Speaker Bio
Cathy Hackl (@cathyhackl) is a globally recognized tech & gaming executive, futurist, and speaker focused on spatial computing, virtual worlds, augmented reality, artificial intelligence, strategic foresight, and gaming platforms strategy. She’s one of the top tech voices on LinkedIn and is the co-CEO of Spatial Dynamics, a spatial computing and AI solutions company. Hackl has worked at Amazon Web Services (AWS), Magic Leap, and HTC VIVE and has advised companies like Nike, Ralph Lauren, Walmart, Louis Vuitton, and Clinique on their emerging tech journeys. She's also built virtual experiences in Roblox (Walmartland) and Fortnite and has also produced virtual concerts (Electric Fest) on the platform with top musical talent. As a sought-after keynote speaker, she’s spoken at Harvard Business School, MIT, SXSW, Comic-Con, WEF Annual Meeting in Davos 2023, CES, MWC, Vogue’s Forces of Fashion, and more.
She’s one of Ad Age’s Leading Women of 2023, was featured on the cover of Forbes Latam’s 100 Most Powerful Women 2023 issue, and is on the Vogue Business inaugural 100 Innovators list. She’s the host of Adweek’s highly successful TechMagic podcast and is popularly known in tech circles as the Godmother of the Metaverse. Cathy has been a fixture in the world of immersive technology for almost a decade with many media appearances in CNBC’s Squawk Box, 60 Minutes, CNN, Good Morning America, GQ, Time, The Economist, Bloomberg, and is a guest editor for Vogue Singapore. In 2022, she became the first human to ring NASDAQ’s opening bell and open the financial markets both in physical and avatar form while doing so on live television.
She’s taught at IE Business School and SDA Bocconi School of Management and is the author of four books, including Into the Metaverse: The Essential Guide to the Business Opportunities of the Web3 Era and The Augmented Workforce: How the AI, AR, and 5G Will Impact Every Dollar you Make. Her fifth book, Spatial Computing: An AI-Driven Business Revolution, will be published by Wiley in May 2024.
Her personal research interests include Gen Alpha, neural interfaces, BCI, space marketing and the post-smartphone future. With an intense passion for frontier technology and female empowerment, she’s one of the world’s leading female tech trailblazers that is constantly evolving and helping build a more inclusive future.