Board Intelligence, a board management software and board advisory provider, has appointed two Silicon Valley veterans to its own board.
Ann Hiatt and Merline Saintil have joined following the acquisition of TeamEngine, a Stockholm-based board software provider.
New chair Hiatt is a former executive business partner to Jeff Bezos, the founder, executive chairman and former CEO of Amazon.
She is also a former chief of staff to Eric Schmidt, former CEO and executive chairman of Google/Alphabet.
Saintil, a former software engineer who holds a portfolio of Fortune 100 and private company board roles, joins as a non-executive director.
“We’re delighted to welcome Ann and Merline to our board,” said Pippa Begg, CEO of Board Intelligence.
“They share our passion for the importance of effective boards and leadership teams, and our curiosity for scientific methodologies, principles and practices that deliver the greatest impact.
“Their expertise in helping scale eminent global technology businesses and experience of working with – and on – the boards of pioneering companies, and their international connectivity will be invaluable as we focus on strengthening our category-leading position organically and via acquisitions.”
Board Intelligence says Hiatt has also designed a new suite of transformation programs for enterprise organisations that will help them deliver the culture of innovation, high velocity decision-making and forward-thinking leadership that Amazon and Google are famed for.
Hiatt said: “It is exciting to become chair of Board Intelligence at a time when the business is expanding its capabilities and its international reach. As I join, Board Intelligence has just completed research which finds that 83% of UK boards don’t believe their businesses are currently positioned to harness the opportunities afforded by AI.
“AI is just one example of an area in which companies face potentially transformational changes and where their success will depend on making clear, well-informed and possibly uncomfortable decisions quickly. The best boards and management teams, particularly in the tech sector, have stayed ahead of the curve, ensuring that their companies are the disruptors, rather than the disrupted.
“Our aim is to equip boards with methodologies and tools that underpin the science of board effectiveness to do the same, at pace and at scale.”
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