They are finalists in the AI Swede of the Year 2024

The seven finalists for the AI Swede of the Year 2024 award have now been announced. The award is presented by TechSverige and goes to the person who the jury feels has contributed most to the visibility and development of Swedish AI. The finalists are Lina Bjelkmar, Maja Fjaestad, Ann-Charlotte Munkhammar, Thomas Schön, Agnes Stenbom, Staffan Truvé and Anders Ynnerman.

- AI creates enormous opportunities to drive development and create value for individuals, society and business. The finalists in AI Swede of the Year 2024 are role models who show the way towards a responsible use of AI that strengthens Sweden's competitiveness. Their work underlines the importance of Sweden joining forces to fully utilize the potential of AI," says Åsa Zetterberg, Director of TechSverige and chair of the jury. 

The AI Swede of the Year award is presented by TechSverige and aims to reward efforts, commitment and work in AI that lead to moving Swedish AI forward. The jury has consisted of members with expertise in digitization and AI from business, academia and the public sector. 

Jury's motivations 

Lina Bjelkmar, CEO, Indicate Me
Lina Bjelkmar, CEO of Indicate Me, has been nominated for AI Swede of the Year for her inspiring leadership and innovative use of AI. By giving three employees in Falun, without formal AI training, the responsibility of developing the company's new AI service, Lina Bjelkmar showed great confidence in internal competence. The result was a groundbreaking AI solution that in just three months was introduced at PostNord and later at several large and well-known Swedish companies. Lina Bjelkmar is an AI role model and an active lecturer and engaged in AI Sweden and the politician week in Almedalen, where she inspires others to embrace AI and drive change. 

Maja Fjaestad, Adjunct Professor at Luleå University of Technology, author and lecturer
Maja Fjaestad is a pioneering voice in Swedish politics and technology, with a strong focus on bringing AI technology closer to people with the value of democracy as a driving force. As a former State Secretary, she has made decisions that contributed to the transparent and fair use of AI in healthcare, before general artificial intelligence (GAI) was on everyone's lips. Her deep commitment to making AI accessible and understandable to all Swedes through books, podcasts and lectures shows her care for creating a future where technology empowers the individual and society in a responsible way. Maja Fjaestad is a role model for how political leadership and AI can work together for the good of society. 

Ann-Charlotte Munkhammar, Head of Applied AI, Swedish Social Insurance Agency
Ann-Charlotte Munkhammar is a visionary leader who, through her strategic work, has driven the Swedish Social Insurance Agency to become a leader in AI applications in the public sector. By creating a climate characterized by innovation, collaboration and participation, she has contributed to developing new, value-creating ways of applying AI and shown that AI can improve processing and make decisions more equal and equivalent. Her commitment and ability to share insights and experiences make her an obvious finalist for AI Swede of the Year. 

Thomas Schön, Beijer Professor of Artificial Intelligence at the Department of Information Technology, Uppsala University
Thomas Schön's research is about what is at the heart of AI - extracting knowledge from data and thus allowing machines to acquire new skills. Thomas is an expert in exactly this, developing models and algorithms that can learn from data. His research is interdisciplinary and he collaborates with fields such as medicine and biology. In this way, his vast knowledge in AI reaches out where it is directly used in various important application areas. The combination of basic research and applications makes Thomas Schön's research particularly successful and he is now one of the top international researchers in machine learning and AI. 

Agnes Stenbom, Head of IN/LAB & Trust Initiatives, Schibsted
As founder and head of Schibsted's IN/LAB, Agnes Stenbom has been exploring how AI is reshaping the media industry and proposing how the media of the future can harness and adapt to this technology to promote democracy and inclusion. She is an industrial PhD student and also co-founder of Nordic AI Journalism, an initiative that aims to promote the responsible use and development of AI technologies in journalism. Agnes Stenbom has been a prominent voice in the debate on AI labeling, transparency and ethical use of AI, making her a leading expert and role model whose influence extends globally in an industry heavily influenced by the advancement of technology. 

Staffan Truvé, Co-Founder and Chief Technical Officer, Recorded Future
As Co-Founder and Chief Technical Officer of Recorded Future, Staffan Truvé has built Sweden's largest AI company, recently acquired by Mastercard for more than SEK 27 billion. Involved in numerous ventures and boards, a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences and winner of the Polhem Prize, Staffan Truvé has also been central to building the Swedish AI ecosystem for many years, tirelessly spreading knowledge and enthusiasm for AI and its applications 

Anders Ynnerman, Professor of Scientific Visualization and Head of Department of Media and Information Technology (MIT), Linköping University
Anders Ynnerman is a professor and a pioneer in visualization technology and AI, whose pioneering work at Linköping University has revolutionized the way we deal with complex datasets, especially in medical imaging and visualization research. Anders Ynnerman is also Program Director of WASP: Wallenberg AI, Autonomous Systems and Software Program which is the largest individual research program in Sweden in modern times where strategically motivated basic research, graduate education and recruitment of academic excellence in AI is the focus. Through his research and strategic roles, he has become a hub for and made advanced AI technologies more accessible and useful to both researchers and the public, strengthening Sweden's position as an AI nation.       

The winner will be announced later in the fall.   

Members of the jury
Daniel Akenine, National Head of Technology, Microsoft Sweden
Aurore Belfrage, tech investor, geopolitical advisor and sustainability strategist
Louise Callenberg, Founder Leadership ARTS, Initiator #bettershared, AI theologian
AtherGattami, researcher and entrepreneur, host of the AI Podcast
Daniel Gillblad, co-director, AI Sweden
Jeanette Nilsson, project manager, RISE
Linavon Sydow, professor of computational science at the Department of Information Technology, Uppsala University
Åsa Zetterberg, director, TechSverige (chair)
 

About the AI Swede of the Year
The AI Swede of the Year is a prize awarded by TechSverige. The award goes to a person who has contributed to the development and visibility of Swedish AI. This is the fifth year in a row that the prize is awarded and last year's winner was Max Gordon, associate professor and chief physician at Danderyd Hospital. Read more about the prize ataretsaisvensk.se