Episode summary
Richard Nicholas talks to Simon Steggles, a fractional AI Director, about what the AI leadership role really involves.
Simon argues that the job is mostly about governance, people and culture, not coding. He explains how he finds and handles “shadow AI”, why he has written 18 separate AI policies, and what organisations should look for (and look out for) when hiring an AI Director, Head of AI or Chief AI Officer.
About Simon
Simon founded the digital forensics company Disk Labs in 1997, which investigated phones, computers, CCTV and sat-navs for law enforcement, defence solicitors, intelligence agencies and corporate clients. He then spent five years at a US tech company, where he used AI and audited how engineering teams worked. He now offers AI Director services on a fractional basis.
What we cover
The role is governance first. Simon says the core of the job is understanding policy, data security and how organisations work, and helping staff see AI as support rather than a threat to their jobs.
Start with the boring tasks. Automating repetitive work, such as chasing invoices or pulling together technical documents, frees people for higher-value work, and nobody misses the monotony.
The AI lead as coordinator. The role links legal, tech, HR and other departments, and has to overcome some suspicion along the way.
Shadow AI. Staff usually use unapproved tools for good reasons, but may not understand the GDPR and privacy risks. Simon treats this as a training and culture issue, not a disciplinary one.
Follow the innovation. Simon thinks many UK organisations choose Copilot because it is convenient, not on merit. If staff are already using other tools such as Claude, he suggests leaders consider adopting them properly and putting guardrails around them.
Finding out what is really happening. Simon has built an anonymous survey tool, run through a third-party bot, that shows which AI tools staff are using. No names or departments are collected and the data is deleted once the report is produced. It gives a baseline before any policy is written.
Policies that are tested. Simon has 18 separate AI policies and tries to break them himself by thinking like the most AI-savvy person in the organisation.
Advice for new AI leaders and those hiring them. Talk to people at every level, especially those doing the repetitive frontline work. Consider a fractional or part-time arrangement before committing to a full-time role. Look for real experience, not just confident LinkedIn language.
Find Simon
Website: Ai-Si.com
LinkedIn: Simon Steggles
