PhD Candidates

Kyle D. Smith

Kyle D. Smith (Swiss/South African national) is a SAFe® Practice Consultant and Senior Scrum Master at Siemens, where he leads Agile transformation and AI adoption initiatives across global business units. He specializes in enabling hybrid Agile teams through the integration of Generative and Agentic AI solutions. With a technical background spanning roles from developer to product owner and Agile coach, he brings hands-on experience in global product development and enterprise innovation. In his current role, he consults Siemens business units on strategy and implementation of next-generation AI tools. Previously, Kyle served as a research assistant at the Chair of Software Systems Programming and Development at the University of St. Gallen and as a assistant project manager for the United Nations Agenda 2030 programme in Switzerland, where he supported sustainable development policy and digital communication strategy. 

He holds an M.Sc. in Computer Science from the University of Camerino in Italy and an M.Sc. in Business Information Systems from the FHNW in Switzerland (AACSB).

His PhD research explores how Agentic AI can augment, not replace, human agency in enterprise contexts. Focusing on employee adoption, proactive system design and responsible governance, his work aims to develop an actionable framework for the strategic integration of Generative and Agentic AI in hybrid Agile teams, with an emphasis on workforce augmentation and delivery effectiveness.