Provider of AI driven software solutions

About

eSmart Systems builds and delivers the next generation software solutions for inspections of powerlines, grid maintenance planning and energy flexibility optimization. We target utilities worldwide and offer reduced costs and prolonged asset life with the use of our AI-powered solutions.

The company is based on more than 20 years of international experience in establishing and operating knowledge based, leading IT and energy related companies targeting global markets.

eSmart Systems originates from the renowned IFE environment (Institute for Energy Technology). The company was founded in 2012 by an experienced team previously responsible for large IT service exports including delivery of the world's first power exchange to Nord Pool, the Nordic Power Exchange, in 1991. Since 2012 the company has grown rapidly and currently consists of almost 80 employees with offices in Norway, Denmark, the UK, and US.

Accelerate the transition to a sustainable future

eSmart Systems is being built by people able to capture trends and utilize opportunities. Be it next generation grid management systems, image recognition to drastically improve infrastructure inspections or driving customer and end-users engagement - being at the forefront of future solutions is in our team’s DNA.

We envision a future of sustainable societies. We believe this will be best achieved through our unique combination of domain expertise, machine learning, and data engineering. eSmart Systems’ AI driven software solutions enable our customers to operate more efficiently, resulting in both social and environmental benefits.

Our solutions can predict, detect, and prevent undesired critical infrastructure events, such as power outages. Reduced failure rates, extended asset life and reduced maintenance have economic benefits, both for our customers and the end users. At the same time, more efficient use of the power grid, reduces the need for further development of the transmission infrastructure, helping to protect nature including biodiversity. Our products also include a solution to make energy trading between local market prosumers possible. This is a prerequisite for the shift towards increased distributed production of renewable energy. We are proud to contribute to accelerating the transition towards a sustainable development.

Mission

eSmart Systems creates intelligent solutions to accelerate the transition to a sustainable future, by developing innovative technology to the energy market – to the people.

The key to our success is competent and dedicated people constantly seeking to learn, improve and drive change.

Vision

A more intelligent and sustainable future for all.

Our vision is sustainable societies. A world where infrastructure assets and resources are efficiently and intelligently managed and maintained. A world powered by eSmart Systems.

Values

eSmart Systems’ achievements are not only measured by what value we create, but by how we create it. This is why our core values are:

Integrity
Innovation
Excellence
Teamwork

Management

eSmart Systems is led by an executive team with more than two decades of successful and extensive international experience at establishing, growing and operating world-leading, knowledge-based IT companies in global markets.

Knut H. H. Johansen

CEO

Knut H. H. Johansen

CEO

Knut holds a M.Sc. degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the Norwegian University of Technology in Trondheim, Norway. Knut is the CEO and founder of eSmart Systems AS, established in 2012. Prior to that, Knut founded and led Navita Systems, headed OMX Technology Energy Systems (now NASDAQ), founded and led Hand-El Scandinavia, a spin-off from the Institute for Energy Technology in Halden, Norway, and headed the department for energy systems at the Institute for Energy Technology.

Knut has more than twenty years’ experience innovating, developing and delivering IT solutions to the energy industry world-wide. He has delivered IT solutions to physical and financial power exchanges in Europe, North America, Asia and Australia beginning with the deregulation of the Norwegian power market in 1991, a precursor for deregulation processes worldwide. Knut has also delivered IT systems to the balancing, spot, and financial energy markets, as well as the clearing of exchange products and OTC to Nord Pool, the Nordic power exchange. He’s been responsible for ETRM and grid system deliveries to a large number of prominent energy companies, including E.ON, Statoil, Hydro, Statkraft, Fortum and Mercuria.

Knut was the initiating driver behind of the Norwegian Centre of Expertise – Smart Energy Markets. NCE Smart Energy Markets is supported by the Norwegian Authorities.

Knut E. Gustavsen

CVP & President North America

Knut E. Gustavsen

CVP & President North America

Knut holds a M.Sc. degree in Computer Science from Bristol University, England. Knut is the CVP International Markets and co-founder of eSmart Systems AS. He has more than 20 years of experience managing, developing and delivering IT solutions to the energy industry world-wide.

Knut started as a system developer of User Interface Management Systems for nuclear reactor control rooms, working closely with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in Chattanooga, US. He has been lead project manager for many large software implementation projects around the world including an infrastructure delivery to the California Power Exchange, OMX’s settlement system delivery to the Korean Power Exchange together with ABB, Tieto’s CIS delivery to Fortum in Sweden and Tieto’s CIS delivery to Hafslund in Norway.

Knut co-founded US Hand-El Inc in Silicon Valley California, which was later relocated to Pasadena in Los Angeles. He was responsible for marketing, sales, and product strategies for all power exchange and ISO systems in the US, and was instrumental in building a 20 person support, service and development organization for the US market.

Knut was also responsible for Tieto’s utility business development sector and was an instrumental part of getting state funding for a 10-year Norwegian Centre of Expertise program (Smart Energy Markets). He was also an initiator and project owner of a state funded smart grid project that was one of the very first smart grid research projects in Norway.

Tina M. Skagen

Chief Operating Officer

Tina M. Skagen

Chief Operating Officer

Tina is Chief Operating Officer at eSmart Systems and holds a M.Sc. in Strategy and Management from Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration. In 2008, she completed the Norwegian Entrepreneurship Program in Boston as a part of her master’s degree. In 2015, she participated in the program Innovation Management in a Global Business Perspective at the Norwegian Business School. Over the past years, Tina has held positions as Director of Business Development, Business Controller, and Project Manager at different Norwegian corporations.

Erik Åsberg

Chief Technology Officer

Erik Åsberg

Chief Technology Officer

Erik is CTO at eSmart Systems with 20 years’ experience in software development within the energy space, mainly using Microsoft and Oracle technologies. The last four years he has been focusing on architecture and design of Big Data technologies, all on the Microsoft Azure platform.

Erik Åsberg was appointed Microsoft Regional Director-Norway in 2019, for a second consecutive two-year period. This is a program that consists of 150 of the world's top technology visionaries chosen specifically for their proven cross-platform expertise, community leadership, and commitment to business results, and therefore nominated as trusted advisor to the developer and IT professional audiences and Microsoft.

Roy Einar Angell

Chief Financial Officer

Roy Einar Angell

Chief Financial Officer

Roy has a background in finance, management, HR and logistics from NHH and BI.

He has headed up financial departments in a variety of international companies over the last three decades, and also held positions as logistics manager and COO.

With a broad experience in people management, M&A, finance, tax, funding, contract negotiations and building and developing international organizations, Roy contributes on a number of business critical functions in eSmart Systems.

Henrik Bache

Chief Commercial Officer

Henrik Bache

Chief Commercial Officer

Henrik is Chief Commercial Officer at eSmart Systems. Before taking on the role as CCO he spent 3 years abroad for eSmart, first in Singapore as MD for the APAC market, and then in Seattle as VP of Sales & Marketing North America. Prior to joining eSmart Systems he spent over a decade in the financial industry. In his most recent position within the financial industry he was responsible for the Norwegian market for one of the largest private equity investors in the Nordics, eQ Asset Management.

Davide Roverso

Chief Analytics Officer

Davide Roverso

Chief Analytics Officer

Davide holds a PhD in Computing Science from Aberdeen University (UK) and currently leads the analytics team at eSmart Systems. Davide has 25 years’ experience in the field of Machine Learning and Big Data Analytics, with applications in diagnostics, prognostics, condition monitoring, and early fault detection in complex processes, in sectors ranging from energy to medicine and environmental monitoring. He has authored over 90 publications in international journals, conference proceedings and edited books.

See Davide’s publications here: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Davide_Roverso

Gro Kruse Kjølstad

Chief Financial Controller

Gro Kruse Kjølstad

Chief Financial Controller

Gro holds the position as Chief Financial Controller at eSmart Systems. Her background is in finance from Buskerud University College. She has more than 12 years’ experience from finance and management. Gro has spent the past years working on financial reporting, audits, tender and contract preparations, due diligence, incorporation of subsidiaries in Europe, Asia and US.

Tore Lie

Chief Product Officer

Tore Lie

Chief Product Officer

Tore is Chief Product Officer at eSmart Systems. He has twenty years of experience from Product, Project & Risk Management for a wide range of companies. Tore has also designed and lead the development of numerous IT-systems. Prior to joining eSmart and leading the Connected Drone program, he spent seven years with Metier, two years in CA and six years in IBM/ConCrea.

Board of Directors

Our Board of Directors reflects eSmart Systems’ national and international ambitions. Board members have extensive and leading experience in energy and new, disruptive technologies.

Chairman of the board

Jørgen Kildahl

Board member

Joseph Sirosh

Board member

Fredrik Nygaard

Board Member

Bastien Gambini

Board Member

Eivind Egeland Olsen

Employee representative

Erik Åsberg