By Riley Gonzalez –
Technologist Joanna Ng went to church when she was in school, not because she loved God but because she liked the fellowship.
“In one particular meeting everybody shared about their week with Christ, I was the only one that did not share anything,” Ng says. “I felt caught red-handed.I realized I didn’t know Christ.”
Because she was embarrassed, she could either abandon church or ask God to reveal himself to her. Today, she’s a prominent pioneer of AI who’s trying to bring God and humanity into the technology revolution.
Joanna Ng was born in Hong Kong to a Buddhist family. They moved to Canada when she was a young adult and went to church for friendship, not for faith.
When she was a student at University of Calgary, she didn’t know what major to declare. The Holy Spirit reminded her that she breezed through computer science classes. She graduated with a double major in psychology and computer science. She went to attain an MBA from Queen’s University.
“I literally would take any job that hire me because I was so in need of money,” she says.
The genius emerged quickly. In 2008-’15, she was Head of Research and Director of the Centre for Advanced Studies at the IBM Canada Lab in Toronto.
Prestige came. Ng was named IBM Master Inventor for serial inventions with high-impact portfolios. She holds around 49–50 patents (granted in the U.S. and other countries). Her inventions include pioneering work in areas like Web Tasking, Talk-to-your-data, Social Relationship as a Service.
All the time, she kept Christ.
Today, Ng has founded her own company Devarim Design, where she focuses on entrepreneurial innovation in AI (specializing in Augmented Cognition — AI that enhances human intelligence rather than replacing it).
She integrates with the Internet of Things and blockchain, using design-thinking approaches.
Her tagline is “#InnovateToBless,” reflecting her goal to create technology that benefits people.
Since 2024, she has served as Chief AI Officer at Gargantua Group. She has also been involved in boards (e.g., 01 Communique) and roles like President’s Fellow at Cornerstone University (since 2023).
She says AI has both good and bad. It can speed up analysis of massive amounts of data, but it should never replace humanity. AI cannot feel empathy or discern morally. Humans need to always be in control of AI.
“If you give control over to AI instead of using it as a tool under your control, then many negative things can happen,” she warns.
Many of her technology colleagues are deploying their inventions for profit, trying to engage social media users as many hours in a day as possible. She says technology should not deprive people of their humanity.
“DW > AI,” is her motto (Divine Wisdom > Artificial Intelligence).
Ng is contending for a more balanced approach where AI benefits and assists humanity, not replaces it.\
Sources: 100Huntley, others.
