For more than 200 years, KONGSBERG has been at the forefront of innovation, operating across four business areas with a global presence in close to 40 countries. Kongsberg Maritime, the business area responsible for providing equipment to more than 40,000 vessels worldwide, is responsible for the Workday solution that connects the 10,000+ people in Maritime and Discovery.
A merger that sparked a data journey.
KONGSBERG’s journey with Workday began in 2019, following its merger with Rolls-Royce Commercial Marine, one of the largest mergers in Norwegian maritime history. At the time, HR had little active governance over its own data, other than for its administrative processes.
“At the time, HR didn’t have formal data ownership, it sat with IT. But by noticing inconsistencies between systems and asking questions, we began driving change,” shared Ingvild Molvær De Iacovo, who heads up the People Technology and Process Management area in KONGSBERG Maritime.
The merger exposed the challenge of ensuring consistency across HR systems and highlighted the need for structured governance. Without a framework in place, the data management processes lacked the visibility HR required.
“During the merger, ensuring data consistency was a challenge because we were still learning how. The process was very IT-led and HR lacked ownership – and without executive buy-in we had to drive progress from the ground up, relying on data-savvy HR colleagues, especially those of us with payroll experience,” De Iacovo explained.
The Workday rollout marked a pivotal moment for KONGSBERG, bringing visibility and clarity into its HR data landscape. For the first time, the organization could see exactly how information flowed between systems, how it impacted, and where improvements were needed.
Building governance and laying the foundation for AI.
Recognizing this as an opportunity to strengthen governance, De Iacovo and her team partnered with KONGSBERG's Data Office and Cognizant to establish a master data management framework.
“IT suggested creating CRUD (Create, Read, Update, and Delete) rules for our data fields tied to a worker. They didn’t fully realize just how many data fields this actually was. When we showed them the full picture, they quickly agreed this perhaps wasn't the best approach. Instead, with the help from the experts at Cognizant, we developed a comprehensive framework with rulebooks, toolkits, and governance structures. Then we promptly put all those rulebooks and toolkits in our drawer. We realised that for us, at the stage we were at, it was not so much about the tools, but about a change in culture and mindset. To make it practical and accessible, we introduced it gradually to a small group in HR, refining language, formalizing terminology, and embedding it step by step,” noted De Iacovo.
Formal ownership was introduced across domains such as HR Architecture, Resourcing, Legislation and Governance, Total Rewards, and Analytics. This structure created clear accountability and alignment, ensuring that both processes and data supported the broader business strategy.
Our journey shows that with structured governance and cross-functional collaboration, the HRIS can move beyond being just a system of record to becoming a true strategic partner, both in the traditional sense but also from a data perspective. Workday enables us to strengthen data quality and ownership, which are the foundations for AI and automation.
Head of People Technology and Process Management
Driving cultural change and collaboration.The governance framework delivered more than cleaner data, it drove a cultural shift across HR. By strengthening data literacy and embedding structured processes in Workday and integrated systems, the initiative enhanced collaboration and reporting reliability, creating a strong foundation for AI readiness across KONGSBERG.
As part of their strategy, there are also weekly meetings with all HR data and process owners that focus not only on Workday development but also on ownership and culture. Over time, these sessions proved highly valuable, helping to break down silos and ensure consistent alignment across the organization.
Workday has supported this cultural shift by helping us embed structured processes, strengthen collaboration, and build a solid data foundation for the future. This marks the beginning of our AI journey, laying the groundwork for what is ahead.
Head of People Technology and Process Management
Shaping the next chapter with Workday and AI.With strong foundations in place, KONGSBERG is now looking ahead to its next stage of transformation, including a better alignment between HR and Finance, a roadmap for AI and advanced analytics. This shift highlights how HR’s role is evolving.
“HR is changing. We now have to be tech-savvy, data-literate, and able to guide developers. We don’t have to be data scientists, but we must be responsible decision-makers who understand how data drives processes and outcomes,” clarified De Iacovo.
Everyone talks about the exciting parts of AI and automation, but few want to address data governance. HR is no longer just a system of record, it’s a system of influence. With Workday, our data flows into everything, and by ensuring its quality, we can unlock AI as a tool for better decision support rather than decision surprise.
Head of People Technology and Process Management