Featurespace, a U.K.-based company that uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to detect financial crimes, has hired former IBM Corp. contract negotiator Don Riddick to lead the firm's global legal department.  

"It's my mission to make sure that we make well-informed decisions in order to meet those expectations and commitments to be partners with our customers for a very long time," Riddick said in a statement Thursday, when Featurespace announced his appointment.

He added in an interview that one of the challenges he faces as chief legal officer is "helping customers understand how models meet their needs, how they interact with data and how they meet regulatory guidelines," which he said "is clearly a developing area of law in the relatively new field of AI."