PPG Appoints New Vice President and Chief Digital Officer

PPG (Pittsburg, PA) has announced the appointment of Brad Budde as vice president and chief digital officer, effective Sept. 6. Reporting directly to Irene Tasi, chief growth officer, Budde’s new role leads the company’s digital strategy and execution to accelerate customer digital engagement with PPG.

Budde joins PPG from Emerson, a Fortune 500 global technology and software company providing innovative solutions for customers in industrial, commercial and residential markets, where he was vice president, digital customer experience. At Emerson, he held roles of increasing responsibility, including leading the company’s digital product development roadmaps across Emerson.com and MyEmerson, digital engineering tools, eCommerce, sales enablement, and digital analytics, over the course of more than 15 years. Prior to Emerson, Budde served as a business manager for a plastics packaging company and started an entrepreneurial venture that manufactured and marketed reusable produce bags for grocery stores.

Budde earned a master of business administration (MBA) in Entrepreneurship from the University of St. Thomas - Opus College of Business, and a bachelor’s of science degree in mechanical engineering from North Dakota State University.