inSUBSTANTIA Exploring Ideas - Challenging Assumptions.

Artificial intelligence now influences decisions in health, justice, and finance. In this episode of inSUBSTANTIA, Gabor Farkas speaks with Mariana de la Roche Wills, Co Chair of INATBA’s AI and Blockchain Convergences Task Force and leader at BlackVogel. They explore how blockchain can enhance trust, transparency, and accountability in AI, the limits of decentralisation, and why human oversight remains essential.

🎙️ Blockchain and AI. Trust, fairness, and accountability with Mariana de la Roche Wills

Artificial intelligence now shapes decisions that affect real lives, from healthcare to criminal justice. How do we make sure these systems remain transparent, fair, and accountable. Can blockchain, often described as a trust machine, help us achieve that, or does it create new risks of its own.

In this episode of inSUBSTANTIA, Gabor Farkas speaks with Mariana de la Roche Wills, Co Chair of INATBA’s AI and Blockchain Convergences Task Force and leader at BlackVogel. Drawing from her background in law, human rights, and digital governance, Mariana explores how these two transformative technologies converge in practice, and what it takes to align them with human values.

💡 In this conversation

• How blockchain could enhance transparency and accountability in high stakes AI

• The paradox of privacy and traceability under GDPR

• Governance in decentralised systems and the limits of democracy in code

• Environmental impact and tokenisation beyond greenwashing

• Equity, inclusion, and the risk of digital colonialism

• Why human oversight must remain central in automated systems

⚙️ Editorial note

A technical issue affected the start of the recording. The introduction and Mariana’s first response were re recorded, so you may notice a small difference in tone at the beginning.

🎧 inSUBSTANTIA. Exploring ideas, challenging assumptions.

Platforms, Power, and Purpose

In Part 2 of this two-part conversation, we shift our focus to Building Bridges as a platform: its role within Geneva’s global landscape, the challenges of multistakeholder governance, and the ethical tensions that arise when finance, diplomacy, and development intersect.

Karen Hitschke reflects on what it means to hold space for collaboration across sectors and worldviews, and how that work is being reshaped by shifting geopolitics, decentralised technologies, and rising global inequality.

We discuss:

• The evolving role of Switzerland and Geneva in sustainable finance

• The structure and long-term vision of Building Bridges

• The fine line between convening and influencing

• The power dynamics that shape development conversations

• The importance of staying anchored in values when working across asymmetries

This episode is about institutions, but also about intentionality, what it takes to build credibility in a world where trust is increasingly fragile.

A Life in Systems Thinking

In Part 1 of this two-part conversation, Karen Hitschke, CEO of Building Bridges, shares the personal and professional journey that shaped her leadership.

From childhood experiences during the Cold War and the Ethiopian famine, to a career in biology, consulting, venture capital, and impact investing.

We explore:

• The values that shaped her worldview

• The pivotal moments that redirected her career path

• How she came to lead one of Geneva’s most ambitious sustainability platforms

• The founding story and guiding ethos behind Building Bridges

This is a conversation about systems thinking, humility, and the power of convening across difference — told through a life lived at the intersection of science, finance, and social purpose.

🎧 Part 2 explores Building Bridges as a platform: its governance, global role, and the ethical tensions it must navigate as it grows.

#KarenHitschke #BuildingBridges #inSUBSTANTIA #Leadership #SustainableFinance #SystemsChange

🎙️ What does circular economy really mean, beyond the green slogans? ♻️

In this conversation, Gabor and Dr Phillip Wallat cut through the buzz to explore why turning circular theory into practice is messy, political, and full of trade-offs.

✨ What you’ll hear:

• 🚫 Why circularity ≠ just recycling
• 🔧 The design choices that decide repairability and reuse
• ⚖️ Trade-offs between cost, performance, and sustainability
• 🤖 How AI, robotics, and 3D printing might help—or not
• 🌍 Global inequalities and the risk of leaving poorer regions behind
• 📜 The policy gaps and IP battles that block progress

This episode isn’t a celebration of circularity as a cure-all. It’s a candid look at the blind spots, cultural barriers, and hard questions we must confront if circular economy is to be more than a marketing slogan.