Alumnus to build Lego digital vision
Toy group names Chief Digital Officer
JJ Van Oosten (SEMBA 2000) has been appointed Chief Digital Officer at the Lego Group.
He will join the company’s executive team and report directly to the CEO, Niels B. Christiansen.
Welcoming Van Oosten’s appointment Christiansen said: “Digitalisation is impacting all aspects of our business from how we design products to how we engage with shoppers. It is reshaping the retail landscape, and how children play. But it is also offering exciting opportunities and creating new ways for us to bring Lego play to more children around the world. The chief digital officer will help us to build a digital vision that will enable us to capitalise on emerging digital trends, continue to be agile and innovative and inspire children for generations to come.
“We are pleased to welcome JJ. He brings a great combination of digital expertise and commercial acumen. He has a proven track record leading digital transformations in consumer branded and retail companies and shares our mission-drive business philosophy.”
Van Oosten said: “The mission to inspire and develop children is an important one, and I am honoured and humbled to have an opportunity to play even a small role. Our children’s future will be shaped by automation, AI, robotics and environmental changes. For them to succeed in this new world, they need be agile, able to collaborate and problem solve and think creatively. Play, and LEGO play in particular, gives them these skills and will help them shape their futures.”
Van Oosten has more than 25 years’ experience in digital leadership roles. He was notably Chief Digital Officer of German retailer, Rewe where he oversaw all aspects of the digital agenda, including e-commerce operations, technology infrastructure and digital marketing. With his team, he designed and built a digital ecosystem which linked physical and digital channels via mobile and AI technology, and launched continental Europe’s first automated food fulfilment centre. He held similar roles at Tesco plc and Kingfisher plc. His new role at Lego is effective 6 April, 2019.
