Smeg UK’s IT team is using orchestration and AI to work smarter, not harder. Here’s how Smeg UK and Cerie Paton, Head of Systems, are reimagining what’s possible with Workato.
Meeting Growing Demands Without Growing the Team
When you’re running systems for one of the world’s most recognizable appliance brands, there’s no such thing as slowing down.
For Cerie Paton, Head of Systems at Smeg UK, the challenge is clear: deliver more innovation, efficiency, and value — without expanding headcount.
With Workato Genies, Cerie sees an opportunity to extend her team’s capabilities, like automating repetitive work so they can stay focused on high-impact projects.
From Whiteboard to Working Automation
In retail, every delay has a cost. Projects that take too long to launch risk losing momentum or missing the moment entirely.
“We’re all about just getting it done,” Cerie explained. “In retail, you can’t afford to wait around. You can talk a project to death, but the longer you wait, the more scope creep you get. You just have to be brave and start.”
That hands-on approach shaped Smeg UK’s orchestration and agentic journey. The team began by mapping ideas on a whiteboard and testing them safely in a development environment. Their recipe, came together quickly, proving how accessible the platform could be.
“We started with the Workato Work Engine – the recipes and tasks it was, it just grew from there.”
Scaling with AI Genies
Once the foundation is in place, Smeg will be able to turn to AI Genies, Workato’s intelligent assistants designed to accelerate work across systems.
“The Genies are a great way to extend the team,” said Cerie. “They take away the repetitive tasks, and the possibilities are endless.”
With Genies, Cerie’s team will be able to take processes that once ate up hours, from pulling reports to coordinating updates across applications and build an agent to take real action, securely. What used to require manual input, happens in the background in real time.
Governance That Keeps Innovation Safe
Of course, with AI adoption comes a new set of responsibilities. Cerie’s team knows that excitement around tools like ChatGPT can sometimes lead to unintentional data exposure.
To balance innovation with control, Smeg UK is exploring Enterprise MCP, ensuring that employees can use AI securely, without compromising company data.
“Being able to offer that AI functionality, but with a security layer on top, gives us comfort that we’re not sharing contracts or customer data with the whole OpenAI world.”
Advice for IT Leaders: Be Brave, Move Fast
Cerie’s biggest takeaway from Smeg’s orchestration journey? Don’t wait for perfect conditions, just start.
“Embrace it. Workato is such an easy platform to use,” she said. “Define what you want to do and stick to your vision, technology moves quickly. If you wait too long,
it’ll change before you’ve even started.”
What’s Next
Smeg UK’s automation journey is just getting started. With Workato laying the groundwork and working with Virtuoso Partners, Cerie’s team is redefining what’s possible for IT in retail, proving that transformation doesn’t require a bigger team, just smarter tools.
“For us, it’s about being brave enough to start,” Cerie said. “Once you do, the results come faster than you think.”