Joanna Shields, born on July 12, 1962 (63 years old) in Pennsylvania, United States, is a business leader and politician who serves in the House of Lords, the upper chamber of the United Kingdom Parliament located in London. The American executive also held several political roles in the city. She is known as a baroness and holds a lifetime peerage in the House of Lords.
She is also the founder of Precognition, a startup focused on developing leaders for the era of artificial intelligence. She served as adviser to the Prime Minister on the digital economy, Minister for Internet Safety and Security, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Department of Internet Safety and later for the Home Office.
On her official website, Shields describes herself as “passionate about creating responsible technology that benefits humanity.” She highlights actions that generated positive impact through her tech ventures and defines herself as a “global internet safety activist.”
Today, after a long trajectory across governments led by different prime ministers, the American executive focuses on promoting, developing and creating technology to benefit society. How does she do this? By prioritizing human-centered artificial intelligence. Due to her influence, she is part of several commissions and councils dedicated to the advancement of AI.
Most of the councils or commissions she participates in are global. Shields focuses on the evolution of AI for human use in general and on information exchange in collaboration with other countries.
La formación académica de Joanna Shields y su irrupción en la política
Shields studied at Pennsylvania State University, where she earned a bachelor of science degree. She later completed an MBA at George Washington University in the U.S. capital, where she lived before moving to Silicon Valley, the northern California region known for its concentration of innovative tech companies.
The American executive spent about fifteen years in the United States before traveling to London. In her home country she worked as a product director, vice president of production systems and chief executive officer at a technology firm. She currently resides in London, England, and her political involvement began in 2012, when she was appointed the UK Ambassador for Digital Industries.
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire elevated Shields to the rank of baroness, marking her ascent within the nobility in recognition of her contributions and influence on the UK digital industry. She received a lifetime peerage, became a member of the House of Lords and served for one year (2014–15) as adviser to the Prime Minister on the digital economy.
She held several positions during the premiership of former Prime Minister David Cameron, and later under Theresa May. Shields gained wide recognition for her work in the digital sector and served as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Internet Safety and Security. In 2016 and 2018 she was appointed Minister for Internet Safety and Security and acted as Special Representative on internet crimes and harms.
All these roles were carried out under Cameron and May, who relied on her knowledge and skills to guide political and economic decisions. The three honors and awards granted by the British Empire reflect her work in the digital industry and the public service acknowledged by the nobility.
Precognition, la startup de Shields
Precognition operates as a startup that helps leaders be proactive and anticipate trends. The company also highlights the challenges and difficulties organizations will face. Joanna presents her company as a long-term collaboration between her organization and its clients to prevent disruptions and work with AI in a structured and stable manner, avoiding “ups and downs.”
Today she works fully within the field of AI, and before launching Precognition she served as CEO of BenevolentAI, a medical technology startup. She also brings experience from Facebook, part of META, and from Google. These roles provided the foundation for her full entry into the artificial-intelligence sector.
She also worked with Bebo and Timeline in New York around 2009, where she led the first tech company to organize life events in a linear format.
Her governmental work in internet protection allowed her to promote campaigns and organizations aimed at preventing online child sexual exploitation. She remains committed to protecting children from these abuses and has helped establish a global coalition.
Joanna Shields is American, but she has earned the respect of the United Kingdom due to her impact on the digital industry and her contributions to government between 2014 and 2019.
