Moderators: 
Peter Wallin
Program director, PiiA

&

Helena Blackbright
Innovation Researcher, Automation Region & Mälardalen University


Jenny Elfsberg
Head of Innovation Management at Vinnova
Visionary, value-driven leader with collaboration, exploration, innovation, strategy and sustainability as passions. Technology savvy with 22 years in R&D, Advanced Engineering, Foresight and Innovation. Doing collaborative innovation in large multinational organizations (rather than just talking about it...), leading people to have fun, be at their best and to drive change is what I do best. I can contribute to any organization with design thinking, innovation engineering, strategic innovation/organizational ambidexterity, foresight and creativity tools, measuring innovative capability, product development, team development - with a selfless, progress focused leadership while we all have fun.

Karin Olofsdotter
Ambassador of Sweden to the United States
Karin Olofsdotter has been the Ambassador of Sweden to the United States since September 1, 2017. She has long been an advocate for Swedish trade and diplomatic relations with the United States. Trade and economic growth remain top priorities for the Ambassador, along with defense cooperation, public diplomacy, and strong collaboration with the international community.

Prachi J. Vakharia
Advisor & Head of Safety & Alliances
Prachi J. Vakharia works in Washington DC, USA, on transportation innovation, regulations and leadership advancing projects in autonomous vehicles, digital and shared mobility, and electric mobility standards and infrastructure. Prachi leads the implementation of AI/ML, Computer Vision, Hardware and Safety technologies for the Massachusetts Government; she is also the lead architect of Electric Vehicles Workplace Charging certification with Forth; and she also develops autonomous safety protocols for SafeAI, a world leading mining and construction automation company from Silicon Valley, California, with operations in Australia, Japan, Canada, India, etc.

Helena Malmqvist
Research Manager, Jernkontoret
With a background from process industry; from pulp and paper to steel production and later working many years for one of the largest Swedish tech suppliers Helena is now in charge of research strategy and large collaborations at Jernkontoret. Jernkontoret is the Swedish iron and steel producers' association, safeguarding the industry's interests through working for the best possible preconditions for operations in Sweden. Helena’s focus areas are Digitalisation and Energy and Furnace technology.

Ola Norén
Head of ABB Metallurgy and chairman of the board at Automation Region
Working with sales excellence and business development I keep myself up to date with the latest technology trends in the industry as well as the trends in B2B sales and marketing. I am responsible for ABB Metallurgy delivering electromagnetic stirrers across the globe helping steel and aluminum producers increase quality while at the same time substantially reduce their carbon footprint. 15 + years of sales experience and management positions from energy and automation industry. I am eager to learn and share ideas in areas improving sales results for individuals and organizations. Since 2021 chairman of the board of Automation Region actively supporting the increased use of automation in Swedish industry and the growing Indtech movement.

Gro Dyrnes
Chief Commercial Officer, Ivaldi and Partner, Norselab
From diplomacy to VC, and from corporate to startup. Earlier this year Gro left her position as a diplomat and executive in Silicon Valley and joined Ivaldi group as their Chief Commercial Officer, and their main investor, Norselab, as Partner. It was time to practice what she had seen and preached over so many years. Originally from Norway and educated within business administration and economics, she has always had roles in the intersection between tech and business, innovation and operations and her philosophy both as an investor and executive is to lead by doing. With a base in Silicon Valley her ambition is to combine the best of both worlds and leverage Nordic industrial advantages combined with data insight with a net positive impact on our society. Ivaldi enables industrial companies to send files, not spare parts, reducing lead time, costs and carbon footprint. Norselab invests in meaningful technology companies with a net positive impact.

Shilpa Kolhatkar
Global AI Nations Business Development| NVIDIA
Shilpa is Head of Global Business Development for AI Nations at Nvidia, and is responsible for driving the adoption and  growth of Nvidia’s AI platforms and solutions across public sector. She is focused on cultivating partnerships and a rich ecosystem, to take Nvidia solutions to market. In her previous role, Shilpa was driving Business Development for Cisco’s IoT solutions.  Shilpa holds Masters in Business Administration, and  bachelors in Computer Science, from San Jose State University of California.

Antonio Zarcone
Account Executive DACH, Cogniac
Antonio has a background in technical leadership for Telecommunications. He also has more than 10 years of experiences in business management in Automotive, Industrial, Telecommunications and LED industries.