In this interview Cathy O’Neil covers a variety of interesting topics such as: Cathy’s path to and love of Math; Manifest Destiny, American Exceptionalism and why we don’t count the dead With God On Our Side; how and why she became a hedge-fund quant; trusting and fearing the authority of math; why her book is titled Weapons of Math Destruction

Cathy O’Neil explains to Strategic Insight Group CEO Dee Smith why she is auditing companies’ algorithms. O’Neil says it began when she moved from academia to trading during the financial crisis and realized the financial world couldn’t control their algorithms. Now she has turned to corporations more generally, where she believes algorithms have become dangerous “black boxes.” Her view: business leaders need rigorous methodology and tools or they will face catastrophic results that lead to litigation and serious reputational risks.