Heja Framtiden – Global Conversations on the Future

Griet Vanhee: Inclusion by design

Technology can unlock life-changing opportunities for people with disabilities. Griet Vanhee previously worked as a speech therapist for ALS patients. She was recruited to the Swedish eye-tracking company Tobii and the newly formed division ⁠Tobii Dynavox⁠, focusing on AAC solutions - Assistive and Alternative Communications. On stage at ⁠Women in Tech Sweden 2026⁠, Griet showcased one of their products together with twelve-year-old Linnea, suffering from cerebral palsy, who could communicate through an eye-tracking device and a screen prepared with letters, words and phrases. Inclusion does not happen by accident, it happens by design. What potential could be fulfilled if more people were able to communicate on their own terms? Podcast host: ⁠Christian von Essen [https://linktr.ee/christianvonessen]⁠ // Learn more at ⁠hejaframtiden.se [https://hejaframtiden.se/]⁠ and ⁠subscribe to the newsletter on Substack [https://christianvonessen.substack.com/]⁠ (in Swedish).

Ken Villum Klausen: Agentic fintech and invisible banking

When ⁠Ken Villum Klausen⁠ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kenvillum/] founded ⁠Lunar⁠ [https://www.lunar.app] in Denmark almost 11 years ago, he could hardly foresee the current AI landscape. With a resilient backbone formed on the struggles of building a proper Nordic challenger bank, Lunar is now increasingly positioning itself as an infrastructure for other fintech companies - and AI agents. Are we finally moving into invisible banking? Podcast host: ⁠Christian von Essen⁠ [https://linktr.ee/christianvonessen] // Check out more episodes at ⁠hejaframtiden.se⁠ [https://hejaframtiden.se/] and ⁠subscribe to the newsletter⁠ [https://christianvonessen.substack.com/] (in Swedish) The episode was produced in collaboration with Lunar.

Gertrude Chilufya: The AI adoption cheerleader

AI solutions are being rolled out at an incredible pace, but how do organizations and individuals implement these new ways of working in practice? Turns out there's a gap in AI adoption, not only between genders, industries and continents, but within companies and teams as well. Sweden-based ⁠Gertrude Chilufya⁠ [https://www.gertrudechilufya.com/] is on a journey to bridge these gaps. As an AI Adoption Strategist, she helps individuals and leaders to get the AI ball rolling for increased productivity and better workflow. Heja Framtiden met Gertrude at ⁠Women in Tech Sweden 2026⁠ [https://womenintech.se/witswe2026/] in Stockholm. Podcast host: Christian von Essen [https://linktr.ee/christianvonessen] // Learn more at ⁠hejaframtiden.se [https://hejaframtiden.se/in-english/]⁠

Devon Young & Hannah Prior: Talking to Trees

Urban forests and gardens are increasingly important for shade, climate change mitigation, noise pollution and air quality. But out of the 100 Billion USD invested annually, there has been plenty of waste because trees are not properly taken care of. A third don't even survive their first year. ⁠Devon Young⁠ [https://womenintech.se/speakers/devon-young/] from Avanade and ⁠Hannah Prior⁠ [https://womenintech.se/speakers/hannah-prior/] from Microsoft set out to change this. Using their companies' combined technologies, they created a way of ⁠communicating with individual trees⁠ [https://intelligentgarden.avanade.com/] to see how they are doing. The solution is soon being rolled out to cities and municipalities looking to strengthening their preventive green maintenance. Heja Framtiden met Devon and Hannah at the ⁠Women in Tech Sweden conference 2026⁠ [https://womenintech.se/witswe2026/] in Stockholm. Podcast host: ⁠Christian von Essen⁠ [https://linktr.ee/christianvonessen] Check out ⁠hejaframtiden.se⁠ [https://hejaframtiden.se/] and ⁠subscribe to the newsletter⁠ [https://christianvonessen.substack.com/] (in Swedish). Also: ⁠epic talkshow at Maxim in Stockholm 7th of May⁠ [https://www.maximstockholm.se/pa-scen/heja-framtiden-talkshow/] (also in Swedish).

Shaena Harrison: The value of human connection

Anyone who's met ⁠Shaena Harrison⁠ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/shaena-harrison-professional-wing-woman/] remembers the encounter, since she probably introduced you to a person you didn't know you wanted to meet. During her more than ten years in Stockholm, she has been working for tech companies like Klarna, Oneflow, LinkedIn, SingularityU Nordic and Telia, while volunteering at TEDx Stockholm. Eventually, she realized that could build something unique based on her skill as a super-connector, and founded ⁠Wing People - The Human Connection Company⁠ [https://wingpeople.io/], offering busy executives a professional "wing person" at events and conferences in order to make the most out their time, money and effort. In this episode, we dive into the topics of event design, connection skills, artificial intelligence and the power of opening doors for others. Podcast host: ⁠Christian von Essen⁠ [https://linktr.ee/christianvonessen] Check out ⁠hejaframtiden.se⁠ [https://hejaframtiden.se/] and ⁠subscribe to the newsletter⁠ [https://christianvonessen.substack.com/] (in Swedish).