New CEO of Catholic AI group hopes members will be Pope Leo’s ‘soldiers’

Builders AI Forum (BAIF), an organization bringing together some of the world’s most consequential voices in artificial intelligence (AI) with visionary leaders of the Catholic Church, has announced the appointment of a new CEO, Vincent Higgins, a seasoned technology and AI executive.

Dedicated to providing a Catholic moral framework for the use of artificial intelligence, BAIF works “to shape AI’s trajectory for humanity,” Higgins told EWTN News.

The group was founded in October 2024 by Matthew Harvey Sanders, CEO and founder of Longbeard, a Catholic AI company that built Magisterium AI. BAIF held its first major conference at the Vatican in November 2025.

EWTN News spoke with Higgins about his vision for BAIF and the rumor that Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical will be dedicated to the topic of AI.

EWTN News: What are some key issues you plan to focus on in your new role at BAIF?

Higgins: There are certain areas in our society that are being highly disrupted by AI right now. The very first has been software development; it has completely transformed that world, anything that’s related to the creative social media, all those aspects. It’s being very disruptive in education where the deposit of knowledge, say at a university, which was something that would be communicated through professors — a lot of that can be found in AI today. So why spend $80,000 on a degree?

Of course, there’s many reasons to go to college — the social community aspect and many others. But it’s going to be very disruptive to the economic model for universities as AI can create personalized learning, it can help you understand where your learning gaps are, what’s missing in your knowledge and fill those gaps in a very personalized way based on your personality and your intellect, many other things. So, it’s very disruptive both at the high school and the college level in terms of how AI will transform education…

We’ve only been at this a few years in terms of AI development and we’re already seeing major changes in people losing their jobs and having to retool new careers and all sorts of things. You can imagine 10 years from now what that might look like. So, [there are] a lot of [things] to address.

So, [we want] to look at particularly those that are building AI, [that they] do it in an ethical and responsible way — what you might call “responsible AI” — so that it’s at the service of humanity and not at the detriment of humanity.

Builders AI Forum is really unique and it’s bringing together top leadership in AI … with Church leaders, to benefit the Church. So, that the Church understands in a better way what’s coming and can then be at the forefront of leadership in terms of leading the message — not behind the message, but in front of the message — in terms of teaching and deepening the understanding of the impact and how humans can flourish.

Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical is rumored to be about AI and Catholic social teaching — if true, what do you hope to see in it?

Obviously, we know why he chose his name, that “Leo XIV” came from his predecessor, Leo XIII, and that Rerum Novarum is one of the most important writings of all time when it comes to Catholic social teaching. There is a strong rumor that the encyclical, his first encyclical, will be on AI and that the title will be Magnifica Humanitas, which means “Magnificent Humanity.”

Rerum Novarum came out [in 1891] on May 15. And so, I think there’s a potential that [the new encyclical on AI] might be released also on May 15. Those are the rumors … It makes perfect sense that Magnifica Humanitas would be the title focusing on the beauty of humanity and what makes us different than a machine. Because when you shine a light on humanity and all of its beauty and depth and the treasury of the philosophical tradition of the Catholic Church, and you look at the probabilistic nature of AI, it pales in comparison. It’s like night and day.

How does Pope Leo’s witness in this area guide your approach to this new role?

As an organization we have identified the top 10 biggest concerns around AI as it relates to society, to human dignity, to humanity, and to the disruption that this technology is having and will have on our lives and our kids’ and grandkids’ lives. But as a very Catholic organization dedicated to serving the Church, we will take our cues and our lead from Holy Father and in particular this encyclical.

So we have our ideas on priorities, but the Builders AI Forum will take its true lead from Pope Leo and hopefully at some time in the future he’ll be able to see us as kind of his “soldiers” in service to that mission that he took on when he took the role and chose his name.

Source: https://www.ewtnnews.com/world/us/new-ceo-of-catholic-ai-group-hopes-members-will-be-pope-leo-s-soldiers