Colin Smillie, Toronto technology executive and AI strategy advisor

Colin Smillie is a Toronto-based technology executive and AI strategy advisor with over 25 years of enterprise technology leadership. Most recently SVP of National Technology at YMCA Canada, overseeing a $15M technology portfolio across 37 associations and 24,000 employees, he now advises organizations on AI adoption, digital transformation, and building technology teams that deliver. He is actively exploring CTO/CIO opportunities and advisory roles in the nonprofit, environmental, and public sectors.

Where I Am Now

I wrapped up my role at YMCA Canada in mid-2025 after three years leading national technology strategy. It was the most complex leadership challenge of my career: aligning 300 technology leaders across a federated organization, standing up national platforms, and piloting enterprise AI in a nonprofit environment where trust and governance matter as much as capability.

Since then, I’ve been doing two things: advising organizations on AI adoption and building AI-powered applications myself. The advisory work lets me bring the governance and change management perspective I developed at YMCA to other organizations navigating the same questions. The building work keeps me sharp on what the technology can actually do, not just what the demos promise.

I’m currently working with a client on optimizing their marketing operations using AI chat agents, and I’m actively looking for my next full-time or fractional CTO/CIO role. The right fit is an organization going through meaningful transformation, ideally in the nonprofit, environmental, or public sector, where technology leadership is a strategic function, not just a support function.

What I Think About

The question I keep coming back to is how organizations adopt AI responsibly without moving so cautiously that they fall behind. Most of the AI conversation is split between hype and fear. The practical middle ground, where real organizations with real constraints need to make real decisions, is underserved. That’s where I spend most of my thinking time.

I’m also increasingly interested in how AI governance frameworks need to evolve for federated and distributed organizations. The YMCA experience taught me that centralized AI policy doesn’t work when you have 37 autonomous associations with different capacities, risk tolerances, and community contexts. The governance model has to be flexible enough to accommodate that diversity while maintaining shared standards. I don’t think most organizations have figured this out yet.

I write about these topics on my blog: AI strategy, technology leadership, and the decisions that shape both.

Background

My career started in cybersecurity, managing client relationships for Secure Computing across Asia/Pacific, before moving into product management at Certicom and then Autotrader Canada, where I led the product strategy behind their print-to-digital transition, growing the platform to 4 million monthly visitors and record revenue before its sale to Yellow Pages Group. I co-founded Refresh Partners, one of the first Facebook application agencies, delivering over 30 campaigns for Coca-Cola, Burger King, Nestlé, and Adidas, and winning a Yellow Crayon Award for the Whopper Sacrifice campaign. From there I spent nearly a decade at Hill+Knowlton Strategies leading a digital services team of 15 plus 4 external vendors, delivering over 200 enterprise campaigns. Then I took on the national technology leadership role at YMCA Canada.

The thread through all of it is transformation: helping organizations move from where they are to where they need to be, with technology as the lever and people as the priority.

How I Work

I lead by setting clear goals and then getting out of the way. When people know where they’re going and have room to figure out how to get there, trust follows. That trust is what makes it possible to lead into uncomfortable territory, whether that’s adopting AI in a risk-averse organization or aligning 37 autonomous associations around a shared technology strategy.

I believe sustainable performance comes from good systems, not heroics. The right processes, incentives, and tools make results predictable and repeatable. I bring a product manager’s instinct to every level of an organization: question assumptions, test ideas, learn from results, and iterate. The organizations that last are the ones that learn fastest.

Community

I’m an active supporter of community and cultural organizations. I currently serve as Chair of the Marketing & Technology Committee at Heritage Toronto, a public agency dedicated to preserving and celebrating Toronto’s history and heritage. In that role I’ve led their website redesign and deployment, implemented a new data collection process from Heritage Toronto tours, and optimized their digital strategy and marketing to strengthen public engagement. Previously I served as a board member and Technology Chair at the Downtown Toronto Swim Club.

Currently Available For

  • CTO / CIO roles: full-time or fractional, in nonprofit, environmental, and public sector organizations
  • AI strategy advisory: governance frameworks, enterprise adoption, and leadership AI literacy
  • Speaking: AI strategy, technology leadership, and responsible AI adoption
  • Board roles: technology governance in mission-driven organizations

Get in touch or connect on LinkedIn.

Last updated: March 2026

All opinions on this site are my own and do not reflect the opinions of any employer.