Julie Bishop adds international advisory board role at Artificial Intelligence firm Afiniti to post-politics career

Julie Bishop has added another position to her post-politics career, joining the international advisory board of powerful artificial intelligence firm Afiniti alongside former British PM David Cameron. The former foreign minister will today officially take up her appointment, the first in the private sector since she was announced as a board member of Palladium, a private aid contractor. Ms Bishop, who was last month appointed as chair of the Telethon board, will join Afiniti’s advisory board and travel to the US and UK up to four times a year to meet with some of the world’s top business minds. The advisory board is a who’s who of international politics and business. It is chaired by Mr Cameron and includes other heavyweights such as former chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Michael Mullen, the daughter of media giant Rupert Murdoch and chair of Shine Group, Elisabeth Murdoch, former French prime minister Francois Fillon, and former Foxtel chief executive Richard Freudenstein. Afiniti is an artificial intelligence firm founded by Zia Chishti, the man behind Invisalign orthodontics. Its software for call centres aims to better connect customers with the right services to improve their experience. Wyatt Roy, the former assistant minister for innovation, is the Australian managing director of Afiniti. He told The West Australian: “Julie’s been a great advocate of Australian technology. “She has demonstrated a keen understanding of artificial intelligence and its ability to transform our society for the better and create jobs for Australians.” Ms Bishop said she travelled to the UK two weeks ago to meet Mr Cameron about the position. “I’ve long had an interest in the disruptive power of technology,” she said. “Joining the international advisory board of Afiniti meets the strategic vision I had for my life post politics.” She said Australians should not be afraid of AI as it would not take local jobs but create more. “Humanity is not redundant,” she said. “I see this as an opportunity for new jobs, and that will mean re-skilling existing workers and creating jobs that aren’t in existence.” She defended her appointment to Palladium, despite the role being referred to a parliamentary committee for investigation. The company has more than $500m of contracts with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and there were concerns Ms Bishop had breached the ministerial code of conduct. She would not say if she would appear before the committee to give evidence.