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INDIVIDUAL CATEGORY 2021 WINNERS

INDIVIDUAL CATEGORY 2021 WINNERS

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2021 Nordic Data, Analytics and AI Readiness awards

2021 Nordic Data, Analytics and AI Readiness awards

Discover the 2021 Nordic Data, Analytics and AI Readiness Award Winners

An award presented by the Nordic community to nominated individuals and organisations for their exceptional work done to innovate through data, drive data and AI transformation forwards, foster talent, promote diversity and inclusion, selflessly share their knowledge with others and inspire young generations and other practitioners to follow the same path.

Browse the individual category winners

Individual Category X

Lifetime Achievement in AI

A practitioner who has made a substantial contribution to the Data, Analytics and AI research and maturity development across the Nordic region, demonstrated outstanding mentorship and example to others, and provided noteworthy service to the community.

I have been working and researching AI for 20 years in academia and industry, with a Ph.D. in AI from Linköping University. Worked at Spotify for many years, using big data and machine learning techniques to optimize the user experience, and then headed up the research team at Peltarion to operationalize the latest AI techniques. Now working with the exciting goal to use data science and AI to defend the Swedish democracy and industry at the Swedish Security Service. Also a member of the AI Sweden steering committee, the Swedish AI Agenda, the European AI Alliance, and conferences such as ICML, ICLR, and JCP, and member of several advisory boards.

Individual Category 1

Data Management Professional of the year

This award will go to a practitioner who has shown initiative, innovation and leadership in implementation and oversight of the Company’s data management goals, standards, practices, processes, and technologies.

A data practitioner with several years’ experience in Data Management Strategies, Data Innovation, Compliance & Data Security, Vanessa Eriksson works alongside engineers in the Autonomous Driving areas as she continues to build her skills in advanced analytical capabilities to promote business value.

Currently, a Member of the Board at Fidesmo, having previously been the Chair of PwC’s CDO Advisory Board in 2017/18 and on Gartner’s EMEA and The America’s Data & CDO Advisory Boards between 2012 & 2017.
As SVP, Chief Digital Officer at Zenseact, Vanessa has a clear mission to lead the company even further into the digital age. As part of the leadership team, Vanessa reports to the CEO & successfully defined & delivered a mesh data strategy to the organisation as part of her ‘100 days on the job’.

Vanessa’s previous experience (2014 – 2020) includes Chief Data Officer at Nets, Chief Data Officer Advisor EMEA at PwC and Chief Data Officer at Telia.

Individual Category 2

Analytics Professional of the year

The award will be given to a practitioner who has shown initiative, innovation and leadership in organizing a high performing analytics function and with that managed to translate raw data into valuable business insights and action.

Maija is the Global Head of Analytics at KONE. She leads the KONE Analytics Center of Excellence and is actively driving analytics competence and maturity development across the organisation. KONE is a global leader in the elevator and escalator industry, offering new and innovative equipment, people flow and digital solutions. With over 60 000 employees in over 60 countries and net sales of EUR 10 billion (2020), KONE is one of the largest companies in the Nordics. KONE equipment moves over 1 billion people per day.

Prior to KONE, Maija was a global analytics leader at Unilever in London, building the global analytics and digital insights capabilities to revolutionise the way data insights are now part of Unilever’s business globally.
Maija holds an MSc in applied mathematics, strategy and international business, as well as an MBA from the University of Cambridge.

Individual Category 3

Data Visualization / Storyteller of the year

The award goes to a professional who has shown leadership/expertise in the field of data visualization, infographics, dashboards, data presentation and has presented an outstanding structured approach for communicating data insights, and it involves a combination of three key elements: datavisuals, and narrative.

Born and raised in Mumbai, I started out as a software programmer in 1982 in Mumbai. Since then, my different roles in public and private sector organisations have given me unique insights into the increasing value of data in every aspect of society. The judicious use of data is a vital element in driving digitalisation and enabling data-driven decisions.

As a product manager for Data & Insights at Nets, I work with new data concepts and analytics together with Nets’ customers and government authorities in Norway. As a member of the virtual data management team, my work also involves growing awareness of the strategic use of data and establishing data governance practices across Nets.

Earlier this year, I joined Nets’ Diversity & Inclusion board, an initiative for ensuring inclusion across Nets. I look forward to making a difference together with the team.

Outside Nets, I am chair and an active member of the Norwegian Computer Society’s Business Intelligence & Analytics board, an initiative that a few data enthusiasts and I started up in 1999.

Individual Category 4

Data Science Professional of the year

This award will go to a practitioner who has shown leadership/expertise in the field of data science through interpreting and managing data and solving complex problems using expertise in a variety of data niches such as science, modeling, statistics,analytics, and math – coupled with a strong business sense.

Individual Category 5

Machine Learning Professional of the year

This award will go to a practitioner who has shown outstanding leadership/expertise in the field of machine learning by designing & developing new machine learning and deep learning algorithms, systems, and Artificial Intelligence based solutions (including devices), resulting in proven value and impact to the business and organisation.

I currently am involved with the intricate and nitty-gritty details of building a passable natural language system at Dixa, together with all the surrounding infrastructure to support it. In previous positions, I have worked with using machine learning and data science in railroad and transportation at the DSB Digital Labs, and speech to text models in Corti. My background is in developmental psychology and AI, and my research interests are in language technology, cybernetics, planning and artificial life.

Individual Category 6

Artificial Intelligence Professional of the year

The award will be given to a practitioner who has shown initiative, innovation and leadership in organizing a high performing AI function with multiple Artificial Intelligence systems or ML models in production and with that managed to transform and improve business impact and output.

With 10+ years of experience from a wide variety of industries Errol have been able to reach an expert level in working with and extracting value from data. Both hands on in the data and from a strategic perspective by creating data products and leading large teams. He does so by leveraging, in the majority of the cases, open source technologies such as Spark, R, Python and Tensorflow with BI tools such as Shiny, Tableau and Qlik.

Individual Category 7

Data Engineering Professional of the year

This award will go to an data engineer who has shown a material and value impact on his/hers constituents through managing and organizing data & data pipelines, while also keeping an eye out for trends or inconsistencies that will impact business goals.

I have previously worked as a researcher at Yale University, investigating and analysing data from the research organization CERN. My tasks data at CERN included: triggers to filter for relevant data to store, data quality and data analysis. In these tasks, I have used different analysis strategies and ML methods to achieve the desired results. I spent more than 10 years working with the dataset from CERN, one of the largest in the world. During my work at CERN, I learned what is important to succeed in an end-to-end IoT/AI pipeline.
Two years ago, I switched from my career in academia to a job at Grundfos. I wanted to apply my knowledge in an area that can help better the world. At Grundfos, I have contributed to the digitalisation transformation by creating guidelines for data pipelines, data quality and data architecture.

Individual Category 8

Data and AI Transformation Professional of the year

The award will be given to a practitioner who has shown initiative, innovation and leadership in creating and establishing a Data/AI transformation and change management strategy/process leading to significant improvement in organisation operational performance, customer experience and business model.

Completed bachelors in information technology and masters (MBA) in marketing and systems before starting to work as a consultant with IT setup and management within areas like supply chain, manufacturing, finance, sourcing, sales and marketing, human resources, product lifecycle management, etc. Have been responsible for solution and enterprise architecture across organisations with an emphasis on IT strategy and business processes. I have held various technology positions during the last few years for digital transformation and new business model adoption within the company concentrating upon platforms, data-driven services and AI. Having had the experience to start and scale Technology and Business Innovation Lab units, I am currently responsible for Digital and IT within Piab and also a PhD fellow at KTH-Stockholm researching how AI Technology is transforming value perception with customers and disrupting existing business models.

Individual Category 9

AI Ethics Professional of the year

The award will be given to a practitioner that researches and facilitates better understanding of ethics and data protection in AI, and fosters regional efforts in this field.

I have +15 years of experience in AI and Advanced Analytics and hold a Ph.D. in Chemometrics from the faculty of Pharmacy at Uppsala University. In my current role, I am leading a Nordic team of highly skilled and experienced AI experts providing, e.g. strategic guidance to organisations across the industry on how to unleash insight and value from data, and how to operationalise Responsible AI from data to decision.

I have authored numerous well-cited AI-related peer-reviewed research papers, as well as publications in popular media and I frequently speak at public events and in media about how AI offers an incredible competitive edge but how we also have a responsibility to ensure that it is ethical and sustainable.

Individual Category 10

Data and AI influencer of the year

The award will go to a practitioner that has shown exceptional efforts through different means and channels to promote the benefits, the challenges and the opportunities with Data and AI Innovation and with that impact the business and society.

Somil Gupta is an AI Strategy and Monetization Advisor based in Sweden. He specializes in developing commercialization and business development strategy to grow digital business and monetize investments in data and AI. Before starting his consulting practice, he led business development for digital and AI solutions for Bosch Nordics.