Williams F1 team hires AI and data expert to take on new senior leadership role
Williams has brought in an AI and data expert to boost its F1 team.
Williams has appointed an AI and data expert to a newly-created position within the Formula 1 team’s senior leadership.
Dr James Smith has joined Williams to become its new chief information officer, a role that further strengthens the British F1 team’s senior leadership “at a time when the team is investing in all areas to compete at the front”.
Smith has spent over a decade building up his experience working with data and AI at Google, DeepMind and Human Native AI, which he co-founded.
A Williams statement said Smith has “combined deep technical expertise with practical product and delivery – building high-performing teams, shipping AI at scale, and leading organisations through complex technological change.”
“I am excited to be joining Atlassian Williams F1 Team at a moment when data and AI are becoming increasingly important to performance both on and off the track,” Smith said.
“Williams has an exceptional history, but what appeals to me most is the ambition for the next phase: building the systems, products and culture needed to compete at the front of the grid.
“I hope to bring my experience from Google, DeepMind and from founding Human Native to help the team move quickly, use AI pragmatically, and turn complex ideas into practical advantage.”
It is the latest example of F1 teams turning to AI technology.
“Success in Formula 1 has always been about combining technological innovation with the best people to deliver on track. With the technology developing at breakneck pace, the latest battleground in F1 is the ability to harness data and AI across all parts of the team,” Williams team principal James Vowles said.
“James has spent his career at that frontier – at Google, DeepMind and building his own company from the ground up – and I am delighted to welcome him to Atlassian Williams F1 Team as we continue to put technology at the heart of our ambitions to compete at the very front.”
Williams currently sits eighth in the 2026 constructors’ championship, having scored seven points across the opening five rounds.
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