Williams make crucial hire to tackle 'latest F1 battleground'

Williams has made another crucial appointment in an area team principal James Vowles has described as F1's 'latest battleground'.

The Grove-based team has taken on Dr James Smith as its chief information officer, bringing over a decade of experience at the cutting edge of AI and data.

Smith spent 10 years at Google and DeepMind, including building Android’s data platform, adopted by over 3,000 engineers and informing performance decisions across three billion devices.

Williams states that Smith, who co-founded Human Native AI, has built "high-performing teams, shipping AI at scale, and leading organisations through complex technological change".

“Success in Formula 1 has always been about combining technological innovation with the best people to deliver on track," said 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."

Smith added: "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.

"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."

Only recently, Williams announced four appointments in key areas across the team.