Scott Smith

I'm Scott Smith, founder of Pathworks AI and a fractional Chief Data & AI Officer for independent businesses. I started my career as a high school teacher and a student of philosophy, learning how to break down complex ideas and make them useful for people. That instinct never left me. Over the past two decades, I led data and AI strategy for some of the world's largest organizations, most recently as a Data & AI Director at Slalom Consulting, where I advised enterprise clients on expanding and scaling their AI capabilities. I watched those capabilities create structural advantages that smaller competitors couldn't match. Not because the technology was out of reach, but because the guidance was. My family has spent three generations in financial stewardship, building trust with families over more than 65 years. I grew up seeing what it looks like when someone puts your interests ahead of their own. The AI industry, for the most part, doesn't work that way. Pathworks AI exists to close that gap. What I do: → I help organizations operationalize AI, grounded in your real workflows, validated by your people, and governed for the long run. → Vendor-neutral. I don't sell tools. I don't take commissions. If a spreadsheet solves the problem, I'll tell you. → Governance-first. Every engagement starts with an Acceptable Use Policy and a Charter, so your team knows what's safe, what's reviewed, and who owns the call. → Crawl-Walk-Run. Understand your workflows first. Validate in a low-risk scope. Then scale what actually works. The principle that runs through all of it: humans define the work, AI supports the work, humans validate the results. If you lead a business or team, and want to bring AI in thoughtfully, without the hype, the hand-waving, or the vendor pitch: let's talk.