WebMD and Napster veteran appointed as AOL’s new CTO

AOL on Monday named William Pence as chief technology officer. Pence is a veteran of WebMD and Napster. At AOL, Pence will oversee the company’s technology strategy around the world. At WebMD, Pence was focused on automating technology and operations, cloud computing, mobile products and data management. Pence joins AOL April 30 and replaces Curtis Brown, who will stick around through a transition period. Pence will report to CEO Tim Armstrong.

AOL’s ongoing push to turn its business around and focus on more ad-tech fuelled media plays continues apace: today the company appointed a new CTO, William Pence, who it’s hired away from WebMD, where he was also CTO as well as EVP. He will be replacing Curtis Brown, who will stay on “for a number of months” for the transition, according to an internal memo from AOL’s CEO Tim Armstrong. Pence “will lead all aspects of AOL’s global technology strategy and will report directly to me,” Armstrong notes. He will be based in New York City. Pence has an interesting track record that will hopefully rub off a bit on his new employer.