International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) has said that Chief Executive Officer Arvind Krishna would take over as chairman from January 01, replacing Ginni Rometty, who stepped down as its long-time CEO earlier this year.

Rometty, who was the tech pioneer’s first woman CEO, would occasionally be asked to act as an independent contractor after her retirement, IBM said. Before assuming the role of CEO in April, Krishna was head of IBM’s cloud business and has been with the company since 1990.

Rometty’s retirement, which was previously disclosed, will mark an end to the executive’s 39-year tenure at the company, for which she “took bold strategic actions to reposition IBM for the hybrid cloud and artificial intelligence era,” according to IBM. This included investing in “high-value segments of the IT market and divesting $9 billion of businesses. Her leadership over the Red Hat acquisition positioned IBM “for long-term success,” the company added.

“At the same time, she established IBM as the industry‘s leading voice in technology ethics and data stewardship,” IBM said in its press release announcing Krishna’s appointment, “and her commitment to the reinvention of education for the digital era led to the explosive growth of the six-year Pathways in Technology Early College High Schools, or P-TECHs, which are helping prepare the workforce of the future, serving hundreds of thousands of students in more than 240 schools in 28 countries.”

In a letter to Rometty filed with the SEC, IBM said the company may seek consulting services from her in the three years following her retirement. For every day she provides such services as an independent contractor, she will receive $20,000. If she works less than four hours in a day, she will receive $10,000 instead. IBM will also cover any related travel expenses and let her use company aircraft with Krishna’s prior approval.