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System on Chip design resources
October 19, 2026 -
What is it that we want to improve – and how do we know that a change actually makes the organization better? These questions were at the heart of the discussion when Tord Larsson-Steen, CEO of ShortLink, once again gave a guest lecture at Karlstad Business School, Karlstad University.
The lecture “Empowering smarter business through smarter processes” is a recurring feature of the course Service Management and IT: e-Business. Here, experience from the business world meets the perspectives of third-year students in conversations about business development, technology and change management.
This year’s lecture connected the opportunities of AI with the need for more clear processes and routines, change fatigue, and the increasing demands that technological development places on boards and management teams.
As AI takes on an increasingly prominent role in organizations, it becomes even more important to better understand how the work is actually done. Which activities create value? Where do waiting times, duplicated work or errors arise? Who is responsible for what, and how do we follow up on the results?
Tord’s message was that having processes and routines in good order provides a foundation for choosing the right improvements and assessing their business value effects.
– We need to know what it is we are improving. If we don’t understand how the work is done today, it becomes difficult to determine where AI adds value and whether the results actually improve, says Tord Larsson-Steen.
At the same time, more clear processes need to leave room for development. Processes and routines should help co-workers better understand the work, better collaborate and discover what needs to change. When technology develops rapidly, a more shared understanding becomes particularly valuable.
The lecture also addressed change fatigue. New digital tools, ways of working and expectations demand time, commitment and energy from the co-workers. That is why every change needs an understandable purpose and a clear connection to the needs of the company.
Tord highlighted the importance of prioritizing, involving those affected and creating space to learn new and more effective ways of working.
– We need to be very clear about why we are changing something, what it means in everyday work and how we will follow up on it. Co-workers also need time and support to get used to new ways of working.
Here, increased knowledge of the company’s processes can help identify which parts are affected and which are already working well.
Another central issue is the ability of boards and management teams to make well-considered decisions in a time of rapid technological development.
Tord emphasized that not everyone needs detailed technical knowledge, but that decision-makers need to understand how AI can affect the business, ways of working and skills requirements. This requires curiosity, learning and the ability to ask relevant questions: What problem are we trying to solve? What benefit do we expect? What risks do we need to manage? How do we measure the results?
For Tord, meeting the students is also an opportunity to reflect on these questions together with those who will soon help develop the organizations of the future.
– It is inspiring to share experiences and at the same time encounter the students’ questions and perspectives. I hope to contribute thoughts that they take with them into working life – especially that it is absolutely essential to understand the business when they set out to help change it.
Course coordinator Odd Fredriksson, PhD in Business Administration, Karlstad Business School, Karlstad University, emphasizes the great value of recurring guest lectures from the business world:
– We are very happy and grateful that Tord, with his long experience of IT-related leadership roles, repeatedly takes the time to come to us and lecture. His strong commitment and deep reflections are invaluable, especially at this time when the rapid pace of development in digitalization and AI is transforming the playing field for both business and the public sectors.
Tord has a very rich body of knowledge and experiences from decades in different senior management and IT-management positions in different business sectors. One core dimension of wisdom is about being able to relate and balance different perspectives together. Tord is a truly very wise human-centered manager and person.
Tord’s lecture often receives top marks in the course evaluations and is repeatedly described as “The best in the course”. The collaboration activities between the Business School and wider society brings several enriching perspectives to our students, which significantly prepares them for their near future as responsible and insightful professionals.
– The continuous personal encounters between Tord − and other role models in companies and public organizations − and our students fill me with very blissful enthusiasm every time, concludes Odd Fredriksson.