Now in its fifth year, Transformation Conference is the Nordic platform bridging technology and the fashion and retail industry. Following the editions in Copenhagen and Stockholm this August, we bring that role to Borås, Sweden’s textile capital, in collaboration with Next Textile at the Textile Fashion Center.
The Borås edition builds on the insights from Copenhagen and Stockholm and takes them upstream, to where material, sourcing and production meet the operational reset reshaping the industry. From AI moving into execution to regulation turning transparency into infrastructure, this is where brands and technology partners meet to work through what actually changes.Hosted by Konrad Olsson, Editor-in-chief and founder of Scandinavian MIND.
When: 5 November 2026, 09:45–12:00
Where: Textile Fashion Center, Borås
Format: Half-day conference
Partners
Important: Transformation Conf. x Next Textile is part of Borås Textile Days. To attend, you also need a ticket to Borås Textile Days, which gives you access to the full programme across the two days. Register for Borås Textile Days here.
Programme
09:45–09:50 · Opening
Konrad Olsson, Editor-in-chief and founder of Scandinavian MIND, and Pierre Rosengren, CEO of Marketplace Borås, open the day.
09:50–10:30 · How to transform a fashion brand
A conversation with three Nordic CEOs on how transformation moves from strategy to daily operation.
Elisabeth Peregi, CEO, Kappahl Group
Ted Boman, CEO, Gina Tricot
Richard Woodbridge, CEO, Scandinavian Heritage (Oscar Jacobson & Filippa K)
10:30–11:00 · Break
11:00–11:20 · From ambition to operation
A fireside with Marcus Hartmann, Head of Global Operations for Sustainability at H&M Group, on how global sustainability strategy connects to retail operations across markets.
11:20–12:00 · What AI actually needs
A panel on what the operational reset actually requires: data as foundation, infrastructure as prerequisite, AI as what becomes possible once both are in place.
Eleonore Nygårds, AI Capability Partner, H&M Group
Jenny Wärn, independent consultant and former Director of Product, TrusTrace
Beatrice Silow, Managing Director, Columbus Sweden
Erik Wikander, CEO and Co-founder, Wilgot
Moderated by Konrad Olsson.
Speakers
ELISABETH PEREGI
CEO, Kappahl Group
Elisabeth Peregi has been CEO and Group CEO of Kappahl Group since 2019. She brings extensive experience from fashion retail, with many years at Lindex in roles including Country Manager Sweden, Country Manager Norway, and CFO. Elisabeth is driven by the daily customer encounter and by building strong, sustainable brands. At Kappahl Group she has led the company's transformation and growth journey to become a business with revenues exceeding SEK 5 billion and one of the industry leaders in the shift toward a more sustainable fashion world. Alongside her role at Kappahl, she serves as a board member of Svensk Handel.
RICHARD WOODBRIDGE
CEO, Scandinavian Heritage (Oscar Jacobson & Filippa K)
Richard Woodbridge is CEO of Scandinavian Heritage, the parent company of Oscar Jacobson and Filippa K, a role he has held for six years. Prior to that he spent seven years at Nelly.com and has also held roles within Ellos Group and LeoVegas. He is a board member of ATG.
MARCUS HARTMANN
Head of Global Operations for Sustainability, H&M Group
Marcus Hartmann is Head of Global Operations for Sustainability at H&M Group, a function created in 2026 to connect global sustainability strategy with retail operations across markets. He took up the role on 1 July 2026, reporting to the group's Head of Sustainability, with an initial focus on Europe and North America. His work centres on extended producer responsibility, eco-modulation and the data infrastructure that has to sit underneath both.
TED BOMAN
CEO, Gina Tricot
Ted Boman has led Gina Tricot as CEO since 2020, steering the Borås-based fashion brand through a period of structural change in retail. Before joining Gina Tricot, he was CEO of Nordic e-commerce group Junkyard, Head of CDON Marketplace, and spent four years running Oriflame's business in Indonesia. He holds an MSc in Engineering and Industrial Management from Lund University's Faculty of Engineering, and is a board member of A Retro Tale.
ELEONORE NYGÅRDS
AI Capability Partner, H&M Group
Eleonore Nygårds is an AI Capability Partner at H&M Group, working to build the skills, confidence and ways of working needed to adopt AI responsibly at scale. Her work spans both leadership and grassroots capability building, combining top-down change with strong communities that help people learn, experiment and share across the organisation. With a background in engineering and communications, she focuses on bridging technology and people, making AI practical and relevant in everyday work.
BEATRICE SILOW
Managing Director Columbus Sweden & CMO Columbus Group
Beatrice Silow is Managing Director of Columbus Sweden and CMO of Columbus Group. She has more than 25 years of experience in the tech industry, working closely with leading retailers to turn technology and AI into business value. Her focus is the leadership, people and organisational change required to keep pace with technology and evolving customer expectations.
JENNY WÄRN
Independent consultant
Jenny Wärn is an independent consultant and TEDx speaker, helping companies set strategy, plan execution and implement programmes. She has worked with technology and digitalisation for two decades across retail, fashion and supply chain, with roles at ICA Sverige, Centiro and most recently TrusTrace as Director of Product. Her focus is bridging business and technology, starting from one question: what is the problem to be solved? As companies look to scale AI, that question increasingly leads back to the quality and structure of their business data.
Erik Wikander
CEO and Co-founder, Wilgot
Erik Wikander is a trusted voice within agentic commerce, featured in publications like Forbes and the Financial Times. Identifying the shift from ecommerce to Agentic Commerce early on, he co-founded Wilgot, the pioneer of Agentic Product Optimization (APO). Wilgot discovers the language that drives purchase decisions, generates AI-native product content in every market, and keeps refining it based on performance. The result is high-performing content that is understandable, citeable and persistent in AI, so products are recommended and chosen by AI systems and still convert human shoppers. Wilgot works with brands like Daniel Wellington, Philips and J.Lindeberg.
PIERRE ROSENGREN
CEO Marketplace Borås
Pierre Rosengren is CEO of Marketplace Borås and the driving force behind Next Textile, the annual industry gathering that convenes brands, suppliers and innovators across the Nordic textile and fashion ecosystem. With more than fifteen years as a CEO and a background in sourcing, product development, marketing and brand building across consumer goods and B2B, he leads TEX! at the Textile Fashion Center in Borås, where industry, academia and the city meet.
KONRAD OLSSON
Founder and Editor-in-Chief, Scandinavian MIND
Konrad Olsson is founder and editor-in-chief of Scandinavian MIND, a platform covering the intersection of lifestyle and technology. He founded and hosts Transformation Conference and writes on the transformation of the fashion industry. He advises companies and organisations on brand strategy, communication and digital transformation.