Former Intel Executive Pat Gelsinger Joins Gloo
Former Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger has joined Gloo, the technology platform that serves churches and ministries, as its executive chair and head of technology.
Gelsinger has been an investor and board member for Gloo for 10 years but now will take on the expanded role of leading the Gloo product and engineering efforts, including Gloo AI.
Gloo aims to help churches and ministries adopt technology to expand their reach, but it wants to use artificial intelligence as a “force for good.”
“With strong market demand, a large addressable sector, and tremendous need for values-based AI, Gloo is positioned for significant growth while shaping the future of technology for faith and human flourishing,” a Gloo press release said.
The CEO from 2021-2024 of Intel, a major computer chip manufacturer, Gelsinger is a lifelong Christian and philanthropist who believes technology can solve “humanity’s toughest challenges.”
“Technology has the power to connect, uplift and transform lives — but only when built with purpose,” Gelsinger said in the press release. “At Gloo, we are uniting innovation with faith principles to ensure technology serves people, strengthens communities, and becomes a force for good.”
Gloo AI Chat is designed to protect children and families from harmful, unbiblical, or misleading content.
“With Chat, you’ll never worry about encountering porn, unorthodox teachings, or anything that contradicts godly values,” the Gloo website states.
In an interview with Religion News Service, Gelsinger said faith leaders have often taken a backseat when new technologies, like the internet or cell phones, were adopted and had little to say about how such technologies could be used in an ethical or helpful way. He hopes to change that when it comes to AI.
“We believe that how AI is shaped is even more important, because fundamentally, technology is neutral,” he said. “It can be used for good or bad, it can be shaped for good or bad, and we believe that this is the moment to make sure it’s shaped as a force for good.”
Last month, Gloo announced what it calls “Flourishing AI Standards,” which were developed with research from the Global Flourishing Study, a collaboration between the Harvard Human Flourishing Program, the Baylor Institute for Studies of Religion, Gallup and the Center for Open Science. The idea was to provide benchmarks for ethical use of AI.
“Trust in AI is twofold,” Gelsinger said in announcing those standards. “It requires technology that is high-performing, dependable and secure, while also aligning with users’ values and ethically advancing collective human flourishing.”
Gloo CEO Scott Beck is glad to have Gelsinger join the team. “Pat has been a great long-term investor and partner to Gloo,” Beck said. “He has been … helping shape our core strategies and holding us accountable to succeed on behalf of the ecosystem. I am excited to partner with Pat at this next level as we shape technology for good, release the collective strength of the faith ecosystem and serve those who serve.”
The Colorado-based company was founded in 2010 by Scott and Theresa Beck and currently works with over 100,000 faith, ministry and nonprofit leaders. It has been involved in the “He Gets Us” ad campaign designed to attract people to Christianity.
“We do not sell technology to a church,” he said. “We never talk to the technology department. That’s not what we do. We have a platform. They go on it, they sign up, they get things that they want.”
Beck said Gloo wants to be seen as a trusted alternative to Big Tech companies and a place that shares the values of its customers. That’s important with AI, especially when people are looking for spiritual answers.
In 2022, MinistryWatch reported about Gloo’s data mining to connect people exhibiting signs of crisis, stress, anxiety, divorce, depression, substance abuse or grief with churches or ministries who might help them.
Last year, Gloo announced it had acquired two sister news sites from Christianity Today: Church Law & Tax and ChurchSalary. The Winter Jam concert series also used Gloo to connect concert attendees with local churches.
RNS contributed to this report, which is republished from MinistryWatch.
Kim Roberts is a freelance writer who holds a Juris Doctorate with honors from Baylor University and an undergraduate degree in government from Angelo State University. She has three young adult children who were home schooled and is happily married to her husband of 28 years.