MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA – Jo-ann dePass Olsovsky has been appointed to serve on the board of directors of CN, effective immediately, the Canadian rail company announced on Oct. 27.

dePass Olsovsky, 56, brings more than 35 years of technology, infrastructure operations, and railroad experience to CN. She is currently the executive vice president and chief information officer (CIO) of Salesforce, where she oversees the company’s global information technology organization.

She previously spent almost 12 years at BNSF Railway, where she was senior vice president and CIO.

“We are pleased to welcome Jo-ann to CN as an independent director,” said Robert Pace, chair of CN’s board of directors. “She has deep expertise in advanced technologies and customer applications and spent more than a decade as a senior executive at a Class I railroad. The intersection of her technology, operations and railroad experience creates a powerful combination of expertise that will be valuable to CN as we continue building the railway of the future using digital innovation to drive safety, operational excellence, customer experience and enhanced long-term shareholder value.”

dePass Olsovsky is filling the vacancy that was created in September when an independent director resigned to spend more time on her full-time executive role outside of CN.

With the appointment of dePass Olsovsky, CN’s board is comprised of 11 directors, 10 of whom are independent and 5 of whom are women.