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Executive Committee

The role of the Executive Committee is to drive the Group’s strategic development and ensure alignment and clear objectives across the Group.

Jacob Aarup-Andersen

Jacob Aarup-Andersen

Group CEO since 2023

Prior to joining Carlsberg, Jacob served as CEO of ISS, a global leader in facility management with 360,000 employees operating in 60 countries globally. Prior to ISS, Jacob had executive leadership roles at Danske Bank and Danica Pension. Before that, Jacob worked as an investment professional and banker in firms such as TPG-Axon Capital and Goldman Sachs. Jacob is Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of SEB Group.

Ulrica Fearn

Ulrica Fearn

CFO since 2023

Before joining Carlsberg, Ulrica was CFO of Equinor, Norway. Prior to Equinor, she was Director, Group Finance at BT Group. She began her career at Diageo, where she spent almost 20 years in various senior finance and other management roles across Europe, APAC and North America. Ulrica is member of the Board of Directors of Capgemini. 

João Abecasis

João Abecasis

EVP Asia since 2022. Member of ExCom since 2019

João joined the Carlsberg Group in 2011 as CCO and later CEO of Super Bock, our associate in Portugal. In 2016, he became VP for smaller markets in the Western Europe region. He also served as interim MD of Carlsberg Danmark. In 2017, he became MD of our French business, Kronenbourg. He became Chief Commercial Officer and member of ExCom in 2019. Earlier in his career, João held a range of sales and marketing roles at Unilever.

Yves Briantais

Yves Briantais

Chief Marketing Officer since 2024

Yves joined Carlsberg from Colgate-Palmolive, where he most recently served as Global EVP Design and Creative Capabilities. He has 25 years of global, regional and local experience across marketing disciplines. During his time with Colgate-Palmolive, he held a range of senior leadership roles with marketing responsibilities for clusters, regions, categories and global functions.

Søren Brinck

Søren Brinck

EVP Western Europe since 2024. Member of ExCom since 2021

Søren has been a member of the ExCom since 2021, previously heading up Group Strategy and Group Commercial. Joining Carlsberg in 2005, he has held various management positions at Group, regional and market level, including MD in Denmark, Norway and Greece, and, after that, SVP, Asia. Before joining Carlsberg, Søren worked as a consultant at Accenture and as manager at Arla Foods.

Nikos Kalaitzidakis

Nikos Kalaitzidakis

EVP CEEI since 2025

Nikos joined Carlsberg from The Olayan Group, where he was responsible for the Food & Beverages division. Prior to that, Nikos spent 18 years at Coca Cola HBC, where he held numerous senior management roles at country and regional level, and 8 years in commercial management roles at Philip Morris International. Nikos has extensive international experience, having worked in several countries in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

Anders Røed

Anders Røed

Chief Strategy & Commercial Officer since 2024

Anders has been with Carlsberg since 2010. Prior to joining the Executive Committee in 2024, he served as Managing Director of Kronenbourg in France. He has also held the roles of Managing Director at Ringnes in Norway and Commercial Vice President for the Western Europe region. Before joining Carlsberg, Anders held senior management positions in leading Norwegian consumer goods companies.

Susanne Skippari

Susanne Skippari

EVP People & Culture since 2024

Susanne joined Carlsberg in 2024 from KONE. She has 25 years of experience in human resources, including in senior leadership positions. This includes 17 years across HR areas at KONE, where she served as EVP, People and Communications and member of the Executive Board. Prior to KONE, Susanne worked in Nokia in various HR roles in Finland and Argentina. Susanne is member of the Board of Directors of Fiskars Corporation. 

Torsten Steenholt

Torsten Steenholt

Executive Vice President, Supply Chain, from 1 November 2025

Torsten rejoins Carlsberg from Novonesis, where he currently serves as Senior Vice President of Global Manufacturing. Prior to that, he spent more than 11 years in executive positions at Chr. Hansen. Torsten first joined Carlsberg in 1997, working for the Group in various positions across markets and Group for 15 years.

Esther Wu

Esther Wu

Chief Information Officer since 2024

Esther joined Carlsberg in 2019 as head of IT in the Asia region. She has more than 20 years of strong technology and digital transformation experience from various senior technology positions in global companies. Before Carlsberg, she was the Head of Strategic Planning and IT Transformation at Chanel. Esther has  held management positions within IT at ThyssenKrupp Elevator and The Nielsen Company.