BMI Hires New Chiefs for Tech and Transformation

BMI’s C-suite continues to grow with the appointment of Tom Kershaw as chief technology officer and Justin Rohde as chief transformation officer. The respective CTOs, both new hires with 40-plus years of experience between them, will report to BMI president and CEO Mike O’Neill.

Kershaw arrives from travel retail platform Travelport, where he served as chief product and technology officer for three years. Prior to that, he co-founded the open-source software organization Prebid.org and held executive positions at Magnite, Google, Ericsson and VERISIGN, among others.

O’Neill said Kershaw will lead BMI’s modernization efforts and work to “manage the opportunities and challenges of AI and create new avenues for affiliates and licensing partners to enhance their BMI experience through technology.”

Rohde joins BMI from Xplor Technologies, a financial services company where he pulled double duty as chief revenue officer and chief transformation officer. Prior to Xplor, he led product development at Integramed America and worked in strategy consulting at Bain & Company.

O’Neill called it the “absolute right time for our company to add the position of chief transformation officer, as we continue to accelerate our plan to maximize royalties and improve the service we provide to our creative community.”

BMI, acquired earlier this year by New Mountain Capital for an undisclosed sum, was founded as a non-profit in 1939 by a group of radio broadcasters as an alternative to ASCAP and transitioned to a for-profit model in 2022.

“Tom and Justin have the experience and leadership qualities to enable us to enhance and increase the value we provide to our songwriters, composers and publishers,” said O’Neill. “Working with our team, they will be instrumental as we carry out the key elements of our strategic growth plan, to continue to grow distributions, advance our technology and customer service and to seek new sources of revenue for our affiliates.”