Dr. Alexis S. Smith
I help education and enterprise leaders close the AI Power Gap™: the distance between how fast organizations adopt AI and how well they govern it.
- CoSN Thought Partner
- CoSN K-12 CTO Academy Mentor
- Global Ethical AI Delegate, WIEAI USA
- 2026 GEAIC Leadership Award Honoree
- Black Leaders Worldwide Woman to Watch, 2025 and 2026
- TAIMScore™ Certified Assessor · Certified Executive Coach
From the computer lab to the cabinet table
Dr. Alexis S. Smith started in technology at 18, managing a computer lab through a work-study program at Alabama State University. Thirty-plus years later, she has led technology as a two-time district Chief Technology Officer, an enterprise IT architecture leader, and now as Founder and CEO of Ascend AI NOW, LLC.
As Chief Technology Officer for Montgomery Public Schools and Bullock County Schools in Alabama, she led district technology operations supporting more than 30,000 students and 45,000 devices. She went on to lead enterprise solution architecture at Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina.
Today she serves as a Global Ethical AI Delegate for the USA Chapter of Women in Ethical AI, a CoSN Thought Partner and K-12 CTO Academy Mentor, Fractional Chief AI Officer for MedCore, and Adjunct Professor of Artificial Intelligence at Carolina Christian College. She created the Ascend AI NOW™ Framework for Responsible AI and the AI Power Gap™ Readiness Index, and her work centers equitable, accountable AI, especially in under-resourced communities.
Digital stewardship is not merely a technological concern.
It is a theological imperative for Christian education.
That conviction became the foundation for Digital Stewardship™: a governance architecture ensuring intelligent systems operate under moral authority, accountable oversight, and responsible leadership.
In boardrooms, it becomes executive governance architecture for responsible AI. In classrooms and ministries, it remains what it has always been: a calling.
Keynotes and sessions that move rooms to action
Every talk ends with something your audience can use on Monday morning: a framework, a checklist, or a first step their board can approve.
Closing the AI Power Gap™
Why AI adoption outpaces governance, how to find the one stage that caps everything else, and the five-part framework leaders use to close the gap.
Reviewed Does Not Equal Governed
A signature is an event. Judgment is evidence. What boards should ask before approving AI policy, tools, and vendor contracts.
Protecting Student Data in the Age of AI
FERPA, the amended COPPA Rule, and state privacy law in plain language, plus the contract clauses that keep student data out of AI training.
Digital Stewardship: Faith, Ethics, and AI
How faith communities and institutions can lead on AI with integrity, drawing on Dr. Smith's doctoral work in AI ethics and governance.
DLAC Ignite 2026, Atlanta: Closing the AI Power Gap™: What K-12 Digital Learning Leaders Must Do Now. Session resources are free at ascendainow.com/toolkit.
Ideas leaders can act on
Black Lives and AI
Chapter accepted, Palgrave Macmillan / Springer Nature, May 2027.
The AI Power Gap™: Governance Capacity in Enterprise Adoption
Closing the AI Power Gap™
Biweekly briefings on infrastructure, governance, and the future of intelligence. Subscribe on LinkedIn
Closing the AI Power Gap™
From Ascend AI NOW Publishing.
Through Ascend AI NOW™
Executive Governance Architecture for Responsible AI. Dr. Smith's advisory work, assessments, and training are delivered through her firm, Ascend AI NOW, LLC.
AI Governance Readiness Diagnostic
15 indicators across five stages in about 5 minutes, with a branded PDF report for your leadership team.
Take the DiagnosticThe Ascend AI NOW™ Institute
Courses, professional credentials, and ready-to-use governance tools, with every price published in the open.
Explore the InstituteFractional Chief AI Officer
Senior AI governance leadership for organizations that need it now, without a full-time hire.
Book a Discovery CallInvite Dr. Smith to speak
Share a few details about your event and you will hear back within two business days.
Email: alexis@ascendainow.com
Office: 910-227-9073
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/alexisssmith
For event organizers
Approved headshots for programs and promotion.
Headshot (floral jacket) Headshot (white blazer) Profile (white, pearls)
