Telegraph
David Cameron has been hired by Washington DC-based artificial intelligence company Afiniti to chair its advisory board, whose members are an unusual mix of former politicians, media titans and high-profile businessmen.
Mr Cameron said he had been "exploring developments in artificial intelligence for some time to better understand how industry and policymakers can collaborate in solving these challenges and ensuring that AI serves people’s everyday lives".
"I was excited to see the rapid development in AI and the huge potential AI has to address some of the challenges that societies face today,” he said.
Afiniti, which was founded in 2005 by a former Morgan Stanley banker, has developed an artificial intelligence system to improve the customer service experience, so that customers are better matched with agents to deal with their complaints.
It uses what it calls "behavioral pairing" to study interactions and identify patterns that would make a customer service call more successful.
It is reportedly considering going public, after having last October closed its Series D round, raising $130m (£100m) and landing a valuation of $1.6bn.
Backers include the former Verizon chief executive Ivan Seidenberg and Fred Ryan, the chief executive of the Washington Post, as well as Thomson Reuters boss Tom Glocer.
Mr Cameron joins a host of notable names on the advisory board, including Andrew Knight, the chairman of The Times and The Sunday Times, Francois Fillon, the former prime minister of France, Lord John Browne, the former chief executive of BP and Elisabeth Murdoch, the daughter of media mogul Rupert Murdoch and chair of the Shine Group.
Zia Chishti, the chairman and chief executive of Afiniti, said: "Our advisory board has a diverse array of senior business and political leaders who provide invaluable guidance to the company as we expand around the world.
"David's deep personal commitment to this issue makes him perfectly-placed to lead our advisory board and support Afiniti in our next stage of growth."
His decision to take up a role at a technology company comes less than a year after Nick Clegg, who served alongside Mr Cameron as the UK's deputy prime minister, joined Facebook as the head of its global affairs and communications team.
The new role at Afiniti is not the only position Mr Cameron currently holds, though, and he was previously handed an extended lobbying ban, which lasted up until last July, in exchange for him being allowed to take on new commercial roles.
These included a consultant role with US genomics Illumina and a position as vice chairman at the UK-China fund, which is seeking to boost cooperation between the two countries.
He has also written an autobiography, which is expected to be published in September.
