Efekta taps political and AI leaders to guide education expansion
Efekta Education Group has appointed José Manuel Barroso, former President of the European Commission, to chair a new advisory board as the company scales its AI platform across government education systems and workforce training programs.
The board signals a shift toward policy engagement and system-level deployment rather than product development alone. Efekta is positioning itself to advise governments on how to implement AI tools at scale, including measurement of outcomes and teacher involvement.
Who joined the board
The advisory board includes Sir Nick Clegg, former UK Deputy Prime Minister and ex-President of Global Affairs at Meta; Deepak Agarwal, Chief AI Officer at LinkedIn; Mari Kiviniemi, former Prime Minister of Finland and former Deputy Secretary-General of the OECD; and Phil Waymouth, Founder of Frontier Impact and former AI Technical Advisor at Microsoft.
The appointments reflect experience across government relations, international institutions, and large-scale AI development.
What the company plans
Efekta says the board will support engagement with governments and institutions as AI tools move from pilot projects into wider implementation across schools, universities, and workforce training.
Stephen Hodges, CEO of Efekta, said the group will help the company "expand our work with governments and institutions around the world, ensuring that AI strengthens teaching and learning while widening access to high-quality education."
The company frames its approach around embedding AI into existing learning environments while maintaining teacher oversight and focusing on student outcomes. It positions this response to wider challenges including teacher shortages and uneven access to education.
Broader context
Education providers and policymakers are placing greater emphasis on how AI is deployed, governed, and evaluated in practice. The move reflects a shift in the sector from access questions to implementation questions: not just whether institutions use AI, but how they do so responsibly.
For executives overseeing education strategy or AI governance, understanding how institutions approach AI for Education and policy engagement is becoming central to planning. The composition of Efekta's board suggests that AI for Executives & Strategy increasingly involves navigating relationships between product, policy, and public sector adoption.
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