During my 3-year assignment as CEO of MHI Vestas Offshore Wind, I met with Morten Thomsen first as “VIP IT support” and multiple times as advisor on IT-security issues.

At that time, concerns were growing in the energy sector around cybersecurity because of the rapid expansion of distributed Renewable Power Generation capacity. Offshore wind farms received particular attention due to their size and the possible consequences of their vulnerability on grid stability.

Organizationally, MHI Vestas Offshore Wind was a relatively young joint-venture with applications and IT systems bridging over multiple corporates, 2 shareholders and many utilities or oil & gas companies as customers with windfarms under monitoring.

When we were planning new projects and initiatives, Morten gave input on the consequences on IT-security. Morten is gifted with the ability to translate complex technical matters into layman’s terms and relevant risk management.

I really appreciated Morten Thomsen as a person. He is honest, straightforward, doesn't sugar-coat difficult topics and doesn’t adjust his behavior in front of hierarchy. He is focusing on the problem to resolve, or the question to be addressed by the company.

IT-security is critical to any organization today. As a CEO, it is important to have a basic knowledge on the risks and trusted advisors close by. My experience with Cybersecurity has been generally filled with confusing and expensive consultants, I recommend Morten Thomsen because he helped me, keeping my feet on the ground.