European AI startup Axelera AI has appointed technology veteran Jonathan Ballon to its non-executive board. Ballon joins the unique Dutch start-up designing  powerful and advanced solutions for cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI).

“Jonathan spent 25 years in leadership roles at some of the world’s most recognizable companies, such as Cisco Systems, General Electric, and Intel, and brought that experience to multiple startups as well,” said Fabrizio del Maffeo, CEO and co-founder of Axelera AI. “We are incredibly honored to have his hands-on leadership expertise on our board of directors and look forward to his contributions to our company.”

“Axelera AI has differentiated core technology directed towards a massive global addressable market opportunity, fueled by a deeply experienced team that understands how to bring complex products to market through a global ecosystem,” added Ballon. “I have been impressed by the pace of their focused execution, strong commitment from their investors, and the incredible bench of talent they have attracted since the firm was founded. It is a privilege to be invited to join this journey and work alongside Fabrizio and fellow board members.”

Ballon has served on the boards of several deep-tech companies, including Aspinity, ClearML, and Alert 360, and has advised multiple billion-dollar enterprises. He was general manager and VP of the IoT business unit at Intel, where he built Intel’s Edge Computing business unit. Under his leadership Intel IOTG has launched Intel OpenVINO, Intel’s tool suite for high-performance deep learning. At Cisco, Ballon designed and directed strategy, planning, and business development for its $10B service and solutions division. He is a regular keynote speaker at industry events and a contributor to business publications such as the Wall Street Journal, The Economic Times, Newsweek, Business Week, Venture Beat, Tech Crunch, CRN, and Fast Company.