# Amnesty CIO Paul Smith on AI Adoption Beyond the Hype and Developing Talent Others Overlook

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Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/forward-looking-leadership-6473861/amnesty-cio-paul-smith-on-ai-adoption-beyond-the-hype-and-developing-talent-others-overlook.md
Podcast: [Forward-Looking Leadership](https://stenobird.com/podcast/forward-looking-leadership-6473861)
Published: 2025-10-07T15:33:15+00:00
Episode link: https://zencastr.com/z/Hs3F151i
Audio file: https://redirect.zencastr.com/r/episode/68e532bbef32349d9e953e33/size/68319498/audio-files/64aff89f6e7cce741d1eae8a/0918c80e-7a78-44b7-8c4f-6bb6345ad664.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/forward-looking-leadership-6473861/episodes/amnesty-cio-paul-smith-on-ai-adoption-beyond-the-hype-and-developing-talent-others-overlook
Duration seconds: 2846

## Resource

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].

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