Mars Petcare CIO jumps to Heineken to lead global digital push

02/26/2026 – 02:00 AM

HEINEKEN appoints new Chief Digital & Technology Officer

Amsterdam, 26 February 2026 – Heineken N.V. (HEINEKEN) today announces that it has appointed Romain Apert as Chief Digital & Technology Officer, and member of the HEINEKEN Executive Team, as per 15 May 2026. Romain, currently Chief Information Officer Petcare at Mars, will succeed Ronald den Elzen, who after a successful 31 years with HEINEKEN, signalled his intent last year to pursue new career and learning opportunities and remained in role to support a smooth transition.

Romain Apert
Romain served more than two decades at Mars, where he has held global CIO positions across the business and, most recently, served as CIO for Mars Petcare. In that role he has led a multi-year digitalisation-at-scale strategy, combining ERP modernisation, strong data foundations and capability building to support growth and productivity. He has sponsored dozens of high-impact digital use cases across supply, commercial and consumer domains, including AI-enabled diagnostics and is steering one of the sector’s most ambitious ERP implementation programmes. An engineer by training, graduating from ECAM Lyon (France), his international experience spans Europe, the UK and the United States, partnering closely with senior business leaders to translate strategy into tangible technology outcomes.

Dolf van den Brink, Chairman of the Executive Board/CEO commented:
“I am delighted to welcome Romain to the HEINEKEN family. He joins HEINEKEN with deep international experience leading large-scale digital transformation, data and technology strategy, and complex change across global businesses. Romain will be partnering across the Executive Team, advancing HEINEKEN’s EverGreen 2030 strategy through the further deployment of the company’s Digital Backbone, and scaling value from data and AI. He is known for combining operational rigour with practical innovation and a people-centred leadership style, and is an excellent fit with the HEINEKEN culture”.

Ronald den Elzen
Ronald joined HEINEKEN in the Netherlands in 1995 as a Finance Management Trainee and held a variety of Finance roles, including Finance Manager of HEINEKEN Brouwerijen, Finance Director of HEINEKEN UK and Global Business Controller for HEINEKEN NV. In 2004, he became Wholesale & OnPremise Director for HEINEKEN Netherlands. Ronald led the integration of Scottish & Newcastle into HEINEKEN and subsequently became Finance Director for the UK. Ronald then moved into general management in 2012 as Managing Director of Sociedade Central de Cervejas e Bebidas (Portugal), and in 2015 became Managing Director of HEINEKEN USA.

Since March 2020, Ronald served on the Executive Team as HEINEKEN’s first Chief Digital & Technology Officer, helping to lay strong foundations in platforms, data and analytics, and cyber resilience, and embedding digital capabilities across our markets. Under his leadership, working in close partnership with colleagues across the business, the D&T team has advanced our ambition to be the ‘Best Connected Brewer’, building a solid foundation for the future.

Van den Brink concludes: “Ronald retires from HEINEKEN after an extraordinary 31-year career across five countries in Europe and the Americas and across 6 distinct functions. His contributions to HEINEKEN’s success in the past three decades through his deep knowledge of the company and portfolio, his passion and incredible people skills, will be greatly missed. I wish Ronald all the best in his future endeavours”.

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About HEINEKEN
HEINEKEN is the world’s pioneering beer company. We are the leading developer and marketer of premium and non-alcoholic beer and cider brands. Led by the Heineken® brand, we have a portfolio of more than 340 international, regional, local, and specialty beers and ciders. With HEINEKEN’s over 87,000 employees, we brew the joy of true togetherness to inspire a better world. Our dream is to shape the future of beer and beyond to win the hearts of consumers. We are committed to innovation, long-term brand investment, disciplined sales execution, and focused cost management. Through “Brew a Better World”, sustainability is embedded in the business. HEINEKEN has a well-balanced geographic footprint with leadership positions in both developed and developing markets. We operate breweries, malteries, cider plants, and other production facilities in more than 70 countries. Most recent information is available on our Company’s website, and follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram. 

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• Media release CDTO FINAL
• Romain Apert