The UK government’s AI Security Institute, an organisation founded to research issues regarding AI safety and national security, has appointed a new director and chief strategy officer to its leadership team.
Henry de Zoete, a long-term AI, technology and investment advisor to the government, has been named as the director of the AI Security Institute. As an experienced AI government advisor, de Zoete played a key role in the initial establishment of the Institute.
He is also a tech founder, with his startup Look After My Bills going through the Y Combinator class of 2018.
The onboarding of de Zoete follows the departure of interim director Adam Beaumont, who is returning to a previous position at GCHQ.
Nate Burnikell has been appointed as the organisation’s chief strategy officer. Burnikell has been working across various government departments for the past decade, including a stint at the Cabinet Office and the Department for Levelling Up.
Most recently, Burnikell has been working with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), a now scrapped department that was the AI Security Institute was originally founded under.
“A big thank you to our outgoing Interim Director Adam Beaumont, who guided AISI through rapid growth and strengthened its global standing,” said the AI Security Institute.
