Hexagon appoints Board of Directors for Octave Intelligence plc

Brett Watson, chair of the Board of Directors, is president of Koch Equity LLC, overseeing several Koch-affiliated investment groups and their diverse global portfolios. Watson is also an officer of Koch Inc, where he serves as vice-president for equity development with responsibility for corporate development and M&A activity across the business.

Watson brings extensive experience in capital allocation, business scaling and Board leadership.  He currently serves on the Boards of Getty Images, Infor, MITER Brands, Molex and Transaction Network Services. Watson previously served on the Board of Hexagon AB from 2021 until 2024.

Magnus Ahlqvist (director, pictured above) has served as president and CEO of Securitas AB since 2018, leading significant transformations across the company’s global service operations. Ahlqvist brings extensive international operating experience from prior senior leadership roles at Motorola Mobility, Sony and Ericsson, as well as considerable expertise in global business management. In addition, Ahlqvist is chair at the International Security Ligue.

Jill Smith (director, pictured above) is a seasoned leader with over 30 years’ worth of experience leading and governing global technology and data-driven companies, including having previously served as chair of the Board of Directors for AspenTech. Smith is a former CEO and currently serves on the Boards of Securitas AB, Evolent Health, Check Point Software and MDA Space. She was previously a Board member of Hexagon AB from 2013 until 2017.

Extensive experience

David Hollister (director) is a seasoned financial executive with extensive experience in financial management, operations and investment oversight. He previously served in senior leadership roles (including chief financial officer, chief operations advancement officer and chief investment officer) at Bentley Systems and currently serves on the Board of iDEAL Semiconductor and the Advisory Bard for InEight Software.

Hollister is a certified public accountant.

Meerah Rajavel (director) is chief information officer at Palo Alto Networks and a recognised leader in cyber security, information technology and digital transformation. Rajavel brings extensive operating and governance experience from prior chief information officer roles and public company Board service, including service on audit and compensation committees.

Mattias Stenberg (director) is CEO of Octave and was previously president of Hexagon’s Asset Lifecycle Intelligence and Safety, Infrastructure and Geospatial divisions. Stenberg held leadership roles in strategy, M&A and corporate development at Hexagon AB and currently serves as a Board member at Sinch AB.

Other than Stenberg, all of the above members of the Octave Board are expected to be considered independent under the listing rules of the Nasdaq Global Select Market and Nasdaq OMX Stockholm.

Scale and responsibility

“Octave is entering the market with a Board that reflects the scale, responsibility and operational rigour required to support customers running mission-critical assets,” said Brett Watson. “This group brings real operating experience across industrial markets and software platforms, along with disciplined capital allocation and governance. We share the goal of building a resilient and independent company wholly dedicated to delivering durable and long-term value creation.”

Mattias Stenberg commented: “It’s a privilege to work with a Board of this calibre. The depth of experience involved raises the bar on how we operate and, ultimately, makes us better partners for the customers who depend on our platforms every day.”

The Board will support Octave’s strategy to deliver solutions that give asset owners and operators the intelligence and insight to improve safety, uptime, sustainability and long-term performance across energy, infrastructure, manufacturing, the utilities and public sector markets.

The separation, spin-off and listing remain subject to this ongoing process and final approval of the Hexagon Board and shareholders, as well as being subject to other conditions, consents and regulatory approvals. At this point in time, here can be no assurance that a separation, spin-off or listing will occur.