Senior leaders in Volaris Group’s Smith portfolio take a deep dive into rapidly evolving AI capabilities
The 2025 Smith Portfolio GM Summit brought together General Managers, Group Leaders, and other senior executives from across the portfolio to explore one of the most pressing themes shaping business today: artificial intelligence. Held in Washington, D.C., the three-day event focused on arming leaders with practical knowledge, real-world examples, and actionable strategies to incorporate AI into their organizations with confidence.
From AI pilots in the field to cross-portfolio collaboration, the summit offered an in-depth look at how Volaris businesses are embracing new technologies while keeping people, process, and performance at the forefront.
AI as the Core Conversation
The summit kicked off with an address from Portfolio Leader Gordon Smith, framing the event around a central theme: AI is not just on the horizon, it’s here. Chris Wildsmith, who leads the Volaris business transformation team, led a multi-part session titled The Future is Here. The presentation offered a guided tour of current AI experiments across the portfolio, followed by a deep dive into how leaders can take the first steps with AI, regardless of their company’s size or sector.
AI is perhaps the most disruptive innovation the software industry has seen since the PC or the Internet. The chance to learn from the strategies, accomplishments and even mistakes of other similar companies gives AssetWorks a jump start in bringing AI to our products and reducing the time to market for new features.
– Greg Richards, GM of AssetWorks
Chris returned later in the day to walk participants through the 2024 Quadrants AI Projects, highlighting key takeaways from businesses already testing automation, analytics, and LLM-based (Large Language Model) enhancements. Whether highlighting predictive insights, intelligent customer support, or internal efficiency tools, the message was clear: experimentation is happening, and it’s yielding results.
The GM Summit offered compelling examples of how AI, when applied with intention, can drive meaningful operational impact. While we’re in the early stages of our AI journey, we will focus on streamlining internal processes and addressing inefficiencies hindering performance. It’s about fixing what slows us down. I’m excited to learn from others and build meaningful solutions together.
– Ellena Howze, GM of AssetWorks Appraisal
Market Trends and Peer Dialogue
While AI anchored the agenda, the summit expanded its scope to encompass other core business functions, including how to interpret market signals.
Tara Sinclair, an economist and expert in labor market dynamics, delivered a standout session about understanding market indicators, helping leaders assess macroeconomic trends through the lens of strategic planning.
Events like this highlight the tremendous benefit to being part of Volaris. It is a chance to discuss and brainstorm real world problems with leaders of similar software and SaaS companies. I can then bring these learnings back to my company and provide a better experience for employees and more value and innovation for my customers.
– Greg Richards, GM of AssetWorks
Breaking into Group Dialogue
Breakouts by company size and responsibility gave attendees a chance to reflect and compare experiences in more intimate settings. During these roundtables, leaders discussed not only their AI ambitions but also their reservations, highlighting what resources and knowledge are still needed to move forward.
One of the most valuable lessons from the summit was the reminder that building confidence in AI execution is a 10,000-step journey that demands rapid experimentation, embraces failure as part of the process, and prioritizes continuous learning and iteration to progress forward.
– Malachi Charbonneau, GM of Medaptus
Finance, Security, and the Road Ahead
As always, operational excellence remained a key focus. The portfolio’s Vice President of Finance, Matt Sheaffer presented on the topic of Finance: What You Need to Pay Attention To, and reviewed core metrics and emerging risks. Meanwhile, Portfolio Director of Information Security Andrea Dever presented a session that grounded attendees in the realities of managing IT security incidents across our software businesses, offering a clear path forward based on lessons learned.
A Lighter Side of Leadership
Evenings included time to recharge and connect, from curated team dinners on Tuesday night to Wednesday’s group outing via Washington Water Taxi for an MLS game at Audi Field. These informal moments offered chances for peers across the portfolio to swap stories and build relationships.
The GM Summit provided excellent networking, story sharing and best practice alignment to the Volaris businesses in attendance.
– Greg Colalca, GM of Intellicene
One of many benefits of being part Volaris Group is sharing with your peers. I appreciate being with such talented people, especially when the talent is to provide an impromptu musical performance!
– Clare McCormick, GM of Wynne Systems
Final Takeaways
This year’s GM Summit did more than share updates. It sparked ideas, addressed real concerns, and strengthened the connective tissue between businesses that make up the Smith portfolio and the broader Volaris Group. The AI wave is here, but as this summit made clear, no leader is navigating it alone.
The consensus in the room is that we all felt like we were living through a transformative moment in real time. The urgency and opportunity of this era are unlike anything we’ve experienced before.
– Malachi Charbonneau, GM of Medaptus
