#17 - Pete Williams: Just Pick Up the Phone, Pay It Forward, and AI as a New Kind of Superpower

In this episode, Sam Bell speaks with Pete Williams about action, experimentation, and creating constant progress.Pete Williams has spent more than three decades working at the intersection of technology, innovation, and business transformation. He began working with internet technologies in 1993 and founded Deloitte Australia’s eBusiness Consulting group in 1996, which later evolved into Deloitte Digital. Today he is Chief Edge Officer at Deloitte’s Centre for the Edge, where he explores how emerging technologies and societal shifts are shaping the future of business and institutions. Alongside his work with large organisations, Pete has co-founded and supported a number of startups including Packform, and has contributed extensively to community initiatives including bushfire recovery efforts across Australia and education initiatives in Papua New Guinea.This conversation moves through Pete’s philosophy of action, the importance of simply picking up the phone when something needs to happen, and the idea of paying forward knowledge and help across communities. Pete also shares why he believes AI represents a profound shift in how humans access and use knowledge, comparing its impact to the early internet, and potentially far beyond.This is a practical conversation about leadership, technology, community responsibility, and getting meaningful things done quickly.This episode explores:• The simple leadership habit: just pick up the phone• Action over words and stepping forward when nobody knows what to do• The “pay it forward” mindset in disaster recovery and community leadership• Why prototypes matter more than PowerPoints• Experimenting through doing rather than endless planning• Lessons from rebuilding communities after Black Saturday• Building startups that focus on real problems and real customers• AI as a profound shift in knowledge access and human capability• Why the biggest risk with AI may simply be laziness• Kindness, responsibility, and leadership in uncertain timesGuest links:• Pete Williams: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rexster/ • Lifetimes: https://lifetimes.co/• Packform: https://www.packform.com/ • Jack Growden, Founder of LiteHaus International (education initiative in Papua New Guinea) https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-growden-355542161/ and https://litehausinternational.org/• From Pete “This article might be useful for people struggling with approaching Ai. It was co author with Peter Evans-Greenwood and Kellie Nuttall” https://www.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/topics/talent/rethinking-future-of-work-models-to-predict-the-unpredictable.html Chapters:02:30 Indigenous art, heritage, and community connection06:00 Black Saturday and entering disaster recovery work11:30 “Just pick up the phone” — lessons from Greensburg, Kansas17:00 Action over words and stepping forward when nobody knows what to do24:00 Building startups: prototypes not PowerPoints30:00 Packform and redesigning the packaging supply chain36:00 AI as a new knowledge superpower45:00 The biggest risk of AI: laziness52:00 Social media, technology cycles, and what actually matters58:00 Kindness, leadership, and paying it forwardExplore further:Book a Lab: https://naturalgenius.com.auLearn more about Sam: https://samanthabell.com.auSubscribe to hear future episodes.Credits:Hosted by Samantha (Sam) Bell in Violet Town and North of Melbourne, Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung lands, 4 March, 2026Produced at the Violet Town and Benalla offices, 4 - 8 March, 2026Natural Genius Podcast https://naturalgenius.com.au