Aker BP Restructures Leadership to Accelerate Projects with AI-Driven Strategy

Aker BP announced a significant restructuring of its executive management team on October 2, 2026, a strategic move designed to accelerate the development of offshore projects and more effectively leverage its long-term investments in technology. The new leadership structure, which will take effect on January 1, 2027, is organized around the company’s core value chain to streamline operations, reduce organizational complexity, and improve collaboration from exploration through production.

The reorganization is a direct response to a changing energy landscape on the Norwegian continental shelf. In the company's announcement, CEO Karl Johnny Hersvik framed the decision as a necessary step to prepare for the future. “The shelf is changing, and tomorrow’s shelf requires something different from us than yesterday’s did. We are now positioning the company for that future,” Hersvik stated. The new operating model will build directly upon the company's decade-long focus on industrial data and artificial intelligence, signaling a deeper integration of technology into its core business processes. The current executive team will remain in place until the transition is complete.

Aker BP's New Executive Management Team (Effective January 1, 2027)

The new executive team, led by CEO Karl Johnny Hersvik, is explicitly divided into two main categories: roles directly managing the company's upstream value chain and those overseeing strategic and support functions. This structure is intended to create clearer lines of responsibility and enhance execution across the entire lifecycle of a project, from initial discovery to ongoing production and optimization.

The "Value Chain" group consists of five senior vice presidents, each responsible for a distinct phase of operations: Find & Develop, Build, Produce, Optimise, and PDO Projects. This alignment is designed to foster closer collaboration between teams that manage sequential stages of development. The "Strategic and Support Functions" group includes foundational roles like the CFO and Services, alongside positions in Digital, Strategic Innovation, and Transformation, highlighting the company's focus on technology and organizational evolution as key enablers of its core business.

An overview of the new executive leadership team at Aker BP, organized by their primary function within the company's new value-chain-oriented structure.
Executive Name	Role/Responsibility	Functional Area
Karl Johnny Hersvik	Chief Executive Officer	Overall Leadership
Petter Sørhaug	Senior Vice President, Find & Develop	Value Chain Operations
Tommy Sigmundstad	Senior Vice President, Build	Value Chain Operations
Lars Høier	Senior Vice President, Produce	Value Chain Operations
Øystein Arvesen	Senior Vice President, Optimise	Value Chain Operations
Knut Sandvik	Senior Vice President, PDO Projects	Value Chain Operations
David Tønne	Chief Financial Officer	Strategic & Support Functions
Marit Blaasmo	Senior Vice President, Services	Strategic & Support Functions
Thomas Hoff-Hansen	Senior Vice President, Digital	Strategic & Support Functions
Paula Doyle	Senior Vice President, Strategic Innovation	Strategic & Support Functions
Rolf Nystein	Senior Vice President, Transformation	Strategic & Support Functions

Operationalizing an AI-First Vision

This restructuring appears to be the operational fulfillment of Aker BP's long-stated ambition to become a leader in digital technology within the energy sector. According to a company strategy document from 2025, Aker BP’s goal is to become the industry's "first truly AI-first exploration and production company." That strategy outlined how the company would use artificial intelligence to accelerate growth, transform how it works, enhance decision-making, boost efficiency, and cut costs across all its business units.

The October 2026 announcement directly links the new operating model to this technological foundation. By aligning its leadership structure with the operational value chain, the company aims to more seamlessly integrate data-driven insights and AI applications into its core activities. The 2025 AI strategy emphasized a company-wide approach, aiming to "seamlessly integrate AI applications within our industrial settings and business objectives." The new executive structure, with dedicated leaders for each stage of the value chain, provides a clear framework for implementing this vision.

The strategy's core principles included investing where AI creates the most value and scaling solutions on a unified foundation. The new organization, with a dedicated SVP for Digital, Thomas Hoff-Hansen, creates a direct line of executive responsibility for these initiatives, ensuring that technological development is tied directly to business outcomes in areas like exploration, construction, and production.

Next Steps: Designing the New Operating Model

The newly appointed executive team will spend the remainder of 2026 designing a new, detailed operating model for Aker BP. This process is intended to translate the high-level structural changes into practical workflows and processes aimed at improving efficiency and reducing costs as projects mature. According to Aker BP, this development will be carried out in close cooperation with employee representatives and the company’s safety delegate service.

The primary objective is to create a more agile and integrated organization capable of maturing projects faster and at a lower cost. The success of this initiative will be measured by the effective implementation of the new model on January 1, 2027. The company, its partners, and the wider industry will be monitoring for further details on the finalized operating model as this date approaches.