AI Startup Cerebras Systems Makes Boyden First General Counsel

Artificial intelligence company Cerebras Systems has named former Broadcom Inc. lawyer Rebecca Boyden as its first vice president and general counsel.

Boyden, who was most recently Broadcom’s vice president of corporate finance and deputy general counsel before that, started with Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Cerebras on Monday.

Cerebras produces AI computers that enable faster data processing across sectors such as health, government, and energy, according to the company’s website. Cerebras counts Covid-19 vaccine maker AstraZeneca among its collaborators and recently opened offices in Tokyo and Toronto.

“Artificial intelligence, deep learning—it’s a huge area that I think is going to take off massively in the next couple of years,” Boyden told Bloomberg Law.

Companies ranging from International Business Machines Corp. to luxury brand Louis Vuitton’s parent LVMH have begun using more artificial intelligence in their businesses, and Boyden said she believes the field will continue to grow.

“We built a system to enable AI practitioners to essentially test their ideas much more rapidly than they’ve been able to before and go through data sets very, very quickly,” Boyden said.

Cerebras’ growth potential reminded her of her first in-house role with semiconductor company Avago Technologies, she said. Boyden joined Avago shortly after it went public in 2009 and saw the company through its $37 billion acquisition of Broadcom in 2015.

“Rebecca’s experience in driving positive business outcomes while effectively managing legal risks, through the hyper-growth at Avago and Broadcom, will be hugely valuable as we write the Cerebras story,” said Cerebras CEO and co-founder Andrew Feldman in a statement.

Boyden began her career in private practice with Simpson Thacher in the U.S. and Clifford Chance in the United Kingdom.