Big data company Cxense has formed a media advisory board with John Paton and Kjell Aamot as its first members.

The Digital First Media chief executive and former Schibsted chief executive will give strategic advice on the company's product suite, aimed at helping businesses use data to increase site engagement and digital revenue.

At Digital First Media, Paton is currently responsible for the second-largest newspaper company in the USA with more than 800 products, including 76 daily newspapers He also serves on the boards of The Guardian, PRISA and El Pais, functions as a member of the board of overseers of the Columbia Journalism Review and sits on the board of advisors of the City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism.

Aamot was the main architect behind the successful Schibsted transition to modern media, and is currently executive advisor at FSN Capital. He was appointed chief executive of Schibsted ASA in 1989 and held the position for 20 years. He has also been a director of Johnston Press, 20 Minutes France, SBS UK, Nordea Sweden, and Switzerland's PubliGroupe.

He says Cxense "has a clear strategic direction", helping publishers regain control of their data, audience and revenues, "an ambition and spirit I share with them".

Headquartered in Oslo, Norway, Cxense has offices worldwide and customers including Dow Jones/Wall Street Journal, South China Morning Post, Polaris Media, AEON, Rakuten and Globo.