Industry event | AI for resilient retail: redesigning leadership and operating models under disruption - 22 Apr 2026

Retail is operating under persistent disruption. As artificial intelligence moves into pricing, forecasting, supply chains, and customer systems, the question is no longer whether to adopt AI — but how to scale and govern it. This executive forum explores how leaders can redesign operating models and decision structures to strengthen resilience under sustained uncertainty. Please register below to secure your seat.

Starttid: 2026-04-22 at 16:00

Sluttid: 2026-04-22 at 19:30

Plats: Stockholm School of Economics. Registration required.

Retail faces a materially different landscape than in previous transformation cycles. Geopolitical fragmentation, regulatory expansion, infrastructure dependency, and capital constraints are no longer episodic pressures — they are structural conditions. At the same time, artificial intelligence is embedding intelligence into core business systems, influencing pricing, supply chains, customer interactions, and enterprise coordination. When scaled without institutional alignment, AI can amplify fragility rather than resilience.

This forum builds on a joint research initiative and accompanying white paper co-authored by the Center for Data and Analytics at the Stockholm School of Economics and Circular Transparency. The work draws on insights from senior leaders at ICA, H&M, IKEA, AWS, and Google Cloud.

The discussion will examine when AI moves beyond isolated experimentation and begins to reshape the operating model itself. It will explore how governance and investment decisions influence long-term resilience, where the pursuit of efficiency may reduce strategic flexibility, and how leadership responsibility evolves as intelligent systems take on a greater role in enterprise coordination.

Participants can expect a structured leadership perspective on how to embed and scale AI within a resilience-first governance framework — moving from reactive crisis management to structurally resilient enterprise design. The forum will synthesize cross-industry insights into the strategic patterns, governance considerations, and investment implications that define AI maturity at enterprise scale.

The event brings together leaders from retail, technology, and cybersecurity to explore how leadership and organizational culture must evolve to support this transition. This event is designed for senior decision-makers responsible for strategy, governance, and long-term competitiveness.

Program

Doors open at 15:30

Start of program at 16:00

Networking mingle from 18:45

Nina Shariati

Founder, Circular Transparency

Nina Shariati is founder of Circular Transparency and works at the intersection of strategy, business transformation, and systemic change. She co-initiated and co-authored the AI for Resilient Retail white paper with the Center for Data and Analytics at the Stockholm School of Economics and industry leaders. Her work explores how organisations build resilience under technological disruption and how institutional design shapes their ability to adapt in the age of AI. Her perspective is informed by international experience across global supply and value chains, including work in China and Bangladesh and with organisations such as H&M Group and United Nations Economic Commission for Europe.

Rickard Sandberg

Associate Professor, SSE House of Innovation

Rickard Sandberg is an Associate Professor of Applied Mathematics and Director of the Center for Data and Analytics at the Stockholm School of Economics. He co-initiated and co- authored the AI for Resilient Retail research initiative and white paper in partnership with Circular Transparency and industry leaders. His work specializes in data- and AI-driven decision-making, with a focus on finance, sustainability, and the institutional design of intelligent systems.

Panelists

Anneli Gunnarsson

Global VP Retail Data & Machine Learning, IKEA

Daniel Akenine

National Technology Officer, Microsoft

Daniel Akenine is a fellow of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences and a National Technology Officer at Microsoft. In this role, he focuses on exploring the long-term implications of cutting-edge technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Quantum Computing, and Virtual Reality. He is an IASA Fellow, one of the world’s leading awards in IT architecture and in 2022 he was ranked by IDG and TechSverige as one of the 50 most influential in Swedish techindustry. In 2023 he was listed as one of the ten most influential people in digitalization of the public sector in Sweden and was elected as a new fellow of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (IVA) in 2024.

Daniel has been one of ten members in the National Digitalisation Council chaired by the Swedish Minister of Digitalisation and is also an established Swedish fiction writer with best-selling novels as well as non-fictions on technology and AI.

Ellen Svanström

CDIO, H&M Group

Ellen Svanström has an extensive background in technology and retail, with over 25 years in executive roles. Before joining H&M in 2016, she served as CEO of Extenda and held several global leadership positions at IBM and Gant. At H&M, Ellen has held several senior leadership roles including Head of Business Ventures and Head of Group Strategy. Today she serves as Chief Digital and Information Officer (CDIO). In this role, she leads global teams across hardware, software, application management, and emerging technologies, driving H&M Group’s largest tech programs. Ellen graduated in Business Administration from Stockholm University and holds an MBA from Skema Business School.

Hanna Linderstål

International cybersecurity advisor, Founder of Earhart Business Protection Agency, and cybersecurity expert to UNICC

Hanna is the Founder of Earhart Business Protection Agency, and serves as an international cybersecurity advisor as well as cybersecurity expert to UNICC, working at the intersection of security, geopolitics, and resilience.

Linda Leopold

AI Strategic Advisor

Linda Leopold is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker specializing in AI strategy, transformation, and responsible technology adoption. She spent seven years in senior AI leadership roles at H&M Group, spearheading initiatives in responsible AI and digital ethics. Linda is a member of MIT Sloan Management Review's expert panel on responsible AI and has been recognized by Forbes as one of nine "Inspirational Women Leaders in AI Shaping the 21st Century.”

Martin Elwin

Technology Director for Northern Europe, Amazon Web Services

Martin Elwin is the technology director for Northern Europe at Amazon Web Services. Before joining AWS last year, Martin spent 7 years at the payments company and bank Klarna, where he for the last 18 months was Head of AI.

Peter Muld

CIO, ICA

Peter Muld is the CIO of ICA, a leading retail company with focus on food and health. ICA currently has around 1300 grocery stores and 400 pharmacies in Sweden, as well as offering bank and insurance services to the Swedish households. Peter leads the IT organization and the digital agenda, where AI is a key enabler.

House of Innovation Artificial intelligence Retail Technology Industry seminar