Dr Katherine Hunt
Dr Katherine Hunt is where ethics meets psychology, and AI ideas turn into action.
Australia’s most engaging voice on Ethics, Katherine has built Masters courses, authored the definitive textbooks Everyday Ethics for Financial Advisers and Ethics in Banking and Finance, and published dozens of peer-reviewed articles that shape how professionals think and act.
A former tenured academic at Griffith University, financial planner with Aspire Financial Planning, and holder of a PhD in The Law and Economics of Microfinance (Erasmus University Rotterdam, University of Hamburg, University of Bologna), Katherine blends academic rigour with real-world experience.
Her background spans psychology, commerce, and finance, giving her a rare strategic lens on the biggest challenges facing business today.
Katherine has worked in the field from Pakistan to Bhutan, surfed waves in more than 20 countries, and visited over 70. Her focus now: helping leaders and practices achieve ethical growth, building trust, and creating impact that lasts beyond the algorithm.
Based in Byron Bay, NSW
Keynote Topics
Customer Psychology in a Digital World: Building Trust Beyond the Algorithm”
In a digital world where algorithms dictate attention, predict behaviour, and nudge decisions, the real competitive advantage is still human psychology. Dr Katherine Hunt shows why customers don’t simply buy products — they buy trust, meaning, and confidence in uncertain times. Drawing on decades of research in behavioural psychology, ethics, and decision-making, Katherine reveals the hidden drivers behind customer choices and how digital tools often distort, rather than deepen, those connections.
This keynote is high-energy, funny, and brutally practical: you’ll see where algorithms serve you, where they sabotage you, and how to create trust that no technology can automate. Expect stories, interactive exercises, and a framework you can apply the moment you step back into your business. Expect humour, sharp insight, and practical tools you can use the moment you leave the room.
Key Audience Takeaways
- Decode how customers actually think, decide, and behave in a digital marketplace.
- Learn where algorithms erode trust — and how to rebuild it.
- Apply practical psychological tools to strengthen loyalty and growth.
- Leave with an action plan to stay human in a machine-led world.
Decide Like a Human: How Ethical Thinking Beats Algorithms in the Age of AI
In a world where AI is speeding up everything, your edge is in slowing down enough to make better, more human decisions. AI is fast, but you are the one who is trusted. That is not by accident. This session cuts through the jargon to show professionals how to lead with judgement, build trust in uncertain times, and apply ethical thinking – without getting lost in compliance checklists or caught up in shiny tech. With AI at our fingertips, it is tempting to have it help with decision making, at the micro level (in wording client emails), and in the macro (in reviewing our investment philosophy and trusted partners). But you can’t delegate ethics. Especially not to a system trained on the whole of the internet, not professionals like you.
This session is high energy, practical, and packed with insight. You’ll walk away with strategies you’ll actually use with clients, your team, and your own thinking. We will unpack behavioural cues to help you read clients, a clear decision-making process, and systems to help AI do some of the decision-making heavy lifting, without compromising your reputation.
Key Audience Takeaways
- Why ethical decision-making isn’t just compliance, it’s a competitive edge
- How to decode client and team behaviour under pressure using behavioural psychology.
- A practical walkthrough of the ASPIRE decision model to solve complex business and client dilemmas.
- How to apply ETHOS to AI and automation tools—to trust, verify, and scale responsibly.
- Stories and laughter from real-world misfires (and recoveries) – plus exercises to apply these models the next day.
Future-Proof Leadership: Building Trust in Hybrid & Multigenerational Teams”
The future of leadership isn’t about managing tasks — it’s about earning trust across complexity. Today’s leaders face hybrid workplaces, multigenerational teams, and the constant presence of digital tools that both connect and divide. In this keynote, Dr Katherine Hunt unpacks how to lead with clarity, empathy, and ethical judgement when the rules are shifting faster than ever.
With her trademark humour and sharp insight, Katherine shows why trust is the most valuable currency in leadership, how generational psychology shapes workplace expectations, and what leaders must do to stay relevant in a world where culture, technology, and human behaviour collide. This is not theory: it’s a playbook for future-proof leadership.
Key Audience Takeaways
- Build trust across hybrid and multigenerational teams.
- Understand the psychology driving workplace behaviour and loyalty.
- Apply ethical decision-making frameworks that cut through complexity.
- Walk away with tools to future-proof your leadership impact.
