At SIME 2025, we bring together the brightest minds with new narratives, industry leaders, and game-changers who redefine the future of business, technology, and innovation. From cutting-edge AI to the future of work and beyond, our speakers are here to inspire, challenge, and push boundaries.
Join us as they share insights, stories, and strategies that will ignite ideas and transform industries.
James Appathurai is one of NATO's most senior officials, having worked at the Alliance for nearly 28 years across roles spanning spokesperson, political affairs, and innovation. He currently serves as Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Innovation, Hybrid and Cyber — the Secretary General's primary advisor on AI, quantum, cyber, and hybrid threats. He also serves as Interim Managing Director of NATO DIANA, the Alliance's defence innovation accelerator operating across 32 nations with an annual budget of €50 million. The 2026 DIANA cohort accepted 150 companies from approximately 3,700 applicants — the largest in its history.
Kateryna Chernohorenko served as Deputy Minister of Defence of Ukraine for Digital Development from September 2023 to July 2025, overseeing a sweeping digitisation of Ukraine's armed forces during wartime. She led initiatives including the Reserve+ and Army+ apps, the NATO-certified DELTA battlefield management system, and the Army of Drones project. Under her leadership, Ukraine coordinated an IT Coalition of 17 countries mobilising over €1.1 billion for cyber and communications defence. She is now a senior lecturer at the Kyiv-Mohyla School of Government.
Janne Hietala is the CEO of Kelluu, a Finnish company building autonomous hydrogen-powered airships for persistent aerial monitoring, based in Joensuu just 80 km from the Russian border. Kelluu's 12-metre airships achieve 12-hour continuous flight — far exceeding conventional drones — delivering centimetre-level mapping resolution for both civilian and defence applications. The company was selected for NATO's DIANA accelerator from over 2,600 applicants and became the first DIANA company to secure a Rapid Adoption Service deal with a NATO Ally. Before Kelluu, Hietala built a career in EdTech and was named Finland's Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 2012.
Charlie Caper is a Swedish magician and creative technologist who has performed in 76 countries in seven languages, winning Sweden's Talang (Got Talent) in 2009 — the first magician ever to win any Got Talent format worldwide. He is Chief Creative Officer at Furhat Robotics, a world-leading Swedish social robotics company, where he builds and programs robots combining AI with live performance. His awards include the 2011 Mandrake d'Or — considered the magic world's Oscar — and two Adelaide Fringe Best Magic awards. He maintains a robotics workshop at Epicenter Stockholm and has worked with OpenAI language models since before the launch of ChatGPT.
Farzan Athari is a Swedish-Iranian TV host, model, and actor who has worked in the fashion and entertainment industry across 23 countries, collaborating with over 100 brands including Diesel, Nivea, Nokia, Coca-Cola, GQ, and Men's Health. He made history in 2006 as the first international model to sign a modelling contract in Iran, and has had leading film roles in Iran alongside acclaimed actresses Leila Hatami and Mahnaz Afshar. He co-hosted the first season of Persia's Got Talent in 2020/2021, hosted The Fire Festival at Skansen in Stockholm — broadcast to over 35 million viewers — and appeared in the Swedish TV series My Perfect Family in 2019. He also became widely known internationally after being imprisoned in Dubai in 2013 and released in December 2016 following a special pardon, partly attributed to a song he recorded from jail titled Save My Life.
Cristina Petrescu has served as CEO of Securitas Sweden since January 2024, leading approximately 11,000 employees at Sweden's largest security company. Originally from Romania, she studied nuclear physics before retraining as a data engineer and building a 17-year career at TietoEvry as EVP and Head of Public Healthcare & Welfare. She previously served as CEO of Sodexo Sweden's Healthcare, Seniors and Education division from 2020 to 2023. Known as a transformation leader, she brings a rare combination of large-scale personnel management and deep technology expertise to one of Sweden's most critical security organisations.
Hanna Linderstål is the founder and CEO of Earhart Business Protection Agency, a Stockholm-based cyber intelligence firm with over 25 years of experience in digital threat intelligence. Her expertise spans cybersecurity, hybrid warfare, disinformation, AI, and darknet investigations, serving governments and corporations worldwide. She was named Sweden's Security Profile of the Year 2024 and was a finalist for AI Swede of the Year 2025. Linderstål has advised the UN, the EU, and the Swedish government, and has been featured by the New York Times, Al Jazeera, and The Economist.
Stuart Fenegan is a British film producer and co-founder of Liberty Films, known for producing critically acclaimed and commercially successful films including Moon (2009), Source Code (2011), and Warcraft (2016). His debut feature Moon earned a BAFTA for Outstanding Debut and a BIFA for Best British Independent Film, with Fenegan himself nominated for the BAFTA for Best British Film. Warcraft grossed over $440 million worldwide, including a record-breaking China opening. His latest project, the animated sci-fi feature Rogue Trooper starring Hayley Atwell and Matt Berry, is currently in post-production.
Ola Ahlvarsson is a Swedish entrepreneur and athlete based out of Stockholm, Miami and Ibiza. Ola has since the mid 90’s been at the cutting edge of digital entrepreneurship as a company builder, investor, thought leader, writer and advisor on innovation and internationalization to several world leading organizations. He is the founder or co-founder of 20+ companies, including Result, Starstable, Epicenter, Ahlvar, Villa Ahlvar, Sellbranch and Sime.
He has been a member of the board of the World Economic Forum's Technology Pioneer program (where he was elected young global leader). As a writer he is the author of “Mission Possible” (2005) and "Silicon Valhalla" (2018) about Swedish entrepreneurship.
Ola has a unique background in martial arts with a World and European Championship gold in Goju Ryu Karate, a bronze in Taekwondo World Championships and a World Championship in Kick-Boxing. He combines the experience from the martial arts world with his 20 year experience in the field of entrepreneurship. He is also a sought after moderator. Read more at www.olaahlvarsson.com
Ola Ahlvarsson is a serial entrepreneur, investor, and digital transformation expert, best known as the founder of Epicenter, a hub for innovation and scale-ups. With a background in technology, business strategy, and leadership, he has built and scaled numerous companies across industries.
From cutting-edge startups to global enterprises, SIME collaborates with the world’s most forward-thinking organizations to explore the future of technology, business, and innovation.
Our partners share our passion for transformation, leadership, and impact—together, we shape what's next.
.png)
Film Director, Producer, Screenwriter, founder of the film production company The Uneven.
Co-founder and Chief Creative Officer at Vaimo.
%20(1).jpg)
At SIME, we redefine networking. Connect with industry leaders, visionaries, and innovators in a dynamic environment where collaborations are born, ideas flourish, and future partnerships take shape.
SIME is the ultimate platform for lead generation. Our sessions and events bring together decision-makers, offering unmatched opportunities to build strategic relationships and unlock new business potential.
Expand your knowledge through in-depth masterclasses, educational sessions, and thought-provoking discussions. Gain insights from experts and equip yourself with the tools to navigate the ever-changing business landscape.
SIME Stockholm is Northern Europe’s leading event on tech driven business and digital opportunities. Since 1996, we’ve been gathering world-leading speakers, thought leaders and experts, C-level executives, Unicorn founders, techies and marketeers for two yearly events, spring and autumn, with mind-blowing days, where we explore the frontiers of tech, business and humanity together.
Sime is about how digital opportunities can convert into new business, valuable relationships and a better world. Our passion is to spread knowledge, engagement and hope.
.svg)
Sime was created because we believe that knowledge about digital opportunities is key to future prosperity, better business and an important force to make the future a fantastic place. And because we believe in human meetings to make it happen.
We don ́t believe in silos. Like no other event Sime attracts a diverse crowd of decision makers, C-level executives and smart people with impact.
The Sime vibe inspires, challenges and touches regardless if you are one of the 1100+ participants, our partner or speaker.
At Sime you will smile a lot, learn a lot and meet people that will impact your business as well as become your friends for life!
Join SIME 2025, where innovation, leadership, and business transformation converge. Whether you're attending solo or bringing your team, we offer flexible ticket packages to maximize your experience.
.svg)
.jpg)
.png)
-min.png)
Have questions or want to collaborate? We’d love to hear from you!
Fill the form or Send us an email
