Reflections From the Missional AI Conference 2026
I spent last week at the Missional AI Global Summit in Silicon Valley. In three short days, I met a lot of amazing people, had a lot of good conversations, and wrestled with some big questions about the future of AI. I'll be processing these learnings for some months to come, I'm sure, but I wanted to share some encouragement and insights here.
The conference followed a natural arc — Innovation, Risks, the Imago Dei, and Activating AI.
Key Highlights
On Innovation: The partnership between YouVersion and Come & See (the team behind The Chosen) was a standout moment. They've integrated scripture from the YouVersion Platform directly alongside episodes of the Chosen so viewers aren't just watching — they're being drawn into the Word. It's a simple idea, with real impact. It only works because two groups of believers said yes to each other.
Unity in Christ isn't just theology; it's a requirement.
On Risks: Gloo presented their Flourishing AI Index — a framework that evaluates AI models across dimensions like character, faith, relationships, and meaning. In their latest round, not one major AI model cleared the bar across all seven dimensions. That tells you something important: these tools have been trained on content created by flawed humans in a flawed world.
If we do not bring the foundation of the Gospel into the conversation, the result will be more brokenness.
On the Imago Dei: Next up was a deeper question — what does it mean to be human in an age of AI? AI is going to disrupt a lot of the things people have built their identity around — their skills, their work, their expertise. That's going to be hard for a lot of people (believers and non-believers alike). But this challenge isn't new — going as far back as the garden, we have been tempted to find our worth in things that are outside of God. AI is going to make this much more prominent, as the things we have put our trust in are being taken over by agents.
Empathy and hope will be critical as people across the globe work through their identity crisis.
On Activating AI: Years ago, I heard John Dyer say that "technology is never neutral" — it shapes us as much as we shape it. That line has stuck with me. The question isn't whether AI will transform society. It already has. The question is whether Christians are in the room helping to shape it.
We need investors, researchers, engineers, pastors, and people like you to be actively engaged in shaping the future.
Next Steps
If you want a place to start, get connected with the Missional AI community. And if you're leading a ministry and trying to figure out how to engage AI in a way that actually serves your mission, reach out to us at Five Q — it's exactly what we do.