The artificial-intelligence company Primer Technologies started in San Francisco, and by 2019 had opened an office in Washington to keep apace with new business. But it needed government fixers to keep growing.
In April 2020, Primer brought Brett McGurk onto its board. A senior adviser in the past three U.S. presidencies, McGurk knew the software products that national-security agencies might want. He helped the company through the pandemic. Primer’s founder described his perspective as “invaluable.” Even Gen. David Petraeus was impressed by the hire. “That is a lot of talent on one board,” he posted. “Be careful that it doesn’t achieve critical mass and set off a chain reaction! 🙂”
Today, McGurk is running Biden’s Middle East policy, and Primer is winning multimillion-dollar contracts and aggressively hiring new employees with security clearances. The fact that the Silicon Valley startup chose to hire McGurk for “strategic advice” is a case study in how former officials sign up to advance corporate agendas while simultaneously holding other roles that influence policy.
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