Amnesty CIO Paul Smith on AI Adoption Beyond the Hype and Developing Talent Others Overlook
From Forward-Looking Leadership by Dan Freehling
October 7, 2025 · 47 min
About this episode
Paul Smith discusses AI adoption, essential digital skills, and the importance of mentorship in tech leadership.
Paul Smith (linkedin.com/in/pdsmithmba/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/pdsmithmba/]), Chief Information Officer at Amnesty International, joins host Dan Freehling (contempusleadership.com [https://contempusleadership.com]) to discuss tech leadership with people and ethics front and center. Drawing from a career that spans industry (defense, automotive, and more) and humanitarian organizations, Paul shares hard-won insights on AI adoption (00:30), four essential digital skills for non-technical professionals (09:32), and emotional intelligence, strategic communication, and talent development for technical leaders (15:53). Paul relays his own journey from a working class background to the global C-suite (22:00) and emphasizes the power of mentorship, permission-giving, and inclusive hiring to help other non-traditional talent make a similar journey (37:54). Recommended reading: "Bulletproof Your Career [https://a.co/d/3Q4wc7x]" by Patricia Romboletti. Show notes at forwardlookingleadership.com [https://forwardlookingleadership.com].
People in this episode
Host: Dan Freehling
Guest: Paul Smith
Topics covered
- AI adoption
- digital skills
- emotional intelligence
- strategic communication
- talent development
- mentorship
- inclusive hiring
Keywords
- AI
- digital skills
- emotional intelligence
- mentorship
- inclusive hiring
- talent development
- tech leadership
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Amnesty International, Contempus Leadership
Books & works: Bulletproof Your Career
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