It was a strong introduction to the event with Swedish Finance Minister Elisabeth Svantesson talking about what the government is now doing to make Sweden safer and richer. Very good that it really sounds like business and everyone's prosperity is an important piece of the puzzle in the strategy going forward. This was followed by a conversation about the role of trade and the significance of The Trade Country Sweden for the Swedish economy and social development.
This is how Houdini wants to change the world
Another highlight was Houdini's CEO Eva Karlsson who talked about their mission regarding sustainability and the basic approach that basically everything we do tends to be unsustainable. Consumption needs to decrease, but you also need to create more long-lasting products that fit better into the earth's ecosystem. Incredibly cool that they managed to make a collection of garments that are so clean and so natural that you can put them in the compost and get soil from them. This soil can then be used just like normal compost soil to grow plants and vegetables. They call the project Houdini Menu.
Although they have already contributed to a more sustainable development, Eva highlights the journey forward and the untapped opportunities and great value in designing attractive and regenerative lifestyle solutions. Inspiring!
On the threshold of the next technological leap – how AI is changing commerce today and in the future
Ludvig Strand, the Axel Johnson Group's future analyst for emerging technologies and AI, had a session where he talked and demoed AI from different perspectives. It was really good and interesting. Undoubtedly, we are at the beginning of a whole new era where a lot about how we do things will change. This ability will only get better and better. The challenge lies in finding areas of use, pragmatic use and using good data. But we will be able to see new business opportunities, drive growth and achieve goals in trade and other industries.
Leading in a changing world
Lars-Johan Jarnheimer, who is Chairman of the Board for INGKA, concluded Nordic Retail Summit with an incredibly entertaining and inspiring lecture on leading in a changing world. A lecture full of wisdom, anecdotes and good things to take with you to work. The main message was clearly that you have to be obsessed with the customer and to create simplicity for the customer but also within your own organization. It's easy to overcomplicate things and that's rarely the solution.
