Did you enjoy school?
My experience at school was mixed. I was very academic and sporty, so my life revolved around studying and training, sometimes up to ten sessions a week. I loved the discipline and structure of school, and I have always enjoyed learning.
That said, I didn’t love the school environment itself. I went to one of the largest schools in Stockholm and didn’t always find it easy.
What qualifications do you have?
I hold a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Sweden and later completed my MBA in the UK.
Alongside that, I have taken numerous additional courses over the years, including Six Sigma and other professional development programmes.
Has your career path been a smooth transition, a rocky road or a combination of both?
I’ve had what I call a ‘spaghetti career.’ It hasn’t been linear, but each step has built on the last in unexpected ways.
I started out in film and 3D animation, working on animated productions and music videos in Sweden before moving into digital advertising as a producer, working in Stockholm, London and New York.
After a decade, I pivoted into consulting, joining the UK Government Digital Service (GDS) for three years. I worked on transitioning Defra to GOV.UK and later on digitising UK passports for the first time.
Since then, I’ve held leadership roles at Deloitte Digital, Idean and Nortal, and I am now senior director at Public Digital.
What specific challenges do you see women facing in the industry?
I still believe women often have to work harder to convince others and build trust. In senior environments especially, you can feel that you need to prove your credibility repeatedly.
That said, I have been fortunate to work with strong male and female leaders who genuinely create space for others to succeed. That is something I particularly value about PD, where leaders actively promote and support people to do well.
What is the best career advice you can give to others?
Give things a go and adapt quickly. Careers are not about getting everything right the first time, they’re about testing, learning, adjusting and moving forward. The people who adapt quickly are generally the ones who succeed because they don’t get stuck in setbacks.
If you had to pick one mentor that had the biggest influence on you, who would it be?
It is difficult to choose just one, but an early leader I worked with at the UK GDS, Elisse Jones, had a significant influence on me.
What stood out was her clarity and calmness. There was no drama, just honesty, directness and trust. She created space for people to try things and learn without fear. My current line manager, Simon Priddle, also values these qualities so I don’t think I could work in any other way now.
They’re the qualities I look for in peers, colleagues and leaders who inspire me.
From where do you draw inspiration?
I draw inspiration from watching how people navigate tricky challenges. At PD, we often work in quite ‘swirly’ environments, so there’s something powerful about seeing someone push the boundaries of what the organisation has done before.
On a personal level, I am also motivated by growth and the belief that you never stop learning. I think it’s important to step away from the screen sometimes, throw the laptop in the pond so to speak, and reconnect with the world, whether that’s meeting new people, trying a new restaurant, or breaking out of the hamster wheel whenever possible.
What is the biggest challenge you have faced to date?
Professionally, stepping into increasingly senior leadership roles across different industries and countries has been one of the biggest challenges. Moving from Sweden, to New York and then London, and transitioning from film to advertising to consulting meant constantly re-establishing credibility. Each shift required adaptation and resilience.
I’ve also found that internal cultural challenges are often far harder than the job itself. Having seen what a genuinely good working environment looks like, I’ve developed very little patience for anything less.
What qualities do you feel makes a good leader?
Clarity, calmness and honesty.
For me, leadership is about creating the conditions for others to do their best work. That means trust and the space to try things without fear of being punished for getting it wrong. When people feel trusted, they do their best work.
From a work viewpoint, what has the last 12 months been like?
My focus has been on co-developing PD’s private sector work and lead engagements for clients. I combine business development and thought leadership with hands-on delivery for major organisations, including BT and Arup, helping them rethink how they operate in the face of rapid technological change.
What would you say are the biggest tech-based challenges we face today?
Ironically, I think the biggest challenges aren’t technical, they’re human.
Many organisations are struggling with legacy technology while simultaneously bringing in AI tools expecting transformation. Technology alone does not create change. It is how organisations adopt it, use it ethically and build the right culture around it that determines success.
What can be done to encourage more women into the industry?
Language matters. Technology is often communicated in ways that feel exclusionary or overly technical. Making it more human, and focusing on impact and outcomes rather than jargon, would open the door to more people.
At the same time, more diverse hiring practices and stronger representation are essential. Women make up half the population and should take up far more space in the industry.
Give us a fact about you that most other people wouldn’t know.
I produced the music video for ‘Objects of My Affection’ by Peter, Bjorn & John.
