The South African number eight arrived in Glasgow last month after helping the Pumas reach the Currie Cup final, having joined the club ahead of the 2026/27 campaign.
Despite impressing the Warriors' strength and conditioning team since his arrival, Smith believes the 24-year-old needs time to become accustomed to Glasgow's style of play before being introduced to competitive action.
"He's physically in excellent condition," said Smith.
"All our S&C guys are really excited about him. But we play a little bit of a different brand than what he was used to. I manage expectation as much as players here, so to make sure he comes and fires on all cylinders and contributes the way we know he can, he's got to understand the way we play in our systems at the moment.
"The process that we use has got to become second nature to him. So he's still working on the 'what', so that he can then bring his 'how' to that component.
"It's going to take a bit of time, I think, but we will introduce him when the time's right."