AI Strategy
Colin Smillie is a Toronto-based technology executive advising organizations on practical AI adoption, governance, and integration. He led one of the first enterprise AI pilots at YMCA Canada using Microsoft Copilot and ChatGPT across a 24,000-employee federation, and currently advises organizations on optimizing operations with AI chat agents. His approach emphasizes ethical adoption, measurable outcomes, and building AI literacy across leadership teams.
Helping organizations adopt AI thoughtfully, ethically, and for maximum impact.
AI strategy isn’t about chasing the latest model. It’s about understanding where AI creates real value in your organization, building the governance frameworks to adopt it responsibly, and developing the leadership literacy to make informed decisions. I bring the perspective of someone who has led AI adoption inside a complex, federated organization and is now advising others through the same journey.
How Should Organizations Approach AI Adoption?
Most organizations are asking the wrong first question about AI. They ask “what tools should we buy?” when they should be asking “what problems are we trying to solve, and where does AI genuinely help?”
Effective AI adoption starts with governance, not as a blocker, but as a framework that gives teams confidence to experiment. When people understand the boundaries, they move faster, not slower. The organizations getting AI right are the ones that treat it as a leadership challenge, not just a technology one.
At YMCA Canada, I led one of the first enterprise-scale AI pilots using Microsoft Copilot and ChatGPT across a federation of 37 associations. The lesson was clear: the technology is the easy part. The hard part is change management, building AI literacy among leadership, and creating governance structures that work across distributed organizations.
I now advise organizations navigating the same journey, helping them move past the hype cycle and into practical, ethical AI adoption that delivers measurable results.
What Does Practical AI Strategy Look Like?
AI Governance
Building frameworks that give teams confidence to experiment while protecting the organization. Governance enables speed. It doesn’t slow it down.
Leadership Literacy
Helping executives and boards understand AI well enough to make informed decisions, not just approve budgets, but ask the right questions and set the right direction.
Measurable Adoption
Moving past pilots into sustained, measurable adoption. Identifying high-value use cases, tracking real outcomes, and scaling what works across the organization.
Current and Recent AI Engagements
2025 – Present
AI Strategy Advisor, Confidential Client
Advising on how to optimize marketing operations using AI chat agents: evaluating tools, defining workflows, and measuring impact on campaign performance and team efficiency.
2023 – 2025
Enterprise AI Pilot, YMCA Canada
Led one of the first enterprise-scale AI pilots using Microsoft Copilot and ChatGPT across a federation of 37 YMCA associations and 24,000 employees. Established AI governance frameworks, built leadership AI literacy programs, and evaluated practical use cases for a complex, distributed nonprofit organization. Prepared the National Data Portal to serve as a foundation for future AI projects and developed the organization’s initial AI policy.
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Last updated: March 2026