ustwo brings AI governance to the boardroom with appointment of Google DeepMind executive Simon Bouton
ustwo, the global employee-owned B Corp digital product studio, today announced the appointment of Simon Bouton, Chief Experience Officer at Google DeepMind, as its first AI Non-Executive Director.
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Bouton joins the board to provide independent oversight of ustwo’s AI strategy, reflecting the studio’s conviction that artificial intelligence has evolved from a technology initiative into a board-level responsibility. The appointment builds on ustwo’s AI leadership, including Nayan Jain’s appointment as Executive Director of AI in 2024 and Nick Hegarty’s elevation to Executive Director of Technology this year.
In practice, this board seat will help turn AI investment into durable growth for the brands it partners with, treating AI as a tool in service of people. That commitment already shows up in the studio’s responsible AI practices, which includes partnering with the University of Bristol to build PRISM, an open-source IDE plug-in that launched last month, giving software developers directional guidance on the environmental impact of their AI usage.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Simon Bouton to the board,” says Sue Siddall, Chair of the ustwo board. “His tenure at Google DeepMind gives him a rare vantage point on where AI is heading, informed by earned experience, outside the distraction of hype. Having that expertise on the board will be a critical driver for the next chapter for ustwo, one where we’re just as disciplined about measuring outcomes for clients as we are about the technology itself.”
For over a decade, ustwo has helped global organisations like UBS, HSBC and L’Oréal design, build, and scale AI solutions. Recent work includes launching Pi with Mustafa Suleyman, developing RVO Health’s AI-powered smoking cessation programme Hope, and creating digital products for chronic kidney disease care with Fresenius Medical Care.
“We build digital experiences people stick with. That’s been true for more than 20 years and it’ll be true when the current AI conversation has moved on to whatever comes next,” said Nicki Sprinz, CEO of ustwo. “Simon’s appointment is how we make sure any work with AI stays anchored to lasting value for customers, businesses and society, at board level. In a market where product development is increasingly commoditised, the studios that last will be the ones whose AI work is built to endure, not just built to ship.”
Bouton’s relationship with ustwo predates this appointment by over a decade. As Programme Manager at Google DeepMind Health, he worked directly with ustwo to bring a clinical alert app to NHS staff, balancing strict healthcare security standards with the practical realities of clinical workflows.
Since then, Bouton has spent over 10 years working alongside Google DeepMind and Isomorphic Labs, including involvement in the origins of AlphaFold, DeepMind’s protein-structure-prediction system, which went on to win a Nobel Prize. He has also led DeepMind’s collaboration with Stanford’s Human-Centered AI institute, studying how AI is reshaping organisational coordination and decision-making.
As AI Non-Executive Director, Bouton will advise ustwo’s leadership on AI strategy, governance, monetisation models and product-market fit for AI-enabled offerings.
“I’ve worked alongside the ustwo team since 2013, and what’s stayed consistent across all those years is their refusal to treat responsibility and ambition as trade-offs,” said Bouton. “The work itself is being reimagined right now, not just the tools we use, and having spent my career on the frontier of that shift, I’m less interested in what AI can do today than in what it means for how we’ll work two years from now. I’m looking forward to bringing that same scrutiny to the board table.”
The appointment comes amid a year of global growth for ustwo, including expansion in North America and Latin America, and ongoing investment in AI tooling for its workforce.
About ustwo
ustwo is an independent, employee-owned global digital product company that designs and builds products, services, and experiences used by millions of people worldwide. With studios in London, Malmö, and New York, as well as remote teams in Portugal and Latin America, ustwo works at the intersection of design, technology, and strategy. A certified B Corp, ustwo creates digital experiences while helping shape a more responsible, sustainable future for technology.
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AI is now a board-level priority. This appointment strengthens the governance behind ustwo’s AI strategy and reinforces the studio’s commitment to building products that create lasting value for customers, businesses and society.
