They are finalists for the 2026 Swedish AI Person of the Year award

Safer traffic, more time for patients, and new opportunities in the legal field. This year’s finalists demonstrate how AI can help address societal challenges, develop businesses, and strengthen Sweden’s competitiveness. TechSverige is now announcing the eight finalists for the 2026 Swedish AI Person of the Year award—an honor that recognizes individuals who have contributed to the development and visibility of Swedish AI. 

For the seventh consecutive year, TechSverige is presenting the “Swedish AI Person of the Year” award. This year’s finalists are Ödgärd Andersson, Magnus Boman, John Diklev, Caroline Hällsjö Sander, Max Junstrand, Christian Landgren, Lukas Saari, and Helena Samsioe. Together, they represent a wide range of research, entrepreneurship, and leadership that is driving AI development forward. 

“This year’s finalists demonstrate how AI can create tangible value for people, businesses, and society. They combine knowledge and innovative thinking with the ability to put technology into practice. Sweden needs more role models like these to strengthen our innovative capacity and harness the opportunities offered by AI in a responsible manner,” says Åsa Zetterberg, CEO of TechSverige and chair of the jury. 

The jury's motivation:

Ödgärd Andersson, CEO, Zenseact
Through her leadership, Ödgärd Andersson has helped translate advanced AI into technology for safer driving. As CEO of Zenseact, she leads an organization where research, engineering expertise, and industrial application converge in the development of driver assistance and automated driving. By combining deep learning and real-world traffic data with high reliability standards, she is paving the way for physical AI—where technology perceives, interprets, and acts in the physical world. Her leadership makes her a role model who inspires others to put AI into practice. Her work strengthens Sweden’s position in AI and the automotive industry and demonstrates how the technology can contribute to both industrial competitiveness and safer traffic. 

Magnus Boman, Professor of Artificial Intelligence in Health, Karolinska Institutet
With his extensive expertise and long-standing commitment, Magnus Boman has helped strengthen the use of AI in medical research. He combines his own research on how machine learning can support diagnosis and treatment with efforts to help other researchers utilize the technology. Through AI@KI, he brings together expertise, identifies needs, and builds a shared knowledge environment where increased use of AI is already demonstrating benefits across several fields of medical research. As a researcher and knowledge disseminator, he also makes both the possibilities and limitations of AI understandable to a wider audience. His work strengthens the conditions for AI to be used where it can make a difference for research, healthcare, and patients. 

John Diklev, Founder and CEO, Flower
Through his entrepreneurship, John Diklev has demonstrated how AI can help address the challenges of the energy transition. With Flower, he has built a business that uses AI and machine learning to manage and optimize energy resources, including batteries and renewable electricity generation. By combining software development with the practical realities of the energy market, he creates opportunities to use resources more efficiently and manage fluctuations in the power grid. His work demonstrates how Swedish AI expertise can be translated into business value while contributing to a more flexible power grid capable of utilizing more renewable energy. 

Caroline Hällsjö Sander, Hospital Director, Danderyd Hospital and Region Stockholm
Through her leadership, Caroline Hällsjö Sander has demonstrated how AI can be used to develop healthcare practices and improve access to care for more patients. As the lead for Region Stockholm’s joint project on AI-driven surgical planning, she combines clinical experience and technical expertise in a concrete effort to drive change. The solution is used at several hospitals to better predict the duration of surgeries and utilize existing resources more efficiently. Her work demonstrates the value of collaboration and the ability to translate healthcare needs into practical AI solutions—solutions that also combine efficiency with patient benefit. 

Max Junestrand, Co-founder and CEO, Legora
Through his entrepreneurship, Max Junestrand has helped put generative AI to practical use in the legal field. As co-founder and CEO of Legora, he has built a business where AI helps lawyers review extensive documents, search for legal information, and draft legal texts. Through close collaboration with users, he combines technological development with an understanding of specialized legal work, creating tools that support lawyers’ analysis and judgment. With Legora’s international impact, he helps raise the profile of Swedish AI innovation. His work demonstrates how AI can boost productivity in knowledge-intensive fields, with human expertise serving as a central component of the technology’s application. 

Christian Landgren, Co-founder, Berget AI
Christian Landgren combines technical entrepreneurship with a strong commitment to open technology and Sweden’s digital capabilities. As a co-founder of Berget AI, he makes open AI models available through Swedish and European infrastructure and provides companies and public sector organizations with more options for their use of AI. Through technological development, consulting, and participation in public discourse, he highlights the importance of in-house expertise, control over data, and reduced dependence on individual vendors. His work brings the issue of digital independence to life and demonstrates how Swedish stakeholders can help shape the conditions for the AI of the future. 

Lukas Saari, Co-founder and CEO, Tandem Health
Through his entrepreneurship, Lukas Saari has demonstrated how AI can reduce administrative burdens in healthcare and free up more time for patient interactions. As co-founder and CEO of Tandem Health, he works alongside his co-founders and the team to develop advanced AI that transcribes patient conversations and converts them into suggested medical notes, which healthcare professionals then review and approve. By combining technical expertise with an understanding of the day-to-day realities of healthcare, he helps make AI a practical tool in clinical practice. With Tandem Health’s growth and international expansion, he is also helping to draw attention to Swedish AI and its potential to create value even beyond Sweden’s borders. His and his team’s work demonstrates how Swedish AI innovation can address concrete needs in healthcare and create the conditions for more time to be spent with patients, while keeping healthcare professionals’ knowledge and responsibility at the center. 

Helena Samsioe, Founder and CEO, Globhe
Through her entrepreneurship, Helena Samsioe has made a key prerequisite for AI more accessible: relevant data from the physical world. With Globhe, she has built a global platform that connects local drone operators with organizations that need imagery and geographic data for purposes such as AI analysis, inspections, and environmental monitoring. The company also uses AI to streamline ordering and pricing. By combining local data collection with an internationally accessible service, she demonstrates how innovation can create new opportunities to use AI to address needs in the areas of climate, infrastructure, and social development. 

The Jury for the 2026 Swedish AI Professional of the Year Award
The jury brings together expertise in AI and digitalization from the business community, academia, and the public sector: 

The winner will be announced later this fall. 

About the “AI Swede of the Year” Award
The “AI Swede of the Year” Awardis presented by TechSverige to recognize individuals who have made significant contributions to the development and visibility of AI in Sweden. In 2026, the award will be presented for the seventh consecutive year. Last year’s winners were Lovable co-founders Anton Osika and Fabian Hedin. Learn more at aretsaisvensk.se.