Former news agency chief Jonas Eriksson has been named chairman of content automation company United Robots.

He takes over from Johan Ejermark, one of the co-founders of the company.

Eriksson is a veteran of Swedish media, having worked for Bonnier and as chief executive and chief editor of Swedish news agency TT for eight years. He was also the president of Minds, an industry association for news agencies globally, including AP, AFP and Kyodo in Japan. He has held a number of other chairman positions, including that of MAG Interactive and Pepins.

The company says he is joining at a time of international expansion, which – in parallel with the explosion in AI – means news publishers are increasingly waking up to the value of automated content.

Eriksson (pictured) says United Robots has proved that it is possible to generate editorial-quality automated content, “which means routine reporting can be done by robots.

“Leveraging this tech, publishers can focus even more on quality journalism – thanks to freed up reporter time as well as monetisation opportunities gained through the expanded automated coverage.”

Chief executive and founder Sören Karlsson describes Eriksson as “a fantastic recruitment and a great person”.

“His solid expertise and experience, both in media and working as chairman, will be extremely valuable to us.”