<<ALMEDALEN 2025 >> A different kind of Women in Tech conversation:
Instead of the usual focus on women sharing their experiences, this time male business leaders take the stage to reflect on their role as allies, decision-makers, and changemakers. The core message? Diversity and inclusion are not side projects, but core business strategies.
In the panel, moderated by Andreas Ekström, journalist and author:
- Patrik Nylander, CEO, Accenture
- Stefan Alariksson, CEO, Dun & Bradstreet
- Pär Johansson, Country Manager Sweden & Head of Credit & Wealth Solutions, Tietoevry Banking
- Peter Strömberg, Chief Digital Officer, Foxway
Rethinking the Inclusion Conversation
Åsa Johansen, Director, and Elin Eriksson, Creative Director, introduce The Women in Tech movement, which exists to bring more women and non-binary individuals into the tech industry, and to create conditions for them to thrive.
“Too often, conversations around diversity and inclusion happen on the margins of the business agenda”, says Elin.
In this session, this is challenged. Here, inclusion is not framed as an HR initiative, but as a competitive advantage:
”We know that inclusion drives better decision-making, diverse teams outperform homogeneous ones. Representation shapes culture. Culture drives results”, she says. “We are building the future with tech. And that demands more and different perspectives.”
Insights from (Male) Leaders Addressing Equality Issues
Patrik Nylander, Accenture
“We need every ounce of talent we can get. We have come far in recruiting women, but in certain areas, like engineering and manufacturing, women are still underrepresented.”
He shared concrete examples of how Accenture has worked to improve structural challenges. Accenture brought in coaches to observe performance reviews. This revealed unconscious bias in how feedback was given and how structured support led to more gender-neutral evaluation criteria.
“It was one of the most effective things I have done and I encourage every company with means to do the same.”
Stefan Alariksson, Dun & Bradstreet
“We have had these conversations for a long time, but why are there still so few men involved? It is mostly women who show up to these events. I think we need to show that it is all about business. Inclusive teams deliver better results.”
Pär Johansson, Tietoevry Banking
“For me, it is all about talent. It is hard to recruit in tech. If we do not tap into all groups, we are missing out. Diverse teams consistently deliver better results, the research is clear.”
Pär also stressed the importance of leadership and psychological safety:
“Leaders set the culture. People must feel safe to be who they are.”
On attracting more women to tech, Pär added:
“We need to invest in education and encourage more girls to choose engineering paths early on.”
From Insight to Action
The discussion emphasized that inclusion must move from theory to practice:
– Create your own arenas for inclusion
– Measure, incentivize, and reward inclusive behaviors
– Make diversity a leadership issue – not an HR task to check
– Challenge norm-setting teams and decision-making structures
– Involve experts to detect and combat hidden bias
– Start early, even in preschool, to spark interest in STEM fields
“We do not create change by preaching to the choir. Inclusion happens through action”, Elin concludes.
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