Arif Rehman from Telia becomes new Chief Product Officer

Arif Rehman will start as the new Chief Product Officer at GS1 Sweden in April. He most recently came from Telia’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Unit Division X, where he worked as Head of Product Management and Development Data Insights.

For the past seven years at Telia, in addition to having been head of two product managements, Arif has also had roles where he has been responsible for strategy and commercial innovation. During his career, he has driven a number of projects and worked with services and products to digitize and enable innovation. The starting point has always been to start from the customer’s challenges and try to solve their problems. Something he will also bring with him in the new role.

– One of the first things I want to do at GS1 Sweden is to talk to and listen to our customers. I really want to understand their biggest pain points and challenges when it comes to data and data management in their ambitions to become more data driven. Once we have identified the biggest problems, we can ensure that we meet the most important information challenges in the entire value chain, says Arif Rehman.

For 15 years, Arif has worked with product management, most of which as head of telecom, IT, media and gaming. The common thread has always been Product Management from a user-centered perspective. At GS1 Sweden, Arif is given responsibility for securing the product portfolio for the future and ensuring that it provides tangible and concrete benefits for customers in many industries.

– Arif has the skills we have demanded and his long experience in product and change management will add a lot on many levels within the company. We see that our customers will receive increased requirements regarding traceability from authorities at national and EU level. Here, with our strong product portfolio and expertise, we can be of great benefit to many industries, says Jonatan Tullberg, CEO of GS1 Sweden.

The time at Telia Divison X in Data Science and previous experience has also provided many insights and understanding of the importance of the increased use of objective data as a basis for decision-making as a clear macro trend. Arif adds:

– Businesses and consumers today demand transparent information about goods and services. We buy and sell globally and this means that we must have efficient and traceable product flows with structured data formats that connect the physical product to the digital twin with potentially thousands of attributes. GS1 standards can really help companies communicate efficiently and consistently. And facilitates their work of working data-driven with the help of correct, structured and standardized data.

Arif Rehman will be part of GS1 Sweden’s management team and will succeed Catharina Burenstam Linder, who has had an interim assignment since 2021. He will take up the role of CPO for GS1 Sweden on April 25, 2022.