Tommi Ogi Possnert has spent the last decade working at some of Sweden’s largest global companies including Ericsson and Sandvik where tech and digitalization are important parts of their strategy.

What are the most important values or principles that guide your work?

"Humans and simplicity are two things that I always keep in the back of my head. I always try to remember myself of them, let them guide me and the way forward. I use a variety of questions to continuously remind and test myself of them. Questions like: Can this be simplified? Can it be understood (by humans)? Will it be useable (for humans)? Is it something that humans want to use? Is it something that will be beneficial (for humans)? Is it something that serves a purpose?."

"So many things are overly complicated. We tend to love our own stuff. Love it so much that we are super eager to include every single detail about it. Afraid to lose nuances, to lose context. At the end, we may love the outcome. But the receivers may not. They may not love it as much as we do. We may have done something that is overly complicated. Then, we risk losing the attention and interactions with humans."

"Humans should always be in the center. Regardless of what we do, there will always be a human using or interacting with it. In the rare cases of no human interaction, there should always be a human who ultimately benefit from it. If we only focus on what we love, we easily forget the humans. Then, we can create something that is fantastic, but no one is interested in. Is that really beneficial? Is that something that reflects the love of what we do? Having humans in the center is a good thing. Incidentally, it is also a focus that will benefit future use of and evaluation of various use cases of AI."

Who would benefit most from attending your session?

"If you want to succeed with tech projects but sometimes fail, then you will benefit from my session. If you have ever experienced a tech project that failed or didn’t go according to plan, then you will benefit from my session. The same goes if you ever experienced a tech project where the users are not happy or where the system is not used to its full potential. Using an unexpected source of inspiration, I will guide you – step-by-step – in planning and executing for more successful tech implementations."

"On the flip-side, my session is not for you if you have only experienced successful tech projects. But if the reason for your successes is pure luck, then you might still benefit from my session. Ask yourself the question if you know why you have always been successful and explain it step-by-step? If you have a clear answer, then this session may not be for you."

Can you share a memorable experience from a past speaking engagement?

"I care about the people who invest their time and engage as participants. Therefore, I was happily surprised when I was approached by a participant one and a half years after a speaking engagement. That person expressed that my message really stuck with that person. And, that person wanted to explore how to incorporate the message deeper in the daily life."