Ludvig Bergstrom is a tech entrepreneur and founder of Nordic Tech Week. He launched his first tech company five years ago while studying in Copenhagen before relocating to Stockholm. Frustrated by the inaccessibility of the tech ecosystem—where established conferences cost over €400 and many events were restricted to CEOs and established profiles—Ludvig recognized the need to democratize access to valuable tech insights.

This experience inspired him to create Nordic Tech Week, a week-long series of events in Stockholm designed to open doors for students, aspiring entrepreneurs, and newcomers to the tech scene. The flagship event is set to be the world's first fully open tech conference, hosted at Kungsträdgården, one of Stockholm's most iconic parks. The conference features panel discussions, free startup demonstrations, and networking opportunities aimed at connecting future co-founders, employees, and employers.

A strong advocate for "the new Nordics" concept—bringing together the Nordic and Baltic regions—Ludvig believes these regions share bold global ambitions and common values around sustainability and ethical tech scaling. His mission is to ensure that the insights and connections typically reserved for closed-door meetings become accessible to everyone who wants to understand where technology is heading and how to navigate the future of tech in this unified Nordic-Baltic ecosystem.

Marco is an award-winning lighting architect whose work spans cathedrals, museums, theatres—and now, refugee camps.

He was the winning solver in the International Rescue Committee’s “Phosphorescence Technology for Lighting” challenge—a challenge we heard so movingly about in our conversation with Carla Lopez from the International Rescue Committee in an earlier episode in this season of the podcast.

This episode is all about light: not just the technical or aesthetic side, but light as dignity, safety, and human innovation. 

Fernanda Torre is an  educator, innovation strategist, co-founder of Next Agents, and one of the leading voices behind Global Green Action Day: a bold international initiative tackling plastic pollution through radical collaboration, circular economy principles, and AI-powered problem-solving. This year’s event took place on June 5th, aligning with UN World Environment Day, and activated innovators from Sweden, Portugal, Austria, and beyond.

Furthermore, Torre is a Visiting Teacher affiliated to the House of Innovation at the Stockholm School of Economics (SSE), faculty in the Stockholm School of Entrepreneurship (SSES) where she teaches Trendspotting and Future Forecasting, and directs the global program on entrepreneurship education SSES Learning Lab Roundtables.

Torre is moreover the Operations Director and one of the founding members of Boards Impact Forum, the Nordic chapter for the Climate Governance Initiative from the World Economic Forum.

Torre has done research on the intersection between AI and innovation, both in the launch of new projects as well as the corporate governance of exponential technologies. Additionally, Torre is a Swedish Expert in the international technical committee for the development of the ISO standard on Innovation Management. She is also a founding member of the Speculative Futures Chapter in Stockholm.

Victoria spearheads global innovation initiatives and excellence in innovation management and methodologies, leveraging emerging and advanced technologies across diverse industries. She achieves outstanding growth through qualitative and quantitative research, strategy, accelerator management, challenge-led technology pilots, innovation ecosystems, senior leadership engagement, facilitation, thought leadership, design thinking, concept, proposition and business case development and creative problem solving and business management. With a Masters (distinction) in innovation management and a PGDip in Business Administration, her career is a testament to her passion for achieving substantial commercial and strategic outcomes and impact through innovation.

She is the UK Head of Delegation at the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) TC 279 for innovation management, where she sits on the advisory group for communications and engagement (AGCE) and has actively contributed to the drafting, development and refinement of ISO 56001 (The first global auditable innovation management system standard), ISO 56002 and ISO 56007 (Idea and opportunity guidance). She is a technical expert committee member for the British Standards Institution (BSI) for design and innovation management.

Her sectors include fintech, transport, IOT, FMCG, pharma, to marine, mining, infrastructure and more in both B2C and B2B markets. She has been a leading design mentor for the UK KTN Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF), a £1.5 billion fund that supports cutting-edge research to address challenges faced by developing countries. She also developed a design thinking training methodology funded by the UK Government in conjunction with Imperial College London's Dyson School of Design Engineering, which significantly improved indicators of performance for SMEs.

Victoria is agile certified, a qualified industrial designer, and an expert trainer on the full suite of ISO 56000 for INNOVATEUK Edge Specialists on behalf of BSI. She has published and presented her research papers on innovation competencies and standardised innovation management systems at the International Society for Professional Innovation Management (ISPIM).

After leading a management buy out 8 years ago, she was at the helm of a boutique innovation management consultancy, Tenshi Consulting Ltd., ensuring daily operations and the ongoing success of the business. She recently successfully exited and has founded her latest endeavour - Verity Merit.

Pavlo Ryzhiy is a strategic advisor, catalyst, and integrator who specializes in connecting insights from strategy, innovation, business modelling, and organizational design to create solutions that others often overlook. Originally from Ukraine now based in Hamburg, Germany. Pavlo works with organizations that have previously failed at innovation programs, helping them take a second approach that actually sticks. The central concept discussed is "capital of failure" - the idea that failure shouldn't be hidden or avoided in corporate settings, but rather treated as a valuable asset that can be measured and capitalized on a company's balance sheet. 

 In corporate innovation and intrapreneurship, Pavlo has developed scalable corporate startup ecosystems using unique gamified engagement models where employees invest in their colleagues' startups. He has designed and led corporate acceleration programs focused on sustainable innovation, achieving over fifty percent employee engagement in corporate innovation initiatives and generating significant returns on investment with millions in newly created profits. Through his work, he has facilitated the launch of more than thirty corporate sustainable startups.

 Pavlo is passionate about organizational transformation, sustainable development, self-organized teams, and harnessing both individual and organizational purpose. He focuses on developing employee agency, vertical leadership development, new business and product development, and innovation management. His methodological approach helps companies to drive comprehensive organizational change and innovation.

 His personal experience of leaving Ukraine due to war and rebuilding in Germany adds real-world examples of resilience and transformation that inform his methods for helping companies navigate innovation and change in an increasingly urgent global business environment.

Brought to you by The Infinite Loop – Where Ideas Evolve, Knowledge Flows, and Innovation Never Stops.

Explore how Wazoku helps organizations like those supported by Pavlo Ryzhiy turn past innovation failures into measurable success through sustainable innovation programs, employee engagement models, and strategic transformation.
Learn more about Wazoku’s approach to corporate innovation

“Se puoi sognarlo, puoi farlo” (“If you can dream it, you can do it.”), Enzo Ferrari 

Dr. Juan Martin is an Intensive Care Consultant at Newham University Hospital NHS Trust, a Senior Lecturer at Queen Mary University of London, and a Medical Writer at Scienda Group. With over 17 years of experience as a successful innovator in the Wazoku solver ecosystem, Dr. Martin has developed groundbreaking solutions across multiple disciplines.

Originally from Aragon, Spain, Dr. Martin began his medical career in biochemical pathology, which opened doors to research opportunities. He later earned his PhD and MBA, becoming the youngest medical director of Spain's largest private hospital company before relocating to the United Kingdom with his family to pursue new challenges.

Dr. Martin's innovative spirit has led to numerous award-winning solutions in fields ranging from dentistry to pharmaceutical development. His approach blends professional medical expertise with personal experiences and natural curiosity. Whether drawing inspiration from his kitchen experiments, his children's insights, or his patients' needs, Dr. Martin embodies Enzo Ferrari's philosophy: "If you can dream it, you can do it."

Brought to you by The Infinite Loop – Where Ideas Evolve, Knowledge Flows, and Innovation Never Stops.

John is currently the executive-in-residence at Harvard Business School’s Laboratory for Innovation Science at Harvard (LISH), which studies AI and Workforce Transformation strategies, and founder and CEO of Open Assembly, a company that provides content, community, and strategic advising to organizations, people, and platforms to co-create the future of work.

Recently, he has been leading a global industry coalition made up 4000 global leaders in the open talent and innovation industry to start a non-profit trade association, The Center for the Transformation of Work with the goal of Transforming work for a billion people by 2025.

In his past life, John was the chief innovation officer of Havas, when Havas purchased his open advertising agency, Victors & Spoils, in 2015. Winsor founded V&S after introducing the advertising world to the practice of co-creation in his role as vice president and executive director of strategy and innovation at Crispin, Porter + Bogusky. Winsor had merged his company Radar Communications, the world’s leading open strategy and research company, with CP+B back in 2007. Other companies Winsor founded include Sports & Fitness publishing, sold to Conde Nast, and the Gravity Games, sold to NBC.

John's most recent book was, “Open Talent: Leveraging the Global Crowd to Solve Your Biggest Challenges,” published by Harvard Business Press.

He is also the author of “Beyond the Brand,” “Spark,” “Flipped,” and the best-selling “Baked In,” winner of the 2009 800-CEO-READ Business Book Award in marketing. Winsor is also an advisor to the Digital Initiative at Harvard Business School, and a regular contributor to the Harvard Business Review, The Guardian, Forbes and Digiday.

Brought to you by The Infinite Loop – Where Ideas Evolve, Knowledge Flows, and Innovation Never Stops.

 Jayshree Seth is a Corporate Scientist at 3M and currently holds 80 patents for a variety of innovations, with several additional pending. She joined 3M in 1993 after an MS and PhD in Chemical Engineering from Clarkson University, New York. She is a Distinguished Alumni Award recipient from her alma mater REC Trichy India, now NIIT Trichy, where she earned a B. Tech. in Chemical Engineering.

Jayshree was appointed 3M’s first ever Chief Science Advocate in 2018 and is using her scientific knowledge, technical expertise and professional experience to advance science, communicate its benefits and the importance of STEM fields to drive innovation.

She is also a member of Carlton Society which is the 3M Science and Innovation “Hall of Fame.” Jayshree is the fourth woman and first female engineer to be inducted. In 2020, she was awarded Society of Women Engineers (SWE) highest Achievement Award. She is also the first-ever winner of a Gold Stevie® Award in the new Female Thought Leaders of the Year – category in the 18th annual Stevie Awards for Women in Business in 2021. In 2025 she was named to the prestigious Thinkers50 Radar list featuring 30 people those whose ideas will help shape the future of orga

Carla is a global health practitioner with 15 years of experience working on the stubborn issues that keep poor people in poverty. Her passion is to apply problem-solving approaches from human-centred design, behavioral insights, and the private sector to the development and humanitarian sector. She has worked in markets disrupted by the Ebola outbreak in Liberia and the earthquake in Haiti where the need for health services was heightened, client behaviour was fluid, and best practices were uncertain. These are the conditions under which she thrives: where scrappy, bold initiatives can save the day or yield important insights when they fail.

Her leadership roles have ranged from country director of a team of 154 colleagues during an Ebola outbreak to regional technical advisor for human-centered design and social marketing in Southern Africa. She has worked on products, such as HIV self-testing kits and micronutrient-enriched porridge, and services like male circumcision and community warehouses for smallholder families. She has a knack for finding and cultivating her colleagues' hidden skills and uncovering the important details that influence what makes for a satisfying client experience. She tells good stories and works towards a world where people most affected by crisis and poverty have to power to shape their own future.

See how she’s driving real-world impact through open innovation on the Wazoku Crowd. 👉 International Rescue Committee Showcase

Brought to you by The Infinite Loop – Where Ideas Evolve, Knowledge Flows, and Innovation Never Stops.

Harry is a career-long specialist in generating and applying innovation. Passionate about innovation to solve the hardest problems in seafreight and humanitarian causes.

Three times a key member of the leadership teams of early-stage technology companies that aggressively innovated, including once as a co-founder. Two grew from pre-revenue to enterprise values over $100 million. Domain expertise in the automation of the logistics of container shipping, global trade and export/import. 

He has had direct management roles in corporate strategy, sales, marketing, business development, product management, channel sales, field operations, consulting, software development, finance, and mergers & acquisitions.

Harry's specialties include: Expert in raising external funding and positioning companies for strategic sale or investment - Directed and participated in raising over $100 million of venture and private equity investment.

Learn more about Harry’s work at Seafreight Labs and how innovation is driving solutions in humanitarian challenges: https://www.seafreightlabs.com/

Brought to you by The Infinite Loop – Where Ideas Evolve, Knowledge Flows, and Innovation Never Stops.