Leadership change in Arla’s IT organisation

After 14 years leading Arla’s IT organisation, Torben Fabrin will leave Arla. His successor is Mia Heslegrave, who steps into the role as Chief Information Officer from February 1st.

Torben Fabrin joined Arla in 2010 and has left a strong footprint on Arla IT, delivering vastly improved IT operations stability and building a strong platform and organisation for Arla’s digitalisation. He will be succeeded as Chief Information Officer by Mia Heslegrave who joined Arla in 2021 as Head of IT solutions.

The digital transformation in Arla and in our industry is becoming more and more important for our cooperative’s future. That means our IT organisation besides playing a vital role in ensuring stable IT operations, will be even more crucial in delivering digital solutions and driving digital innovation in close collaboration with zones and functions. In order to fully benefit from these opportunities, Arla needs a new profile to lead our IT organisation.

Executive Vice President & CFO Torben Nyholm thanks Torben and explains why Mia is the right choice as his successor:

“I want to thank Torben Fabrin for his enormous contributions to Arla since joining back in 2010. Torben has led a true turnaround of our IT setup in Arla, initially securing stable operations and later building a strong platform and strong organisation for our digitalisation. I’ve enjoyed working together with Torben for many years and wish him all the best in the future,” says Torben and continues:

“I’m happy to announce that Mia Heslegrave has accepted the role as CIO. With her extensive experience within IT consultancy at Accenture and her successful tenure as Head of IT Solutions in Arla, Mia has demonstrated a strong and proven track record. I’m confident she has the capabilities to step into the CIO role. Mia has a strong starting point as a digital partner to the business and will in her new role drive the IT & Digital agenda in collaboration with the leadership teams across Arla. I look forward to working closely with Mia and welcoming her into my leadership team.”

On taking up the role as CIO, Mia Heslegrave says:

“I am both excited and honoured to be entrusted with the responsibility of leading Arla into the digital future. Arla needs a stable and resilient IT setup globally and locally and we need to continue to digitalise throughout our entire value chain. To me, digitalisation is as much around people and collaboration, as it is about implementing and running systems and applications. I view the journey towards a digital future as a collective effort across Arla, and I am eager to lead this initiative alongside the highly skilled IT & Digital Team. I am grateful to Torben Nyholm for giving me this opportunity, and to Torben Fabrin for having led Arla IT this far and prepared me best possible for my new role.”

Torben Fabrin has been instrumental in transforming the IT setup in Arla. He has led a major turnaround from poor service delivery to stable operations and solid project delivery while regaining cost control. He has successfully established the Gdansk IT hub and built a much more robust IT organisation. Additionally, he has headed up the launch of crucial tools and platforms, including Data & Analytics Foundation and SAP Next.

Commenting on the announcement, Torben Fabrin, says:

“I have thoroughly enjoyed my time with Arla. I am both proud and glad to have been part of a fantastic IT transformation with shifting focus ranging from stability to going agile, SAP upgrade and data analytics to cyber security and much more. Most importantly though, always with people as the main driver for success. I believe I leave a robust platform run by a great team well prepared for the digital future. A big thanks to all the great colleagues I’ve worked with in Arla. I am confident the IT team and Arla will be in good hands with Mia taking the lead and she and the team will continue to deliver strong results for Arla.”

The change in leadership will be effective February 1st 2025. Torben Fabrin will stay in Arla until Mid-February to ensure a good handover to Mia. Mia will continue to lead the IT Solutions team and will take the time to review how to replace her previous position.