Petra Ålund
CTO & Head of Group Technology
SEB
Petra Ålund is an experienced IT leader with 20+ years of industry experience from large organizations within the engineering and finance industries. She has held various senior leadership roles in technology, research and development, purchasing and logistics. Petra is currently the Head of Group Technology and member of the Group Executive Committee at SEB.
Learn more about the Nordic CIO community here.
Give us a brief overview of the path that led to your current role.
From an early start in my career, I have always been the one trying to figure out how to use technology in the best possible way - everything from efficiency gains to new business models. I worked for many years in the engineering space, with my last position as CEO for Sandvik IT, when I was approached to join SEB.
Here, I feel like I am back to my research and development roots, since within a financial institution like us, our technical platforms are our core. Creating digital products for our customers to love is all that matters to me.
What is one of your guiding leadership principles?
You need to love what you do, and in this role, it is all about the people - your team.
My leadership is often characterized by my positive attitude, firm leadership, equality focus and embracing challenges as a team. And I always say, love your deviations and we will know which is the next area to improve.
With disruption being a key theme of the past few years, where do you see your role as a CIO going in the next 1-2 years?
Making sure we understand the impact from a sustainability perspective is a given. But speaking of today's geopolitical landscape, we all need to understand from where we can buy our components as well as the risks we have in our supply chain, for instance in regards to cybersecurity.
What advice would you give to someone just starting out in the role as a CIO?
Make sure you understand the strategy for what your company wants to achieve. Next thing is to look into the background of the decisions already being taken before you make any changes. Then communicate, communicate, communicate...
Tell us a few fun facts about yourself.
I love candy, mostly licorice, and the best way to enjoy it is while reading crime stories.
What is the value of joining an Evanta community?
Having a network across industries always gives you new angles on how to tackle a question.
Evanta Governing Body members share their insights and leadership perspectives to shape the agendas and topics that address the top priorities impacting business leaders today.
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