Maersk Tankers is stepping outside shipping for the newest addition to its executive team, continuing the pool operator's digital push.
The Danish company announced on Tuesday that Eva Birgitte Bisgaard would be its new chief commercial officer, joining from telecommunications firm TDC.
Maersk Tankers said Bisgaard will manage its commercial engagement with partners and customers.
"Eva Birgitte is an inclusive people leader who shares our values. She has a proven track record of leading business transformations, embracing digitisation and maintaining long-standing relations with partners in a highly competitive industry," said chief executive Christian Ingerslev.
Bisgaard, a Norwegian, spent the last three of her 19 years with TDC as the senior vice president of consumer unit YouSee. She also worked in the company's business-to-business divisions and led the expanded use of digital solutions. She holds a master's degree in international business from Aarhus University.
Bisgaard will join the company on 1 October and report to Ingerslev.
"Having spent my career within the fast-moving tech field, I look forward to helping Maersk Tankers and its partners develop and deploy digital technology to respond to industry and environmental challenges and opportunities," she said.
"We will work in tandem with our partners and customers, creating solutions together that meet their needs."
Bisgaard's experience with technology continues a trend for Maersk Tankers, which has attracted shipowners to its pools with its digital tools.
The company owns tech start-up ZeroNorth, which developed a tool, Optimise, that it says optimises trading routes and cuts back on fuel consumption.
ZeroNorth's chief executive Soren Meyer told TradeWinds in June that most of its employees purposefully do not have a shipping background.
"It helps us to really be customer-centric at the same time as thinking new solutions for the customers," Meyer said.
