Spotlight on Johan Eriksson

Johan Eriksson is the CTO at SVT and a Governing Body Member of the Nordic CIO Community. He desribes himself as "an optimistic engineer" who optimizes life for sustainable well-being. 

Learn more about the Nordic CIO community here.
 

Give us a brief overview of the path that led to your current role.

I completed my masters at the Royal Institute of Technology, and also studied at the Indian Institute of Technology in New Delhi. My first job was at ABB working with power generation and transmission. I've founded a couple of companies and own a handful of them today. I spent 12+ years at Google leading different specialist teams. I took the role as CTO at SVT in November 2025.
 

What is one of your guiding leadership principles?

Transparence. I'm radically transparent in everything as I believe information discrepancy leads to worse decision-making. Every organization's success depends on two things: Luck and decisions, so decision-making is important, which is improved through transparency. Transparency also drives inclusion which drives well-being at the workplace. It's a win-win all around.
 

What is the greatest challenge CIOs face today, and how are you addressing it?

The biggest challenge we face is ensuring a sufficiently high pace of learning and innovation. We're tackling it by operationalizing learning and innovation instead of leaving it to chance.
 

What is the key to success for someone just starting out as a CIO?

Include a diversity of perspectives in all major decisions so you don't only hear one side of a story.
 

How do you measure success as a leader?

Through four KPIs:

1. Net-positive impact on society,
2. User satisfaction
3. Employee well-being
4. Financial sustainability
    

What is the value of being a member of Gartner C-level Communities?

The value of being a member of Gartner C-level Communities is the networking which accelerates learning, and learning is your only sustainable strategy.

Governing Body members share their insights and leadership perspectives to shape the agendas and topics that address the top priorities impacting business leaders today.