Guided by Experience.

Gestur G. Gestsson serves as Chairman of the Board at Advania, bringing extensive experience from his role as a founder and former Group CEO. During his leadership from 2009 to 2019, he established the company's customer-centric approach and decentralized organizational structure that have supported Advania's expansion across Northern Europe.    As Group CEO, Gestur led Advania through significant growth phases, implementing strategies that balanced organic development with strategic acquisitions. His focus on building strong teams and creating a culture of innovation and collaboration has been instrumental in the company's development into a multi-national IT services provider.    Gestur brings valuable governance experience to his role as Chairman, having served on numerous boards across the IT and telecommunications sectors. His expertise in identifying growth opportunities, developing leadership talent, and building strategic partnerships continues to support Advania's expansion strategy.    With a degree in Political Science and Economics from the University of Iceland, Gestur combines strategic business insight with a solid understanding of organizational development, contributing to Advania's position as a leading IT provider in the region.

Tania Howarth is a Non Executive Director and advisor to Private Equity funds, working across a variety of industry sectors.  Tania has over 25 years of Executive level experience, largely in transformation leadership roles in global CPG businesses PepsiCo, The Coca-Cola Company and Nomad Foods.  She has led large scale technology and process redesign programmes as a CIO.  As COO of a European Food Company, Tania led business turnaround through culture shaping and strategy execution, supply chain leadership and operational efficiency initiatives and has considerable experience of M&A and integration.   More recently Tania was a Managing Director at Alvarez and Marsal in the European Private Equity practise.  She holds a degree in European Studies and Modern Languages and resides in the UK.

Benjamin Kramarz has vast experience in investing in and building businesses across the Nordic Region. He is currently a partner with the Nordic based private equity fund, VIA equity, and is an active board member in several Nordic based technology companies. Benjamin holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and an MPA from Harvard School of Government. In addition, Benjamin has earned a B.Sc. in Economics and an M.Sc. in Economics from the University of Copenhagen where he was awarded with the Crown Prince Frederik Fellowship.

Maria Brunow joined IK Partners in 2018 and is a Director in the Mid Cap Investment Team in Stockholm. She is responsible for portfolio investments across the Nordics and in involved in the Healthcare sector team. At IK Partners, Maria has been involved in Netel and Visolit. Prior to joining IK Partners, Maria worked in corporate finance for Deutsche Bank in London and Lazard in Stockholm. She holds an MSc in Economics from the Stockholm School of Economics.

Marianne Horstmann has worked in the IT sector for over 25 years. Latest, she was CEO for NetDesign - part of TDC Group - leading a full Company turnaround from HW sales/classic service provider into a lean digital service provider of managed services, growing recurring revenue contribution significantly and improving EBITDA margin. Earlier, Marianne was SVP of Infrastructure Outsourcing Services at Atea. Before Atea Marianne worked at HPE as Country Manager for Technology Services, she was promoted to Region Manager for HPE’s Communications & Media Solutions vertical for General Western Europe. Also, 11 years with different leadership roles at Ericsson add to her experience and knowledge. Today, Marianne is VP at GlobalConnect with, among other things, responsibility for the retention and development of the 250 main accounts. As an honorary Office, Marianne was appointed Member of the Danish Government's Cyber Security Council for two years in 2020-2021. Marianne holds a Master's in Electrical Engineering from the Technical University of Denmark.

Michael Bruun is global co-head of Private Equity within Goldman Sachs Asset Management. He is a member of the Asset Management Corporate Investment Committee, Asset Management Growth Equity Investment Committee, Sustainable Investing Group Investment Committee, and Asset & Wealth Management Diversity and Inclusion Council. In 2021, Michael was named head of EMEA Private Equity within Goldman Sachs Asset Management, and from 2019 to 2021, he was head of Private Equity and Growth Equity investing for India. He joined the Merchant Banking Division in 2010 and worked in London and New York. Before that, Michael was a member of the Nordic Mergers & Acquisitions team in the Investment Banking Division (IBD), after initially joining IBD in 2005. He joined Goldman Sachs as an analyst in the Fixed Income, Currency and Commodities Division in 2004. He was named managing director in 2013 and partner in 2016. Michael serves on the boards of Advania, LRQA, Norgine, Northvolt AB, Parexel, and Kahoot. He is vice chair of the Human Practice Foundation in Denmark and a trustee in the UK. Michael earned a BA in Economics from the University of Copenhagen and an MSc in Economics.

Colin Brown has worked in the IT sector for over 30 years and is now a Non-Executive Director, advisor, coach and investor. Joining Computacenter plc from the UK civil service, Colin experienced multiple promotions and led the UK Public Sector business for five successful years before becoming CEO for Computacenter Germany. Returning to the UK he became General Manager for Services for Microsoft, before joining Softcat plc as Managing Director and leading them through their successful IPO in 2015. The company continued to enjoy sustained year on year growth under Colin’s leadership until his departure in 2020. He joined Content+Cloud as Non-Exec Director in April 2022.

Carol Roche Austin is a Non-Executive Director and Advisor to Private Equity funds. She has over 15 years of international, executive-level experience focused on Human Capital Management. Founder and Director of CRA Human Capital Ltd, her prior leadership positions include Head of HR at Permira Advisers, HR Director at 3i Group plc, and HR Executive at Siebel Systems. Carol holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from the National University of Ireland, Maynooth, and is a Meyler Campbell and IoC accredited Executive Coach.

Elisabeth Vestin is a lawyer and expert in intellectual property, data, technology and commercial law, with over nineteen years of experience of advising Swedish and international companies in the technology industry. Elisabeth holds a Master of Laws from the University of Lund (Sweden), and a Master of Laws in Innovation, Technology and the Law from the University of Edinburgh (Scotland). In addition, she has trained on the bench at the District Court in Lund (Sweden).

Lill Beate Pedersen has more than 10 years of experience within the IT industry, and 20 years of experience in finance management and business development from several industries in Norway and internationally.  Lill Beate holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration and Economics from the Norwegian School of Management (BI).

Mikael Noaksson, co-founder of Advania and Group Chief Strategy & Culture Officer, plays a central role in shaping the company’s long-term vision and identity. With nearly three decades of experience in IT and over 20 years in C-level leadership roles, Mikael’s expertise in strategy and organizational culture has been instrumental in guiding Advania’s growth and success.    Throughout his career, Mikael has focused on fostering a cohesive, motivating workplace culture that encourages collaboration and innovation across all markets. His leadership has helped position Advania as not only a technology leader but also a company known for empowering its people and building lasting customer partnerships.    Having previously served as Group CEO, COO, and CEO of Advania Sweden, Mikael brings a deep understanding of both operational excellence and strategic direction. His contributions continue to be invaluable at the board level, supporting the company’s ongoing development and ensuring that Advania remains forward-thinking, dynamic, and culturally strong.