Future Anthem, the pioneering AI and data science powerhouse, has continued its expansion plans with the double hire of Julie Haddon and Ian Tibot.

Haddon joins Future Anthem as a non-executive member of the Board of Directors, bringing substantial experience having worked in top-level management at a host of world-renowned US companies.

She most recently served as Senior Vice President, Global Brand and Consumer Marketing at the National Football League (NFL). In addition to her five years at the NFL, Haddon has held high-level positions and consulting stints at PayPal, Twitter, eBay, DreamWorks, SoFi and Zynga.

Haddon strengthens the Future Anthem board that includes founder and CEO Leigh Nissim and non-executive Oliver Hansard, former Dunnhumby and Liberty Global executive.

“This is an exciting time to be part of a fast-growing AI and data business,” said Haddon. “Future Anthem is built on firm foundations with a standout executive team and is on an impressive growth trajectory having eclipsed many business milestones. I look forward to helping Leigh and the team double down on that rapid progress to help Future Anthem scale as it enters North America”

Also joining Future Anthem is Ian Tibot, who moves into the role of Chief Product Officer. He arrives with notable pedigree, having built a strong reputation at William Hill, where he spent nine years.

At William Hill Tibot was responsible for the bookmaker’s sportsbook platform as Head of Product and previously international product development for gaming and sports, working across multiple regulated markets, leading over 100 team members in three European locations.

“The combination of Future Anthem’s achievements to date, alongside its vision and future ambitions made it an easy decision to join,” said Tibot. “Future Anthem’s must-have, market-leading solutions will allow us to shake up the sports vertical and capitalise on the success in gaming.”

Future Anthem CEO Nissim said: “Bringing Julie and Ian into the business is a real statement of intent. They are transformational appointments that will enhance our ways of working and are key to realising our expansion plans following our recent investment.

“Julie’s invaluable Brand and Marketing leadership experience at blue-chip international technology, media and sports organisations will significantly accelerate our roll-out in North America and we now a have a fantastic, well-balanced board with hugely relevant knowledge in a number of key areas.

“Ian’s background fuels our momentum in sports betting – with his addition allowing Future Anthem to lead the charge in personalisation in this area, as we make additional R&D investment to capitalise on the opportunity in sport.

“We continue to proactively identify and bring in the best talent across the business. We have several hires planned, including a General Manager, Americas, and multiple roles in our product team. Meanwhile, our rolling intern programme goes from strength to strength.”

The appointments come just weeks after Future Anthem closed a Series A round of financing led by Bettor Capital. The funding allows the company to build continued momentum across existing products and customers, establish a US-based headquarters, and build a local team of sales, product, data, and delivery specialists to service the rapidly expanding North and Latin American markets.

The funding will also allow Future Anthem to significantly scale its machine learning models and AI products, expand its leadership position in online casino, and expand further into sports betting and other verticals.