They are finalists in the AI Swede of the Year 2025
The five finalists for the AI Swede of the Year 2025 award have now been announced. The award is presented by the industry and employer organization TechSverige and goes to the person who the jury believes has contributed most to the visibility and development of Swedish AI. The finalists are Hanna Linderstål, Anton Osika and Fabian Hedin, Joel Rangsjö, Marcus Wallenberg and Leonora Vesterbacka.
- The finalists for AI Swede of the Year 2025 demonstrate the importance of AI in creating social benefit and innovation. They inspire by translating technology into concrete solutions that have an impact on people, businesses and society as a whole. Through their work, Sweden is taking important steps towards establishing itself as a prominent AI nation, where we use technology responsibly and with a clear focus on benefits and opportunities," says Åsa Zetterberg, CEO of TechSverige and chair of the jury for AI Swede of the Year.
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 motivation:
Hanna Linderstål, CEO, Earhart Business Protection Agency
Hanna Linderstål is an experienced leader in cybersecurity, risk and crisis management. With the technology shift brought about by AI, it is important to build in security to prevent tomorrow's cyber threats. Hanna Linderstål has built up her company Earhart Business Protection Agency, where she meets both private and public actors whom she helps to ensure competence in security and use new technologies for sustainable development. Hanna Linderstål also has international assignments where she is a voice for Sweden and works to educate, protect and shape a safer digital future.
Anton Osika and Fabian Hedin, founders of Lovable
Anton Osika and Fabian Hedin, founders of Lovable, are nominated for AI Swede of the Year for their pioneering entrepreneurship and ability to translate AI technology into products and experiences that reach people around the world. By combining technical brilliance with creative vision, they have built a Swedish AI company that in a short time has taken a natural place in the international arena. With their clear leadership and willingness to lead the way, they are inspiring a new generation of entrepreneurs to think bigger, act faster and dare to shape the future with AI. Lovable's international success reinforces the image of Sweden as a country at the forefront - where technology and creativity meet and create new opportunities.
Joel Rangsjö, AI Business Developer at the Swedish Education Administration and Upper Secondary School Teacher and IT Educator at Bäckadalsgymnasiet, Jönköping
Joel Rangsjö is nominated for AI Swede of the Year for his visionary view of artificial intelligence as a central, equalizing force in Swedish schools. He highlights that AI is not just a tool, but a catalyst for redefining what knowledge and learning actually mean in a digitalized era. Joel Rangsjö's work focuses on integrating AI where it can be shown to lead to deeper understanding and more meaningful learning for every student. By leading an important discussion on the role of AI, he is helping to position Sweden at the forefront of using the technology and ensuring equal and future-proof education for all.
Marcus Wallenberg, Chairman, Wallenberg Investments AB
Marcus Wallenberg is nominated for AI Swede of the Year for his visionary, strategic and persistent leadership on AI issues in Sweden. He is, among other things, the initiator of Wallenberg AI, Autonomous Systems and Software Program (WASP), which is Sweden's largest research program of all time with a budget of over SEK 6 billion. He has also been a driving force in building computational capacity for AI, through the Berzelius supercomputer, which is Sweden's fastest supercomputer for AI and machine learning to date and is intended for research and education. Recently, Wallenberg initiated a similar infrastructure on the business side through the creation of Sferical AI. His commitment to society is also reflected in the fact that he has been the driving force behind three other initiatives: WASP Humanities and Society, the Forum for Transition and the formation of Digitalidag. The initiatives are a major research program for social scientists and humanists, an arena for discussion and a public education initiative to study and discuss the consequences of AI, its pros and cons in a societal perspective.
Leonora Vesterbacka, Founding Data Scientist, RedpineAI
Leonora Vesterbacka has made significant contributions to strengthening the visibility and quality of Swedish AI, both nationally and internationally. At the Royal Library's KB lab, she was central to the development of KB-Whisper, the most accurate Swedish speech-to-text model to date, trained on 50,000 hours of Swedish speech - the largest dataset of Swedish transcribed speech ever. KB-Whisper has been widely used by companies, government agencies, media houses and individuals, with thousands of downloads every month. Through her work as a researcher, developer and committed educator, Leonora Vesterbacka has made AI understandable and accessible to more people, and helped put Swedish AI on the map.
The winner will be announced later this fall.
Members of the jury:
Susanne Ackum, Head of Academic Affairs, Linnaeus University, former Principal Secretary of the AI Commission
AtherGattami, researcher and entrepreneur, host of the AI Podcast
Daniel Gillblad, Chief of AI at Recorded Future and Senior Advisor at AI Sweden
Ann-Charlotte Munkhammar, Head of Applied AI, Swedish Social Insurance Agency
Jeanette Nilsson, Project Manager, RISE
Ted Schönbeck, Nordic CTO, Google Cloud
Linavon Sydow, Professor of Computational Science at the Department of Information Technology, Uppsala University
Åsa Zetterberg, CEO, TechSverige (Chair)
About AI Swede of the Year
AI Swede of the Year is an award presented by TechSverige. The award goes to a person who has contributed to the development and visibility of Swedish AI. This is the sixth year in a row that the prize is awarded and last year's winner was Agnes Stenbom, head of the inclusion lab IN/LAB and responsible for trust issues at Schibsted Media and founder of the Nordic AI journalism initiative. Read more about the prize at aretsaisvensk.se