Thomas Nikolai Blekeli focuses on raising awareness of artificial intelligence and realizing new editorial opportunities at NRK (Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation). He has played a key role in the development of editorial AI solutions and is the product owner for NRK's internal AI-tool, NRKGPT.

His combination of strategic insight and practical experience makes him a driving force in both upskilling and editorial development within the media industry. Throughout his work, Thomas has focused extensively on training colleagues in the practical and ethical use of artificial intelligence, giving him unique insight into how a large media organization can build AI competence from the ground up.

Gunnar Bovim is a Norwegian physician and professor specializing in neurology. He earned his medical degree from the University of Bergen in 1985 and later completed his doctorate in neurology at the University of Trondheim in 1993. Bovim has held several leadership positions, including serving as Rector of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) from 2013 to 2019. He has also been CEO of Helse Midt-Norge and St. Olavs Hospital. In addition to his role as Chair of the Research Council of Norway, Bovim was Chairman of the Board at Innovation Norway from 2018 to 2022, where he contributed to shaping national innovation strategies.

Lars Bungum is a postdoctoral researcher at NorwAI in Trondheim. With a background in computational linguistics, Bungum has been involved with language modeling since n-gram models were in vogue.  While his previous research mostly concerned Machine Translation, his currents research involves many other NLP applications, such as sentence simplification and reasoning.  As part of the European TrustLLM project, he is developing new methods for LLM evaluation, with a particular focus on testing the linguistic ability of generative models on smaller languages like Norwegian, in particular.

Simone Casolo is an expert in industrial data science and artificial intelligence, specializing in developing AI-driven solutions for the energy sector. With a solid foundation in research, Simone transitioned from academic research into industry roles, initially working on subsea oil and gas projects. Since joining Cognite in 2020, Simone has advanced through various positions, including Head of Production Optimization and Principal Data Scientist. In these roles, Simone led teams in creating and deploying scalable machine learning applications for predictive maintenance and production optimization, particularly in the oil and gas. Simone's work is characterized by a deep understanding of both the technical and strategic aspects of data science in industrial contexts and he is now leading the NorwAI work package DATA. 

Annita Fjuk, PhD, and Innovation Lead at Digital Norway, brings a unique combination of transformation leadership in global tech companies and academic authority through Professor II positions at leading business schools, and now at the new AI center, AI LEARN. She has driven major strategic shifts in established organizations by embedding innovation as a core capability, while simultaneously advancing the academic field. Her work bridges business and academia, shaping organizational culture, leadership, and competence development for a digital economy. As a recognized scholar and contributor to Norway’s National Strategy for Digital Transformation in Higher Education (2021–2025), she demonstrates a proven dual impact on both corporate practice and public policy.

Bjørn Fjukstad is a product manager at DIPS and leads the development of AI solutions within the DIPS Arena EHR (Electronic Health Record) system. He holds a PhD in computer science from the Health Data Lab at UiT The Arctic University of Norway, where his research focused on interactive systems for health data analysis. At DIPS, his team works on practical AI applications aimed at empowering healthcare personnel and improving patient care, such as tools for summarizing clinical documents (e.g., for discharge summaries), improving information retrieval in the health record, and assisting with referral assessments.
 

Michalis Giannakos is a co-director of the AI Centre for Empowerment of Human Learning (AI-LEARN) — one of six national AI centres in Norway. AI-LEARN focuses on the interaction between humans and artificial intelligence, with an emphasis on developing human-centred infrastructures designed to enhance and empower human learning. AI LEARN is supported by the Research Council of Norway and comprises 10 academic partners, 8 public sector and 8 private sector partners, an international network of academic partners and a nationwide stakeholder network.

Michalis Giannakos is a professor of interaction design and learning technologies at the Department of Computer Science of NTNU, and Head of the Learner-Computer Interaction lab. His work focuses on developing new ways for humans to interact with intelligent learning systems. He has co-authored more than 150 manuscripts published in peer-reviewed journals and conferences and has served as an evaluator for the EC and the US-NSF. He is the editor in chief of Behaviour & Information Technology journal. His research has been funded by diverse sources like the European Commision, Microsoft Research, Meta Reality Labs, The Research Council of Norway (RCN), US-NSF, and Cheng Endowment; Giannakos is also a recipient of a Marie Curie/ERCIM fellowship, and the prestigious «Young Research Talents» grant from the Research Council of Norway. He was one of the outstanding academic fellows of NTNU (2017-2021).

Jon Atle Gulla is director of the Norwegian Research Center for AI Innovation (NorwAI). This is a center for research-based innovation (SFI) that develops new technologies for successful and responsible exploitation of data-driven artificial intelligence in industrial innovations.  NorwAI is supported by the Research Center of Norway, three universities, two research institutes and 11 companies.

Jon Atle Gulla is a professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim.  He was the head of the Department of Computer and Information Science 2010—2012 and the deputy head 2009-2010 and 2012-2013.  Gulla has a MSc (1988) and a PhD (1993) in Computer Science from the Norwegian Institute of Technology. He has a MSc in Linguistics from the University of Trondheim (1995) and a MSc of Management (Sloan fellowship) from London Business School (2003).  He is a member of the Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters.

Gulla’s research centers around Semantics and Natural Language Processing and its use in Recommender Systems, Information Retrieval, and Text Analytics.  He has a keen interest in Digitalization and AI-based Innovation and Entrepreneurship, facilitating AI adoption in industrial companies as well as exploring new business opportunities in startups.

Egil Aslak Aursand Hagerup is a technology journalist and one of NRK’s lead trainers in artificial intelligence. With a background spanning journalism, satire, and digital development, he has helped shape NRK’s strategy for building broad internal AI competence. He played a key role in designing and delivering NRK’s comprehensive AI training program, which has reached news, sports, and entertainment and soon the rest of the divisions across the organization.

Egil combines journalistic storytelling skills with technical insight, making complex AI concepts accessible and relevant to media professionals. His experience in both editorial innovation and pedagogy has made him a central figure in NRK’s efforts to integrate AI responsibly and effectively into daily production.

Christian Printzell Halvorsen (born 1974) is the CEO of Vend, formerly Schibsted ASA. He previously served as EVP for Nordic Marketplaces at Schibsted from 2019 to June 2024. Christian has extensive experience leading digital marketplaces and technology companies. Before becoming EVP at Schibsted, he was CEO of the global tech company Cxense ASA (2017-2019). Prior to this, he spent over 10 years in various senior roles within Schibsted, including CEO of FINN.no and SVP Product in Schibsted Marketplaces, leading up to the Adevinta spin-off in 2019.

He holds a master’s degree in Computer Science and Information Systems from NTNU and is passionate about building teams and products that deliver exceptional user and customer value.

Vend

Vend (Vend Marketplaces ASA) is a family of marketplaces with a strong Nordic position and 1730 employees. As a leading pure-play marketplaces company within Mobility, Jobs, Real Estate and Recommerce, we provide effortless digital experiences designed for the needs of tomorrow. We do it with a clear sense of purpose, to create sustainable value and long-term growth, for all our stakeholders and society as a whole.

Removing friction drives everything we build, design, and deliver—creating meeting points where real needs meet real solutions. That’s
how we move the world forward: Not by pushing harder, but by making it easier. Easier to choose well. Easier to live sustainably. Easier to turn to smarter. Smart choices made easy.

Vend Marketplaces is listed on Oslo Børs and has an ownership share of approximately 14% in Adevinta, a company that was spun off from Schibsted (previous corporate name for Vend before divesting Media operations) in 2019 and is now privately owned by a group of investors.

Øyvind Solberg Moe is Chief of Staff at Telenor’s AI Factory, where he helps turn vision into actionable strategy, ensuring customer value and success while overseeing AI operations. With nearly two decades at Telenor, Øyvind has held leadership roles across Norway, Singapore, Thailand, and beyond — from global procurement strategy to sourcing and partnerships. His experience spans large-scale supplier management, operational transformation, and building innovative teams that leverage technology to deliver impact. At NorwAI Innovate, he shares insights from leading AI-driven initiatives inside one of Norway’s most forward-looking technology organisations.

Jon Espen Ingvaldsen is CTO of Medbric and Adjunct Associate Professor at NorwAI, NTNU. 
At NorwAI he has played a key role in the successful NorLLM project bringing Norwegian large language models to life. 
Jon Espen Ingvaldsen has a Ph.D. and research experience in the analysis and monitoring of a wide range of data structures, from continuous data streams, to unstructured text, transaction logs and graph data.

Johannes Voll Kolstø is a researcher at the Norwegian Computing Center, with an MSc in Applied Physics and Mathematics from NTNU. He's worked on projects involving cloudburst water damage modeling, anomaly detection in ship engines, and data validation, utilizing generalized additive statistical models and machine learning. He has previously worked as a software developer in a deep tech sensor startup.

Haakon Thue Lie is an IP-management consultant with Dehns and Associate Professor II at NTNU’s Department of Industrial Economics and Technology Management. A European Patent, Trademark, and Design Attorney, he helps start-ups, corporations, universities, and research institutes use patents, trade secrets, open source, and branding to balance openness with control. He holds a PhD in trade secret management in open innovation from NTNU (2020) and has worked with IP and innovation in Telenor R&D and the e-learning industry.  Drawing on more than twenty years of advisory work, Haakon's research focuses on intellectual property strategy in university-industry collaboration.

Elise Lindeberg is the CEO of Skygard, a new Norwegian data center initiative built to meet a wide range of requirements for secure and efficient data storage and processing.
Skygard is specifically designed to support the processing of data that is vital and critical to society, with a strong focus on security and sustainable energy use. Elise Lindeberg has for many years been actively engaged in the public debate on security and national control over critical communications and data. She is the former Director of Security at the Norwegian Communications Authority (Nkom) and was a member of the Norwegian Total Preparedness Commission.

Juan Carlos Lopez, Director of Data & AI at Schibsted Media, revolutionizes journalism with innovative, data-driven strategies. With 20+ years in tech, he leverages AI and responsible data to fuel growth and deliver personalized media experiences.

Hilde Lovett is a special advisor at the Norwegian Directorate of Health and the project manager for the Joint national AI plan for the Norwegian health and care services. She holds a Master's degree in Computer Science and a Master's degree in Technology Management, with a background as a researcher and research director at the Norwegian Computing Center and Telenor, as well as project manager for technology policy at the Norwegian Board of Technology. She has held various responsibilities related to AI and health over the past nine years.

Jon is a Machine Learning Engineer specialized in IoT systems. He has a Master in Data Science and a Bachelor in Electronics Engineering, and has published several papers on applied Machine Learning, including topics like TinyML, Wireless Sensor Systems and Audio Classification.

These days Jon is co-founder and Head of Data Science at Soundsensing, a leading provider of condition monitoring solutions for commercial buildings and HVAC systems. He is also the creator and maintainer of emlearn, an open-source Machine Learning library for microcontrollers and embedded systems.

Co-director of Norwegian Center on AI for Decisions (AID). Research Manager for Analytics and AI and Senior Research Scientist in machine learning for industrial applications, hybrid AI (data driven modelling of physical systems), combining machine learning and optimization, explainable AI, data science and statistical analysis. Working on overcoming challenges for implementing machine learning and artificial intelligence in a range of very different industrial settings where physics play a role and data is less than perfect.

Abdul-Kazeem Shamba is a doctoral researcher at the Norwegian Research Center for AI Innovation (NorwAI), focusing on meta-learning and contrastive representation learning. My research explores how insights from human learning can inform the development of more efficient machine learning methods, with applications in AI-driven perception and representation.
 

Professor Asgeir J. Sørensen obtained MSc degree in Marine Technology in 1988 at NTNU, and PhD degree in Engineering Cybernetics at NTNU in 1993. In 1989-1992 Sørensen was employed at MARINTEK (SINTEF) as Research Scientist. In the years 1993-2002 Sørensen was employed in various positions in the ABB Group. In December 2002 Sørensen become co-founder of the company, Marine Cybernetics AS, where he was acting as President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) until June 2010. Since 1999 Sørensen has held the position of Professor of Marine Control Systems at the Department of Marine Technology, NTNU. In the period 2013-2023 Sørensen was key scientist and the Director of the Centre for Autonomous Marine Operations and Systems (NTNU AMOS). He is currently director of NTNU VISTA CAROS. Since 2024 Sørensen has been engaged as adjunct professor at UiT the Arctic University of Norway. Sørensen is engaged in bringing fundamental research results into value creation by innovations and entrepreneurships being co-founder of several companies.  

Ketil Thorvik has a long track record with innovation in healthcare, from Hemit, SINTEF and The operating room of the future, St olavs hospital. Ketil is head of the AI-team at Hemit, and he is coordinating the regional work to ensure safe and innovative use of AI in the specialized healthcare services in Mid-Norway.

He was co-author of the chapter Leadership and strategies in Innovasjonsboka (Dagestad, 2023) His background is political science from NTNU and University of Washington.

Hanne Dahl Vonen recently completed a master's in Epidemiology at Harvard University. She is a recipient of Aker Scholarship, Norway's most prestigious scholarship program for graduate studies. She has done research on ML for clinical decision making, women's health and health inequalities, including publications in top journals such as The Lancet. She currently works as an Innovation Manager for the Novo Nordisk Bio Innovation Hub in Boston, where her focus is on health technology and digital health.  

Hanne is the founder of the company Hugin Medical, which was created together with engineers from MIT and the University of Edinburgh. The aim of the company is to use AI to make better priorities in radiology in the Norwegian Healthcare System, and to make sure diagnostics adheres to clinical guidelines. They develop their technology in collaboration with St. Olavs Hospital. Hugin won 1^st place in Venture Cup Norway 2025, as well as being the recipient of a 1 million nok student grant from Innovation Norway.

Kjersti Wold is Head of Advanced Analytics at SpareBank 1 SMN, where she leads a team of data scientists and machine learning experts. With nearly 20 years of experience in analytics and data science across various banking domains, she is responsible for shaping and executing the company’s data and AI strategy. Kjersti is passionate about aligning technology-driven opportunities with clear business needs and ambitions. Her work focuses on building strong connections between AI and machine learning specialists and the broader business side, ensuring shared understanding and collaboration that lead to effective, lasting solutions.

Lemei Zhang is a postdoctoral researcher at the Norwegian Research Center for AI Innovation (NorwAI) at NTNU, Norway. Her research topics include natural language processing, recommender systems, and user modeling. Currently, she focuses on the development of foundational language models and their application for low-resource languages. Her research has appeared in NeurIPS, EMNLP, TACL, TOIS, UMUAI, ECML-PKDD, etc., and she actively serves as a PC member or reviewer for conferences and journals such as NeurIPS, ECAI, AAAI, ACM Computing Surveys, TOIS, UMUAI, and TWEB etc.

Lilja Øvrelid is a Professor of Informatics at the University of Oslo, where she leads the Language Technology Group and is one of the co-directors of the Integreat Center of Excellence for Knowledge-driven ML. Øvrelid’s research focuses on LLM training and evaluation for lesser resourced languages, in particular in a Norwegian/Nordic context. She has worked extensively on resource-creation and data annotation, as well as information extraction from text, e.g. event extraction, fine-grained sentiment analysis and semantic parsing.

Heidrun’s research has focused on the governance of emerging technologies; ranging from nanotechnology over biotechnology to digitalisation. In 2024, she was part of the Norwegian government-appointed expert committee on AI & elections. Heidrun works at the intersection of policy studies and Science and Technology Studies (STS) and has a PhD in political sciences.