DNV GL’s New Digital Solutions CEO Plugging Customers’ Skills Gap

Kenneth Vareide has been appointed the CEO of DNV GL’s Digital Solutions business area, which is a provider of solutions for managing risk and improving asset performance.  Its services are used primarily by the oil & gas, energy, renewable and maritime industries and it consists of close to 1,000 digital experts. Vareide joined DNV GL as a trainee in 1996 and most recently held the position of Digital Director in business area Maritime. 

“DNV GL has been a digital pioneer since the 1960s and it is an exciting and challenging time to pick up the CEO’s baton, as many of our customers are navigating digital transformations,” said Vareide. “With our deep domain knowledge and digital expertise, we are ideally placed to help our customers leverage the possibilities of the fourth industrial revolution.”

Oil & gas executives surveyed in DNV GL’s Industry Outlook highlighted digitalization as the leading R&D priority, although a lack of relevant skills was identified as the biggest barrier. Their peers in the energy value chain told a similar story in Digitalization and the future of energy, with 91% of companies saying that further digital skills training was needed.

“Our long commitment to creating value from digital technology means that we are able to combine deep domain and digital knowledge.  As a company, we are in a constant dialogue with our customers and we are committed to providing solutions that bridge their digital skills gap,” said Vareide.

Digital Solutions is behind established software such as Sesam, Nauticus and Synergi, and the business area will continue to grow its portfolio of software-as-a-service products. It also encompasses Veracity, DNV GL’s data platform and industry ecosystem, which has registered 160 000 activated users since its inception in 2017. Veracity acts as a secure repository for data and allows companies to access services from DNV GL or verified third parties.

Remi Eriksen, DNV GL Group President and CEO said, “We have put digitalization at the heart of our strategy and I am delighted that Kenneth has agreed to lead Digital Solutions at this pivotal time for DNV GL and our customers.  He will continue to grow our software eco-system and the services we offer to our customers, and build on the early success of Veracity, which has already registered 1.2 million service subscriptions.”

Vareide started in DNV GL in 1996 as a trainee and has since served in different positions and capacities across DNV GL's business areas and regions (Houston, London, Busan (South-Korea) and Høvik), providing classification, technical and management advisory services to the maritime and oil & gas industries. He holds a master’s degree in Naval Architecture from Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and a master’s degree in Technology Management from NTNU and the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration (NHH Bergen), in cooperation with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), The Sloan School of Management.

Digital Solutions is one of DNV GL’s five business areas, along with Maritime, Oil & Gas, Energy and Business Assurance.