Former AI21 Labs Chief Policy Officer and Microsoft Executive To Present at VST Chancellor’s Dinner 2026
Dr. Shanen Boettcher, former Chief Policy Officer at AI21 Labs and former Microsoft executive, will be the keynote speaker at the annual VST Chancellor’s Dinner on September 24, 2026.
Dr. Boettcher’s work explores the intersection of artificial intelligence, spirituality, ethics, and human-machine communication. After more than 25 years in leadership roles across the technology sector—including Microsoft, Netscape, Accenture, and Responsible Innovation Labs—he returned to graduate studies and earned a PhD from the University of St Andrews. His doctoral research examined human-machine communication, including privacy, surveillance, the sharing of personal information, and the ways people engage with artificial intelligence on deeply personal and existential questions.
Throughout his career, Dr. Boettcher has advised CEOs, led global product management, engineering, and marketing teams, developed award-winning technologies, and acquired and integrated technologies and talent across Fortune 500 companies, startups, and non-profit organizations. During his time at Microsoft, he served as General Manager of the Startup Business Group within Microsoft Research, General Manager of the Windows Server and Azure businesses in the United States, and General Manager of Product Management and Marketing for Office and Office 365. Earlier in his career, he was a product manager at Netscape, where he authored The Netscape Intranet Solution (John Wiley & Sons). He has also published and defended several U.S. patents.
Dr. Boettcher is the author of Artificial Intelligence and Spirituality: Relating Religious Information and Religious Knowledge (Springer, 2026), which examines the relationship between artificial intelligence, spirituality, and religious knowledge, and considers how AI is influencing personal worldviews and the ways people seek and engage with faith.
The title of Dr. Shanen Boettcher’s keynote lecture is Christo et Litteris (Christ and Letters): AI and Practical Theology.
About The VST Chancellor’s Dinner
The 2026 VST Chancellor’s Dinner is a gathering of invested individuals who recognize the enduring need for theological education to be thoughtful, engaged, and generous, and who are courageously choosing to create that future. This year’s dinner will be held on Thursday, September 24 at University Golf Club. Funds raised will support the Chancellor’s Award, Student Bursaries, and the Thoughtful, Engaged, & Generous Campaign for the Future. The 2026 Chancellor’s Scholars, recipients of VST’s most generous award, will be honoured and presented with certificates by Chancellor Catherine Evans. The evening will also feature music from Jason Wood, VST Alumnus, and a conversation with a student panel.
Tickets are $200 per person or $2,000 for tables of ten. A portion of the reservation fee is eligible for a charitable receipt. Please contact Samuel Yun for more information or to make your reservation: (604) 822-6315 or syun@vst.edu.