Hosted by Konrad Olsson, Editor-in-Chief of Scandinavian MIND, Transformation Conference brings together tech industry leaders and decision-makers from across the fashion system to address the sector’s most urgent challenges. Join us for a half-day of inspiring keynotes, insightful panels, and thought-provoking fireside conversations.
The full programme and speaker list will be revealed soon. Sign up now to secure your spot.
Partners:
Schedule
Location:
Stockholm Fashion District
Augustendalstorget 6, 131 52 Nacka
27 August 2025
09.00–12.30
Conference programme
12.30–13.30
Networking lunch
Program
09.00–09.30
Registration and coffee
09.30–09.35
Welcome and introduction
Speaker: Helena Waker, CEO, Trade Partners Sweden & Stockholm Fashion District
Moderators: Konrad Olsson and Linda Pimmeshofer.
09.40–10.20 Panel
How AI is transforming retail from the ground up
Speakers:
Tua Asplund, Product Sales Specialist Omniverse, NVIDIA
Erik Wikander, Co-Founder, Wilgot
Sofia Polyakova, COO, Genera
10.20–10.50 Panel
On trend with data-driven operations
Speakers:
Martin Börjesson, Chief Technology & Sustainability Officer, J.Lindeberg
Daniel Di Benedetto, Regional Director Euro North, Centric Software
David Thunmarker, CEO and Co-Founder, Impulso
10.50–11.10 Pause
Networking and coffee
11.10–11.35 Case study
How AI enable sell through and minimise overstock
Speakers:
Laurent Mainil, Founder, Markmi
Markus Krenn, Head of Commercial Planning & Operations, C&A Europe
11.35–12.00 Panel
Driving transparency through data: Lessons from leading fashion brands
Speakers:
Viktoria Arndt, Global Sales & Business Development Manager, Kappahl
Staffan Olsson, Head of Public Affairs, GS1 Sweden
Karolin Catela, Product Specialist, GS1 Sweden
12.00–12.30
The opportunities in resale
Speakers:
Christian Kilin, CEO, Brandback
Amanda Thorén, CEO, Bencha
Marcus Hartmann, Regional Head of Sustainability & Public Affairs, H&M North Europe
12.40–12.45
Closing notes
By our moderators Konrad Olsson and Linda Pimmeshofer.
12.45 – 14.00
Networking lunch
Speakers
Tua Asplund, Product Sales Specialist Omniverse, NVIDIA
Tua is a business developer, AI advisor, and ecosystem builder connecting cutting-edge technology with the creative industries. At NVIDIA, she specialises in physical AI, helping organisations experiment in virtual environments before transitioning to real-world applications. With a background in emerging tech, innovation, and collaboration, Tua fosters future-oriented partnerships between engineers and creatives across Europe.
Sofia Polyakova, COO, Genera
Sofia Polyakova is the COO of Genera, a company pioneering ethical generative AI for the fashion industry. With a background in business strategy and tech, she drives Genera’s vision of human-centric AI, enabling creative teams to generate brand-aligned content at scale. Sofia regularly speaks on the importance of ethics, representation, and inclusivity in fashion tech, emphasizing that AI should be a tool for human evolution, not replacement.
Martin Börjesson, Chief Technology & Sustainability Officer, J.Lindeberg
Martin leads the technology and sustainability efforts at J.Lindeberg, bringing over 25 years of experience in IT and tech, primarily from large international organisations. In recent years, he has focused on emerging technologies, with a particular interest in AI since 2017. At J.Lindeberg, Martin drives the brand’s digital innovation agenda, integrating technology and sustainability across the business.
Erik Wikander, CEO, Wilgot
Erik Wikander is the founder and CEO of Wilgot, a platform that helps brands discover search patterns in AI search and generate content that drives discovery and revenue. Listed among the world’s top 106 SEO and Digital Marketing experts by Majestic and a keynote speaker featured in publications like Forbes, he is a leading voice in AI search. Wilgot helps brands like Daniel Wellington and other leading D2C players to ensure their content and products are visible, trusted, and discovered across AI search engines.
Markus Krenn, Head of Commercial Planning & Operations, C&A Europe
Markus leads Commercial Planning & Operations at C&A Europe, overseeing a multi-billion-euro P&L across 1,300+ stores and 18 webshops in 18 countries. He recently spearheaded a rapid rollout of an AI-powered pricing system across Europe, cutting go-to-market cycles from days to hours and reducing markdown budgets. With a sharp focus on commercial impact, Markus turns AI into actionable results—boosting full-price sell-through and enabling real-time decision-making for planning teams.
Viktora Arndt, Global Sales & Business Development Manager, Kappahl
Viktoria is an experienced retail leader driving Kappahl’s initiatives in sustainable and circular fashion. With a strong focus on technical solutions, startup collaborations, and business models where sustainability and profitability align, she works to extend the life of garments and create lasting customer value. Viktoria combines deep industry knowledge with agile innovation to help shape a more responsible future for fashion.
Laurent Mainil, Founder and CEO, Markmi
Laurent Mainil is the founder and CEO of Markmi, an AI-powered markdown assistant built for fashion. With a background in data, analytics, and fashion retail, he created Markmi to help brands like G-Star and C&A make faster, more profitable pricing decisions. The platform automates markdown strategy with margin-protecting intelligence, helping brands replace guesswork with precision.
Chris Kilin, CEO, Brandback
Chris is the CEO of Brandback. Before founding Brandback, he was part of the founding team at Razor Group, the largest and most successful FBA aggregator, where he accompanied the company’s growth from Seed to Series C and its international expansion. At Razor, he built and managed a team of 45. Prior to Razor, Chris worked as a strategy consultant at BCG. He began his career in J.P. Morgan’s Investment Banking Division in London.
Amanda Thorén, CEO and co-founder, Bencha
Amanda Thorén is the CEO and co-founder of Bencha, a data platform specializing in second-hand market analytics. Bencha offers a comprehensive suite for analyzing market trends, brand performance, and product evaluation. Driven by a holistic approach and a strong commitment to initiating meaningful change, Amanda has transformed Bencha into a scalable and efficient solution that empowers businesses to achieve profitability and growth in both primary sales and resale markets. Her focus is on driving sustainable practices and anticipating future consumer demands.
Daniel Di Benedetto, Regional Director Euro North, Centric Software
Coming from an engineering background, Daniel Di Benedetto has more than 20 years’ experience in PLM, AI and Big Data—of which more than 15 have been in the retail business. Understanding the importance of sustainability driving change while enabling profitability in a complex environment is his focus. He now leads Centric Software’s Northern European sales market and serves on several industry boards.
David Thunmarker, CEO and Co-Founder, Impulso
David Thunmarker is the CEO and co-founder of Impulso, a data collaboration platform transforming how fashion brands and retailers work together. Previously CEO at Tiger of Sweden and Oscar Jacobson, David brings deep industry insight to his mission of reducing overproduction and enabling real-time decision-making through Impulso’s Product Tracker. He believes brand–retailer partnerships must evolve through transparency and shared data to remain both profitable and sustainable.
Staffan Olsson, Head of Public Affairs, GS1 Sweden
Staffan Olsson has a strong and long experience of improving supply chains and B2B efficiency. This is achieved by helping companies improve their interactions with their trading partners and other companies using information technology and standards. One focus area right now is data-driven sustainability and how supply chain transparency and data sharing can help enable a more circular economy. The concept of Digital Product Passports will play an important role in accelerating the transition to a more circular and sustainable business.
Karolin Catela, Product Specialist, GS1 Sweden
Karolin Catela is experienced and enthusiastic in helping companies in various industries achieve the benefits of traceability, sustainability, and circular economy by using GS1 standards and information technology. Her expertise lies in improving the Supply Chain through traceability, transparency, and digitalisation.
Helena Waker, CEO, Trade Partners Sweden & Stockholm Fashion District
Waker is the CEO of Trade Partners Sweden and one of the founders of Stockholm Fashion District. Her professional experience consists of working with both national and international trade, particularly within the fashion and textile industry. Along with being on the board of the ICC Sweden, Helena holds several other prestigious positions in projects concerning fashion and international trade.
Linda Pimmeshofer, Founder, Change Retail
Linda is the founder of Change Retail, helping brands navigate digital transformation at the intersection of fashion and technology. With over 20 years of experience in the software industry, she focuses on making retailers more data-driven and customer-centric. Linda actively collaborates with startups and partners to drive innovation and believes that using data effectively is key to creating personalized experiences and building long-term sustainability.
Konrad Olsson, Founder and Editor-in-Chief, Scandinavian MIND
Konrad Olsson is the founder and editor-in-chief of Scandinavian MIND, a platform covering the intersection of lifestyle and technology. He is a leading expert on the transformation of the fashion industry and the founder and host of the fashion-tech event Transformation Conference. He regularly advises companies and organisations on brand strategy, communication and digital transformation.
About Transformation Conference
Launched in 2020, Transformation Conference is the Nordic region’s leading platform for exploring the future of fashion. In 2025, the series returns to Copenhagen (6 August) and Stockholm (27 August), bringing together decision-makers from design, retail, and technology.
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