2022 Nordic Innovation Summit presented by Ericsson

Tryggvi Jónsson is a technical Product Manager at Marel for Cloud, IoT, and Data and has led the development of Marel's new software platform since joining Marel in 2018.

Tryggvi is an experienced software engineer and data scientist. He holds a Ph.D. in applied statistics from the Technical University of Denmark and degrees in applied mathematics and industrial engineering. Before joining Marel, Tryggvi has been a part of startups within the Fintech, Renewable Energy, and Entertainment sectors.

Mads Birgens is a trained architect at the School of Architecture in Aarhus, and has throughout his career accumulated a unique experience in urban planning. He has been managing a large number of Cobe's prestigious masterplan projects, including the development of Nordhavn in Copenhagen, Deutzer Hafen in Cologne, DE, Science Village Scandinavia in Lund, SE and Nydalen in Oslo, NO. In addition to being the driving force in creative development as well as managing time and finances in projects, he has been responsible for coordination and communication within a large number of projects and clients in the Nordic region. As Head of Urbanism, Mads is responsible for driving the professional development of urban planning and strategic planning at Cobe.

An expert in security policy, law of the sea and Arctic issues, Ambassador Krutnes has served with the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs since beginning as a trainee in 1994. In her previous position with the Ministry, she served as Deputy Director General of the Department of Security Policy. Before that, she was Norway’s Ambassador for Arctic and Antarctic Affairs.

Ambassador Krutnes has had postings in several European countries, including ambassadorship of the Netherlands and Luxembourg. She was recently a member of the UN Group of Governmental Experts on Advancing responsible State behavior in cyberspace in the context of international security.

She holds a Master of Laws from the University of Oslo and a Master of Science in Economics and Administration from the Norwegian School of Economics, and has also studied international management at Universittá Luigi Bocconi in Milan, Italy.

Ambassador Krutnes is a Commander of the Norwegian Order of Merit, and a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Orange-Nassau (Netherlands). She is married and has three adult children.

Sami Lahdensuo is VP for Government and Institutional Relations at Finnair where he oversees Finnair´s global market access and political and regulatory affairs. Prior to joining Finnair 4.5 years ago, Sami has had a lengthy career in international relations. For five years he was heading the Office of President Martti Ahtisaari, Nobel peace prize laureate 2008, and prior to that he was playing an instrumental role in building up Crisis Management Initiative, an organization focusing on peace mediation and conflict resolution. Sami has also served as a Political Advisor in the European Parliament and led work of development policy organizations in Finland. In 2019 he was a Visiting Scholar at Woodrow Wilson Institute in Washington DC. Sami is Master of Social Sciences from the University of Tampere, Finland.

Peter Linder is Head of 5G Marketing North America at Ericsson in North America. He is passionate about deciphering 5G & the mobile G forces enabling digital markets. He is a broadband networker with 30 years at Ericsson centered around fixed and mobile broadband in equal parts. In 2020 he was recognized by Onalytica as the #1 expert technology influencer on LinkedIn. He graduated from the Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg with two degrees in Electrical Engineering and International Business management. Outside of work, he enjoys motor racing, skiing, golf, and photography.

Niklas has been CEO of Rockton Partners AB since 2007. Rockton historically has been a successful Swedish boutique aircraft lessor concentrating on regional aircraft. Over the last 2 years Niklas has overseen the complete restructuring of the company which today is exclusively focused on sustainable aviation investments and assets.

Arul Menezes is Distinguished Engineer at Microsoft and the founder of Microsoft Translator. He has grown it from a small research project in Microsoft Research into one of Microsoft’s most successful flagship AI services within the Azure Cognitive Services family, translating 90+ languages and dialects, used by hundreds of millions of consumers, and tens of thousands of developers and businesses worldwide. It is also embedded in Microsoft products such as Office, Bing, Windows, and Skype.

Arul has 30+ years of deep experience in computer science, software development, and 20+ years in natural language processing and artificial intelligence.

Mårten Mickos is the CEO of HackerOne, the world's most popular bug bounty platform. Previously Mårten was the CEO of Eucalyptus Systems, acquired by Hewlett-Packard where he served as head of the cloud business. Mårten was the CEO of MySQL AB from 2001 to 2008. He served on the board of Nokia from 2012 to 2015. Marten is a thought leader on leadership and disruptive business models.

Jens Molbak has a passion for entrepreneurship, innovation investing, and a world where social and economic progress are available to all. He is the founder of NewImpact, a humanity benefit non-profit that seeks to utilize a data-driven “tri-sector” approach to align the resources available in the private, social, and public sectors to generate superior societal and financial outcomes.

Molbak first learned of potential for tri-sector solutions when he founded Coinstar in 1990, with the goal of creating a company that could simultaneously benefit the private, public, and non-profit sectors. Coinstar today has processed over $60bb, raised $100mm for non-profits, and saved the US government billions in reduced costs.

He is active in the Seattle and national impact community as owner of Molbak’s Nursery, a board member for the University of Washington’s Evans School of Public Policy, Partner for Social Venture Partners Seattle, Member of the Young Presidents’ Organization, and Network Member of the Ashoka Support Network.

Molbak holds an M.B.A. from Stanford University and a B.A. from Yale University. A native of Seattle, he is an avid hiker, back country skier, and enthusiast of landscape architecture.

At Marel, Hjalti Þórarinsson is Vice President of Software. He joined Board of Directors of Origo hf. as a deputy board member in March 2017 and became Chairman of the Board in March 2020. He studied Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Iceland between 1995-1998 and holds an MBA degree from MIT. In 1998 Hjalti co-founded Dímon Software. After finishing his MBA Hjalti worked at the Microsoft headquarters for 11 years where he served as a Director of Business Development at the AI division.

Jarand Rystad founded Rystad Energy in 2004 and has, since its inception, managed the company. Jarand has extensive experience in oil and gas and energy strategy advisory work from his long tenure with both McKinsey & Company and Rystad Energy. His areas of expertise include energy and E&P strategy, energy scenarios and all aspect of the Energy Transition, renewables, asset and company transactions, macro analysis, and oil service industry analysis. According to the Financial Times, Jarand is "one of the most cited petroleum analysts in the industry" and has been the keynote speaker at numerous international conferences focusing on all aspect of energy and the Energy Transition.

Jarand has engaged in the development of an Energy Scenario Database describing the changes in the global energy mix to 2100. Each scenario is described in terms of greenhouse gas emissions and consequences for global warming, building on the IPCC AR6 report.

Jarand holds a M.Sc. degree in Physics from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, where he majored with a thesis on asteroseismology. He also has an academic background in philosophy and has been the leader and founder of various organizations.

Ambassador Okko-Pekka Salmimies represents Finland in thirteen Western states as Consul General of Finland in Los Angeles. Salmimies is an expert in international trade and economy related questions. He joined the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland in 1997.

Salmimies served previously as Ambassador and Head of Mission at the Permanent Delegations of Finland to the OECD and to UNESCO in Paris, Ambassador for Team Finland (covering export and investment promotion), Director of Trade Policy, and Director for Civil Society. With the Ministry, he also served as Head of Cabinet and Diplomatic Adviser to the Minister for Foreign Trade, Development and European Affairs and Desk Officer for trade policy and transatlantic relations at the EU Delegation of Finland in Brussels.

Prior to his current posting in Los Angeles, Salmimies was Visiting Senior Fellow at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs in Helsinki. His research focused on foreign policy issues related to international trade, technology, transatlantic relations, and sustainable development. Salmimies’s most current publications cover issues related to strategic autonomy, EU’s new trade policy and green transition.

Malena Sell-Myllyoja is a Senior Specialist on Circular Economy at the Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra, where she specializes in economic policy, innovation and the global dimension of the circular economy transition. Sell-Myllyoja joined Sitra from the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Prior to that she worked at the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD) in Geneva for over ten years, including as Climate, Environment and Natural Resources Senior Programme Officer. She has also worked at the World Bank and at the International Institute for Sustainable Development. Sell-Myllyoja holds an MA in Environmental Studies and a BA in International Relations (international commerce), both from Brown University.

Fertram Sigurjonsson is the Founder and CEO of Kerecis, a biotechnology company which uses fish skin to heal human wounds. In addition to biotechnology, Fertram has founded and run companies in the financial technology and renewable energy sectors. Fertram has served as a board member and executive of companies in Europe, North-America and Asia. Fertram was featured on Virginia Business 100 People to Meet in 2022. He was named EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2021 and Entrepreneur of the Year in Iceland in 2015. Fertram has received innovation and entrepreneurship awards from the President of Iceland.

Carrie Song is Vice President of Sales for Renewable Road Transportation at Neste US, responsible for the company's increasing development and expansion efforts in the region. She joined Neste in 2020 and has spearheaded the growth of Neste MY Renewable Diesel in the North America market since then. Carrie is passionate about renewable fuels and other new technologies and innovations that can help the transport industry cut carbon emissions.

Carrie has a track record of success in driving business growth for both Fortune 500 companies and startups in a variety of industries, including global commodity trade, IT, capital goods, retail consulting, energy and oil and gas. Prior to her current role at Neste, she served as Sales Director - Americas for BP, where she oversaw business development performance, expanded business footprints and developed high performing teams across North, Central and Latin America regions. Prior to that, Carrie was the Sales & Marketing Director of Global Oil and Gas Power Solution at Cummins.

She holds a BA in Economics and Public Administration from University of International Business and Economics in China, a Master in Management from London School of Economics in the UK, and a Master of Science in Marketing Research from Texas A&M University in the US. She is a certified Six Sigma Green Belt sponsor.

Mr. Steen currently serves as Chief Executive Officer of FREYR Battery, as well as Director of the Board of FREYR Battery Norway. 

Prior to joining FREYR, Birger Steen was a Thematic Partner at Summa Equity. He is currently Board Chair at Nordic Semiconductor ASA and Pagero Group AB (publ.), and serves on the boards of Nordea Bank Abp, where he chairs the Operations and Sustainability Committee, and Pragmatic Semiconductor LLC. He was previously Chief Executive Officer of Parallels, Inc., WW Vice President of Distribution & SMB at Microsoft Corp, both in Seattle, VP & General Manager at Microsoft Russia and General Manager at Microsoft Norge AS (subsidiaries of Microsoft Corp.). Prior to joining Microsoft, Mr. Steen was Chief Executive Officer at Scandinavia Online AS (publ.), a VP at Schibsted ASA and a consultant at McKinsey & Co. 

Steen holds an MBA degree from INSEAD as well as degrees from the Norwegian Defense School of Intelligence & Security and Norwegian Institute of Technology (NTNU). 

FREYR Battery is a developer of clean, next-generation battery cell production capacity. The Company’s mission is to accelerate the decarbonization of global energy and transportation systems by producing clean, cost-competitive batteries. FREYR seeks to serve the primary markets of energy storage systems (“ESS”) and commercial mobility, and the Company maintains an ambition to serve the passenger electric vehicles market (“EV”). FREYR is commissioning and operating its Customer Qualification Plant (“CQP”) for technology development in Mo I, Rana, Norway, and the Company is commencing development of the Giga America battery manufacturing project in Coweta County, Georgia, in the U.S. 

Katrin Steinthorsdottir is a geologist who is doing her PhD at the University of British Columbia (UBC) alongside working for Carbfix. Her work focuses on CO₂ storage via mineralization in subsurface ultramafic rocks. She completed her MSc also at UBC on serpentinization and implications for carbon mineralization.

Katrin grew up in Iceland, Malta, and the United States, and before moving to Canada, worked on volcano monitoring in Mexico. She acquired her BSc from the University of Iceland investigating physical volcanology with an exchange year at the University of Bern, Switzerland.

GeekWire’s Lisa Stiffler tells the stories of the burgeoning, multi-billion-dollar climate tech sector in the  Pacific Northwest and beyond, profiles tech startups and leaders, and covers the intersection of technology with social, environmental, diversity and education issues.  

Lisa is a University of Washington graduate twice over, with a background in cell biology that was jettisoned  for the excitement and nearly instant gratification of journalism. Her first media gig was at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, where for a decade she covered environmental issues. 

Other roles include a freelance reporter for the Seattle Times, an editor for Seattle’s Child and a researcher at Sightline Institute. 

Follow @lisa_stiffler and email lisa@geekwire.com. 

Nikko Ström is a technologist and scientist with a deep background in AI and speech and language technology. He received his PhD at KTH in Stockholm, where he worked among other things, on automatic speech recognition for a dialogue system for ferry time tables in Stockholm’s archipelago. At Amazon, he was a founding member of the team that built Amazon Echo and Alexa. Today he is a Distinguished Scientist/VP with interests in ASR, NLU, TTS, Dialogue, and other machine learning problems at Alexa AI.

Marie Louise Sunde is a surgeon and holds a medical PhD. She is the founder and CEO of Equality Check - a DE&I tech startup using data and science based solutions to provide the tools organizations need to win the war for talent and stay compliant.

Sunde has been a leading Norwegian voice in the DE&I conversation since founding a social movement in 2015 addressing unconscious gender bias. She was instrumental in the medical #MeToo movement, and has been engaged with the Young Doctor Association in Norway to improve the leadership culture in hospitals. In 2018 she co-authored a best selling book about unconscious gender bias. Sunde is a sought-after public speaker. She holds several board and advisory board positions, among them in Women in Global Health, Queen Sonja’s International Music Competition and Partnership for Change.

Örn Valdimarsson is the Managing Director of Eyrir Venture Management. Previously, Valdimarsson was the Managing Director of Investments at Eyrir Invest. Valdimarsson has led numerous investments on behalf of Eyrir and serves on the Board of Directors in several companies on behalf of Eyrir Venture Management. Valdimarsson has over 20 years of experience with startups and VC investing.

Pekka A. Viljakainen serves as Chairman of the Board of Finnforel Oy and All Capital. He studied engineering at the University of Technology in Lappeenranta. Thanks to his technical background, Viljakainen has for 20 years worked as an ambassador between business executives and technology teams. He started as an entrepreneur in 1986, by establishing Oy Visual Systems Ltd. (1986 – 2004). He joined TietoEnator in 2000. Viljakainen is widely known by his nickname, Bulldozer. His reputation and track record for handling very complex governance and political topics inside large international organizations related to enterprise digitalization earned him this nickname.

Viljakainen is heavily involved in promoting the necessary preparations for a true revolution of services and the deep strategical role of digitalization across Europe. For many years now, Viljakainen has analyzed the fundamental change in consumer behavior and its implications for the corporate strategies in all information intensive businesses. In 2010, Viljakainen stepped down from operative roles and has focused on investing and managing small and medium size technology startups. He is also acting as an independent advisor in Skolkovo Innovation Center and as a board member in Skoltech Technology University.