UnlikelyAI has appointed Rakesh Harji as Chief Operating Officer, marking a significant leadership hire as the company enters its next phase of commercial and operational scale.

The company is building a new category of enterprise artificial intelligence designed for environments where accuracy, explainability and trust are critical. Its proprietary neuro-symbolic platform combines machine learning with deterministic, rule-based reasoning to deliver fully auditable AI systems capable of operating reliably in high-stakes workflows across industries including financial services and insurance.

“Rakesh brings a rare combination of operational depth, commercial judgement and technical fluency. He has helped build and scale ambitious technology businesses through periods of rapid growth, while staying highly focused on execution, culture and people. What particularly stood out to me is his collaborative leadership style and his experience working closely with founders in complex, rapidly-changing environments. I’m delighted to welcome him to UnlikelyAI and excited about what we’ll build together.”

‍- William Tunstall-Pedoe, Founder & CEO of UnlikelyAI.

Rakesh joins with more than 36 years of experience building and scaling technology businesses across AI, fintech, SaaS and enterprise software. Most recently, he served as COO at Lawhive, supporting the operational scale-up of one of the UK’s fastest-growing AI-enabled legal platforms. Prior to that, he was the first employee and COO at Zilch, helping scale the company from inception to a $2.2 billion valuation while overseeing international expansion, strategic partnerships and operational transformation.

“Faraday Partners approached this search with a level of intellectual depth and curiosity that really stood out. They understood not just the role itself, but the broader significance of what UnlikelyAI is building and the operational challenge of scaling trusted AI into enterprise environments. The opportunity to work alongside William and help shape a category-defining company at such a formative stage was incredibly compelling from the outset.”

- Rakesh Harji, COO of UnlikelyAI.

His experience aligns closely with UnlikelyAI’s current priorities: strengthening operational cadence, scaling enterprise delivery capability, aligning commercial execution with deployment readiness, and building the systems and leadership infrastructure required to support long-term enterprise growth.

This assignment was led by Nick Fairclough, Managing Partner, with support from Nicole Stimpson, Analyst at Faraday Partners, in partnership with William Tunstall-Pedoe, Founder & CEO of UnlikelyAI, Barak Berkowitz, Executive Chair of UnlikelyAI, and their investors Amelia Armour at Amadeus Capital Partners and Vicky Booth at Octopus Ventures.

About UnlikelyAI

UnlikelyAI is a UK-based enterprise AI company developing a new category of trusted artificial intelligence for high-stakes decision-making environments. Founded by Alexa creator William Tunstall-Pedoe, the company’s proprietary neuro-symbolic platform combines machine learning with deterministic reasoning to deliver explainable, auditable and controllable AI systems designed for regulated industries including financial services and insurance. 

UnlikelyAI is backed by Amadeus Capital Partners (Amelia Armour) and Octopus Ventures (Vicky Booth).

About Faraday Partners

Faraday Partners is a global executive search firm supporting the most valuable companies in tech and their investors from early conviction to industry impact. We specialise in senior leadership appointments across all facets of leadership, helping organisations secure transformative leaders who scale businesses, drive innovation, and create long-term enterprise value.