Magdalena Wallhoff

Magdalena Wallhoff is a global executive and keynote speaker on AI ethics, sustainable food systems and leadership. A former tilapia industry leader turned technology ethicist, she has been named ‘Aquaculture Person of the Year’, recognising work that married commercial performance with community health, education and environmental stewardship across emerging markets.

Born in Indonesia to American missionary parents and raised between Switzerland and the US West Coast, Magdalena studied Public Health at college, then earned a BS from Northwestern and an MPH from the University of Minnesota. Drawn to practical impact, she joined Regal Springs in 2004, building CSR programmes on the ground in Honduras, Indonesia and Mexico. Those field years forged her belief that business decisions must be tested in villages, classrooms and clinics, not only in boardrooms. The mix of health training, supply-chain immersion and cross-cultural life experience became the ethical backbone of her leadership.

Magdalena’s career spans frontline operations to C-suite responsibility. At Regal Springs she rose through VP Sales, USA, Global Director of Social Investment, EVP Global Sales & Supply Chain and the Executive, Global Leadership Team, scaling revenue while expanding microfinance, schooling and skills training for local communities. Her industry contribution was recognised with Aquaculture Person of the Year. She later shifted sector, becoming Chief Ethics Officer at Mindfire, where she helped shape governance for advanced AI, guided product and policy debates, and moderated conversations between engineers, investors and regulators. Today she serves as Member of the Board of Advisors, Hatch Blue and Member of the Board of Advisors, Codify, contributes to philanthropy as Director of Projects, Gottlieb Naef Foundation, and continues her intellectual work as Doctoral Student, The European Graduate School. Magdalena has spoken at ETH Zurich, the University of Lucerne, The Economist World Ocean Summit, the North Atlantic Seafood Forum and more, and has a forthcoming book ‘How Then Shall We Live with AI’.

Organisations book Magdalena Wallhoff for clarity, credibility and action. She blends on-the-ground pragmatism with strategic judgement, guiding leaders through risk, regulation and reputation. Her focus spans the implications of AI for human values and governance; building ethical AI and mapping duty, accountability and trade-offs; sustainable aquaculture and resilient rural economies; philanthropy and social investment; board leadership and stakeholder trust; and the health of democracy in a digital age. Teams leave with decisions they can defend and plans they can execute. For example, when a leadership group is preparing to deploy AI in customer service, she helps them map risks, set clear lines of accountability, align with policy and regulator expectations, and agree a practical rollout plan.