The Atlassian Williams F1 Team has appointed Dr James Smith as Chief Information Officer.
Smith brings a background spanning Google, DeepMind and artificial intelligence startup Human Native AI to the senior leadership team at Grove.
He holds a PhD in Computer Science from the University of St Andrews and spent a decade at Google and DeepMind, where he led product and platform teams including Android’s data platform – adopted by more than 3,000 engineers and informing performance decisions across three billion devices.
He went on to co-found Human Native AI, a venture capital-backed startup focused on data and AI that was acquired by Cloudflare earlier this year.
“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,” said Smith.
“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.”
The appointment strengthens a technology-focused leadership structure at Williams as the team continues to build toward the front of the grid.
Anthropic – the AI safety company behind Claude – features among the team’s technology partners alongside Atlassian, VAST Data, Airia, Brillio and Keeper Security.
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.
James Vowles
“Success in Formula 1 has always been about combining technological innovation with the best people to deliver on track.” said Williams Team Principal James Vowles.
“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.
“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.”
