – April 1, 2027 | Hyatt Regency SFO Super early bird registration opens September 24 and closes October 8. Book your hotel room with your registration and the price drops to just $399, the lowest we've ever offered. Register at missional.ai.

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  Missional AI Podcast

  Andrew McLuhan: AI, Consciousness & Why AI Is Only an Echo

  Sep 12, 202633 min

  AI isn't just changing what you do — it's changing what you believe you're capable of. ️ James Poulter talks with Andrew McLuhan — poet, teacher, and grandson of media theorist Marshall McLuhan — recorded live at the Missional AI Summit. They dig into whether AI can have consciousness, why that's not the same as having a soul, and why reason and resonance are two totally different things. Plus: the real myth of Narcissus and Echo — and what it says about every AI chat window you've ever opened. ️ Missional AI 2027 hits San Francisco March 30 – April 1. Super early bird registration is coming soon at missional.ai. Chapters: 00:00 Cold open — "AI is only an echo" 01:13 Welcome & intro 03:17 The biggest risk AI poses right now 06:29 Can AI actually have consciousness? 10:03 "The medium is the message" & AI 13:55 The illusion of depth in language models 18:46 "The artist is the antenna of the race" 22:43 AI, sycophancy & loving our own voice 23:45 The real myth of Narcissus and Echo 25:07 From reason to resonance 27:23 AI's strength — and its cost to human reasoning 29:23 What AI is displacing right now 31:40 Closing thoughts

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  Missional AI Podcast

  CV's Nick Parker: "Just Because We Can, Should We?" — AI, Evangelism & Reaching 500 Languages

  Sep 2, 202619 min

  Nick Parker from Christian Vision (CV) joins the Missional AI Podcast to unpack how a 35+ year evangelism ministry — not a tech company — is using AI to scale content creation and translation toward an ambitious goal: reaching 500 languages spoken by unreached people groups. Nick and host JP talk through CV's journey from shortwave radio in 1988 to today's digital and AI tools, the hard ethical questions around AI chatbots and discipleship, and the guiding question behind it all: "just because we can, should we?" They also get into reaching unreached places like Somalia, CV's annual Digital Day event in London, and why mission work today is showing up in subreddits, Roblox, and Fortnite. Learn more about CV at cvglobal.co, and register for early bird tickets to Missional AI 2027 in Silicon Valley at missional.ai.

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  Missional AI Podcast

  God in a Box? AI, the Church, and the Next Five Years | Live from Wildfires Festival

  Aug 18, 20261h 7m

  Recorded live in a packed tent at Wildfires Festival 2026, this Missional AI lab brings together Joshua Seale (Executive Director, Global Missional AI) and James Poulter ("JP," author of the forthcoming AI at Work) for an unscripted, audience-driven conversation on what it means to follow Jesus in the age of artificial intelligence.From Bible translation timelines collapsing by decades, to a leaked "escape" from an AI sandbox, to Sam Altman's own language about "building God in a box" — Joshua and JP range across theology, technology, geopolitics, and pastoral care. They talk candidly about AI as therapist and companion, the risk of a lost generation of young workers, what international AI governance might actually require, and why the church may be better positioned to respond well to this moment than it was to social media.Huge thanks to the team at Wildfires Festival for creating space for a conversation like this — in a tent, in a field, with hundreds of people lining up at the mic with hard questions. Labs like this are exactly why Wildfires matters, and if you've never been, put it on your calendar.Recorded as part of the Missional AI series. Find more at Missional AI's events, the weekly Missional AI Podcast, and the upcoming Build Hackathon in London.IN THIS EPISODE02:03 Welcome from World Vision & Wildfires03:16 Intros: Joshua Seale & James "JP" Poulter05:18 Is it too late to control AI?07:20 Beginning, middle, or end of the AI cycle?09:16 Implications for the church10:29 AI's #1 personal use case: therapy & companionship12:20 People turning to AI to study Scripture12:44 Bible translation timelines collapsing14:35 Biblica's chatbots: 1M+ conversations, 92% non-English18:16 AI, government, and policy18:40 Andy Burnham's new AI minister19:31 The OpenAI "sandbox escape" & AI 2027 predictions22:01 Sovereignty, infrastructure, and integration31:19 Q: Ken Coster on governance and sovereignty33:21 A: International cooperation & sovereign AI35:41 Missional AI's Ethics & Standards initiative37:42 What road safety campaigns teach us about AI38:37 Q: Model bias and secularism39:58 Q: AI in defense40:05 Q: Open licensing — doesn't that cost revenue?40:26 A: 300% revenue growth after opening licenses42:05 Anthropic vs. OpenAI's defense deals44:53 Claude's Constitution & practical AI guardrails45:34 Grading AI models on theology and spirituality47:42 Q: Deterministic AI and safety standards48:25 Q: Did the AI really "escape," or was it PR?49:10 Q: Energy, water, and kingdom warfare49:57 A: The Mythos leak & the chair-and-throne analogy53:21 "Seemingly conscious AI" and moral agency55:06 Q: AI dependency among young people55:47 Q: Preparing the church for job loss and meaning56:19 Q: Policy, human rights, and AI literacy59:43 Closing charge: investing in young people1:02:18 Building AI-ready roles for the next generation1:03:56 Wrap-up: where to find Missional AI1:04:52 Closing prayer

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