Cory Smith

Biography

Cory Smith is a Denver-based Innovation & Emerging Technologies and Models Strategist, the author of four books on enterprise AI and innovation, and the founder of Signal & Horizon, an operator-led advisory firm that helps CIOs, COOs, and Chief Strategy Officers turn AI ambition into trusted, enterprise-scale capability.

Cory has built enterprise AI from the inside and advised it from the outside, and that experience shapes a simple conviction: AI initiatives rarely fail on the technology. They fail on adoption. His work ties AI strategy to the P&L rather than to pilots, builds adoption into the business case instead of the launch plan, and gets product, technology, legal, security, compliance, and operations moving in the same direction.

At Aflac, Cory first helped design and launch the company's innovation lab and digital accelerator as a consultant, then returned to lead it. As Innovation Delivery Manager for AI and Emerging Technologies, he helped found Hatch, Aflac's innovation lab, and both its Innovation Accelerator and Emerging Technologies Incubator, guiding the company's AI work from robotic process automation and chatbots through generative AI, retrieval-augmented generation, automated code and API generation, and beyond. He also served as interim chair of Aflac's Emerging Technologies Oversight and Governance Council.

As VP of Customer Transformation at FPT Software, Cory led the company's North American Digital Transformation practice, spanning advanced data and cloud, enterprise innovation and transformation, total experience (CX, UX, UI, and service design), and organizational change management. It was there that he created the Ideas to Initiatives to Outcomes (IIO) workshop, a three-day facilitated framework for turning strategic intent into measurable business outcomes.

Earlier in his career, Cory led digital at agencies including BKV and Grizzard Communications Group (Omnicom), founded the digital function at the American Le Mans Series, led web and mobile banking technology for a global financial services company, and served as Chief Technology Officer for two Miami-based internet startups. Over 28 years he has worked with more than 60 organizations, including Aflac, Bank of America, Boeing, Chevron, Citi, Ford, Rio Tinto, Toyota, and Walmart, across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, Brazil, and Argentina.

He has been speaking on technology and transformation since 1997, at events including COMDEX, the Collision Conference, Microsoft CXO Summit, and AWS re:Invent, and has made more than 40 TV, radio, and podcast appearances.

At a glance

Based in

Denver, Colorado

Hometown

Born in Lewistown, Pennsylvania
Raised in Fort Myers, Florida

Experience

28+ years in enterprise innovation and technology

Education

Attended Florida State University
Design Thinking Program, Georgia Tech Professional Education (2019)

Focus

• Innovation & Transformation
• Enterprise AI Strategy & Operating Models
• Organizational & Cultural Change
• Turning Experimentation into Delivered Value

Created

• IIO (Ideas to Initiatives to Outcomes) Workshop
• Ingredients and Recipes Method
• Altitude Workshop
• Obsolescence Workshop
• Keep the Keys Workshop
• Transformation Canvas

Industries

• Insurance & Financial Services
• Healthcare & Life Sciences
• Automotive, Aerospace & Energy
• Retail, Media & Professional Sports

Credentials

• Certified ScrumMaster (CSM) and Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO)
• Certified Usability Analyst (CUA)
• Design Thinking Program, Georgia Tech Professional Education (2019)
• Current AI coursework with Anthropic, OpenAI, Google Cloud, Microsoft, Salesforce, SAP, Databricks, NVIDIA, LangChain, MongoDB and The Linux Foundation, focused on agentic AI and MCP, AI governance and security, and change management for AI adoption

Full list on LinkedIn

Books

Speaking history

1. Feb 2026The Future of Physical AI (panel with Google Cloud and Microsoft)Plug and Play Tech Center
2. Jun 2025AI, Data and the Future of EverythingKeynote · DataBank IMX Innovation Day
3. Nov 2023GenAI and the Complexities of Data PrivacyGenAI Track Keynote · AWS re:Invent
4. Jun 2022Web3, the Metaverse and the Future of Web TechnologiesKeynote · Collision Conference, Toronto, Canada
5. Mar 2019Business Agility: Accelerating Business Innovation and TransformationKeynote · Microsoft CXO Summit
6. Dec 2018CX + Business Architecture: Partnership for InnovationKeynote · IADA
7. Oct 2018Demystifying Digital Transformation in Food RetailKeynote · SupermarketSense
8. Aug 2018Demystifying Digital TransformationKeynote · Kettering Group
9. Mar 2018Demystifying Digital TransformationKeynote · Microsoft CXO Summit
10. Oct 2014Why Agencies Suck at DigitalTrack Keynote · SouthWired
11. Apr 2012Email Isn't Dead: Emerging eCRM and Marketing Automation TechnologiesKeynote · American Marketing Association
12. Dec 2007Where the Speedway Meets the Information Superhighway: Digitizing the Racing ExperienceTrack Keynote · Automobile Club de l'Ouest, Le Mans, France
13. Oct 2006Engaging Your Fans Digitally: Sports in the Digital EraKeynote · Sports Marketing Association
14. Nov 2000The Evolution of the Informavore: Wireless Content DeliveryKeynote · The Newspaper Society of the United Kingdom New Media Conference, Solihull, UK
15. Aug 1999Panel: Web Development Standards in PracticeThe Art Institute, Houston, TX
16. Feb 1999Internet and the News BusinessNewsCom PLC, Southampton, UK
17. Nov 1998MORE Web Designs that WorkCOMDEX International, Miami
18. Mar 1998Web Designs that WorkBite Expo '98, Miami
19. Dec 1997Web Designs that WorkCOMDEX International, Miami

Book Cory to speak

Find Cory elsewhere

• LinkedIn
• Substack
• Amazon author page
• YouTube
• Medium
• Instagram
• X (Twitter)
• Dot.Card