Primer has appointed retired Army Gen. Raymond Anthony Thomas III and retired Air Force Lt. Gen. VeraLinn Jamieson to its advisory board to help grow the company's work in the defense and intelligence sectors, Primer announced Thursday.
"From their time spent on the battlefield and in the Pentagon, they know exactly what kinds of capabilities our military requires to ensure the safety of the U.S. and its allies. We're thrilled to have them join our team," said Primer CEO and founder Sean Gourley.
Thomas and Jamieson will provide counsel and strategic advice to help expand Primer’s partnership with the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Intelligence Community (IC). Thomas previously served as commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM).
Thomas led the command of all U.S. and NATO Special Operations Forces in Afghanistan, ultimately commanding all U.S. Special Operations Forces globally, with over 90,000 members operating in 90 countries.
He is the former Commander of both U.S. Special Operations Command and Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC). Tony served 39 years in the US Army and since 2001 has had more combat deployments than any other senior officer.
"Primer's world-leading natural language processing and generation solutions are exactly the types of advanced artificial intelligence solutions that the DoD needs in order to continue fulfilling their missions, and I could not be more excited to advise the firm on their continued work with the IC and DoD," said Gen. Thomas.
Jamieson was the former deputy chief of staff for Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance, bringing more than 37 years of distinguished military service. As the director of the Air Force's Intelligence Surveillance, Reconnaissance and Cyber Effects enterprise, she was the Air Force's senior intelligence officer.
She led the service branch’s intelligence and cyber forces. Jamieson was also responsible for developing strategic partnerships with the private sector, including Microsoft, Amazon, Google and IBM, to accelerate the Air Force's digital transformation.
"A combination of human and machine intelligence is needed to prepare our military for the threats of tomorrow, and I believe Primer's automated intelligence gathering and analysis techniques are exactly what we need," said Jamieson.
