Karl A. L. Smith – Founder & CTO, All Me
Karl A. L. Smith is the visionary behind the All Me app, owned by the Omega Foundation (a nonprofit), a groundbreaking privacy‑by‑default social platform redefining how digital communication should work. As Founder and CTO, he leads the mission to rebuild social media around trust, transparency, and human‑centred systems anchored by his invention of Identity Constructed Communication Architecture (ICCA), a trustless model for provider‑blind communication.
ICCA eliminates traditional dependencies on platform visibility, metadata harvesting, and provider‑controlled identity. It enables communication where the platform cannot see, profile, or infer user behaviour establishing a structurally trustless, privacy‑independant environment. ICCA forms the architectural backbone of All Me, ensuring that every interaction is private, user‑owned, and free from surveillance.
All Me embodies Karl’s long‑standing belief that technology should serve people first:
- No advertising
- Users define what they see
- Users own their data
- Privacy is absolute and user‑controlled
- Genuine connections without compromise, profiling, or surveillance
Karl’s career spans digital consultancy, innovation, and system architecture, helping global organisations rethink how people interact with technology. His expertise in human‑centred systems, ethical design, and trust architectures directly shaped All Me’s foundation and its ICCA‑driven communication model.
Karl has been blogging since 2001, writing extensively on Agile, Customer experience, User experience, Digital transformation, Human‑centred systems, AI frameworks, IoT ecosystems, Enterprise strategy, Bayesian networks, and technology innovation. https://karlsmith.info/
Professional & Commercial Experience
- Consulting & Strategy: Since 1989, Karl has worked globally through various consultancies to help both startups and established multinationals mature in their digital offerings. He advises directors, stakeholders, and leadership teams in industries including banking, finance, retail, pharmaceuticals, energy, government, defence, travel, publishing, and technology.
- Key Projects & Clients: He has led major engagements such as:
- Developing Agile Target Operating Models (ATOM) for NatWest Bank.
- Agile audits, enterprise agile maturity diagnostics, and DevSecOps strategy development for HSBC.
- Designing governance, portfolio management, and organisational design at Admiral Insurance.
- Digital strategy, UX & CX redesigns, service design, and transformation for clients such as Deutsche Bank, Wipro Digital, Accenture, Pearson, Microsoft, Unilever, Vodafone, and many others.
- Innovations & Methodologies:
- Invented research methodologies such as Ethnographics, a shorter form of ethnography for contextual usability work.
- Developed what he calls the Customer Agility Framework, combining AI/ML, analytics, customer-satisfaction & feedback metrics, ESG/PRI factors, market sentiment, and UX research to translate business and customer requirements into transformation programmes.
- Leadership Roles:
- Co-founder of Wipro Digital, helping to establish its service offerings in design, strategy, user experience, creative technology, service design and more.
- Global roles at Accenture and other organisations for launching UX and digital services.
- Executive leadership in Digital adoption and Organisational transformation in finance, HCM, engineering, logistics, regulatory compliance, governance, infrastructure etc
- Ongoing consulting through Agile World, as a senior advisor and leader in business agility and emerging technologies.
Academic & Design Background
- Education:
- Degree(s) in design; postgraduate certificate in design education.
- Master’s degree in Computer Science, strengthening his technical foundations around enterprise systems, AI, and related fields.
- Thought Leadership & Teaching:
- Considered one of the early movers in UX (user experience) and human-centred design (HCD), evolving from usability diagnostic work into strategy, ecosystems, service design, and large-scale transformation.
- Has held key workshops, spoken globally, written on subjects including designing for human experience, agile transformations, UX, organisational design, AI interplays, etc.
- Recognition & Affiliations:
- Fellow of the British Computer Society (FBCS), recognised for his eminence in IT leadership and human-centred design.
- Member of various thought leadership and transformation networks; co-founder of non-profit Agile World, which produces free Agile education and media resources.
Karl’s blend of commercial, technical, and design experience positions him uniquely to lead All Me not only to build a product, but to rethink what social media always should have been:
All me, ethical, user-centred, private and genuinely human.
Recent Interviews and Presentations
AI Effectiveness and Human Eminence by Karl A L Smith. Jan 26, 2026
All me social app interview with Karl Smith by Founders Futures. Feb 10, 2025
A new perspective with Karl A L Smith. Aug 16, 2024 XTech Podcast
