Speakers

Maria Christiansen, Head of Applied AI, TDC NET

Maria Christiansen is Head of Applied AI at TDC NET, where she reports directly to the CFO and leads the company's Finance AI portfolio. She is responsible for a DKK 22–25 million AI roadmap and has established the framework used to measure AI return on investment across the organization. Alongside driving enterprise-wide AI adoption, she continues to explore emerging... technologies, including quantum optimization and the commercialization of quantum key distribution (QKD).An AI and product executive with experience spanning energy, maritime logistics, healthcare, and telecommunications, Maria specializes in translating advanced technologies into scalable products and measurable business value. Throughout her career, she has built and led high-performing multidisciplinary teams while delivering AI solutions that transform how organizations operate.Before her current role, Maria established the product organization behind TDC NET's data marketplace and GenAI platform, contributing to more than DKK 250 million in cumulative business value. Earlier, she helped scale Portchain's optimization platform from three to ten global container terminals and led the product teams behind Corti's clinical AI solutions, including its cardiac arrest detection technology for emergency dispatch.Maria began her career as a physicist at the Niels Bohr Institute before joining Ørsted, where she developed a computer vision solution for wind turbine blade inspection. The solution proved sufficiently valuable that the company retained it as proprietary intellectual property, reinforcing her conviction that the greatest competitive advantage comes from treating technology as a product rather than a project.Passionate about developing people as much as technology, Maria has led teams across product management, design, engineering, and AI. She is particularly proud that every direct report from her previous department has since progressed into Head or Lead positions. Her leadership philosophy centers on empowering people, embedding AI into core business processes, and creating lasting commercial impact.Maria holds an MBA from Quantic and is a frequent speaker on artificial intelligence, product leadership, and digital transformation. Outside work, she enjoys cycling—including completing the Copenhagen-to-Paris ride with Team Rynkeby—and spending time in the water. She is an optimistic believer in AI's potential to reshape industries and improve the way people work.more

Ulf Larsson, Security CTO, SEB

Ulf Larsson is Security CTO at SEB, where he focuses on the shift from assumed control to demonstrated cyber resilience.His work centers on how organisations can build security that holds under real operating conditions, as technology changes, dependencies move, AI influences decisions, and traditional governance models come under pressure.Ulf is particularly focused... on making security easier to do right, harder to bypass, and possible evidence. He works across strategy, architecture, risk and execution to help teams reduce ambiguity, challenge assumptions early, and build confidence that the right controls work when it matters.His perspective is simple: security is not what you implement. It is what you can prove.more

Geoffrey Taylor, Information Security Officer, Nordea Asset Management

Geoffrey Taylor is an information security leader with over two decades of experience shaping cybersecurity strategies across the financial services, technology, manufacturing, and mobility sectors. He specializes in information security strategy risk management, governance, and resilience, and has deep expertise in ISO 27001, NIS2 and DORA. Geoffrey holds CISM,... CRISC, and ISO 27001 Lead Implementer, ISO 42001 Implementer certifications and is a PECB-certified trainer. He is active in the global cybersecurity community and contributes to ISACA, the Cloud Security Alliance, and international mentorship programs.more

Rune Espensen, Head of Information Security Office, Nordea

With nearly 25 years of experience in security, Rune Espensen has built a diverse career spanning software development, enterprise security solutions, and identity and access management consulting. As a global red teamer, he has tested the resilience of everything from cars and electrical grids to banks. Today, Rune brings his deep technical expertise to a strategic... level, overseeing Technology and Information Security topics within Nordea’s risk management function.more