Mari Nilsson Björkman

With over 25 years of experience in the telecommunications industry, Mari Nilsson Björkman has acquired deep industry knowledge and a large, strong professional industry network.

As the Global Telecom Industry Lead at SAS Institute, she is driving the development at the intersection of telecom and artificial intelligence collaborating with communication service providers worldwide to harness the power of data, AI and advanced analytics, to drive innovation, business and operational excellence. She emphasizes the transformative potential of data and AI in enhancing customer engagement, financial resilience, and strengthening competitive positioning in a rapidly evolving market.

Before joining SAS in 2013, Mari held various strategic roles within the telecom sector, covering many aspects and perspectives in this industry working in both vendor and operator organizations such as Ericsson and Telenor where she led sales teams and business development.

As a respected thought leader, Mari has contributed to esteemed publications such as Pipeline Magazine, The Fast Mode, telecom.com, TelcoNews and Fierce Networks, where she discusses the integration of AI in service assurance, network optimization, risk mitigation and customer experience enhancement. Her expertise is further recognized through her active participation in industry events such as MWC and DTW, where she shares strategies on leveraging data and AI to drive efficiencies and growth.

Beyond her professional endeavours, Mari is deeply committed to mentorship and industry development. She actively participates in initiatives like Mentorship programs, guiding emerging leaders and fostering diversity within the tech sector.

Mari’s dedication to responsible AI adoption is not only about achieving regulation compliances as she believes addressing challenges related to security, data privacy, bias and ethical considerations are equally important. Establishing a strong AI governance framework needs to be a core design principle, not a final checkpoint. When done right, it accelerates innovation and earns stakeholder trust to unlock strategic values.