A podcast from Vend exploring how marketplaces are evolving through sustainability, AI, and the people behind the products, featuring conversations with employees and experts on building more efficient, responsible, and innovative digital platforms.
How do you build a centralised AI product team when your ultimate goal is to make yourself redundant? In this episode, Vilde Opsal talks with Rob Van Sundert, Director AI Product Improvement, about running a unit with a strict 1,000-day expiration date. Rob shares how the team started small by shipping quick value to earn organisational trust, how they move from minor feature improvements to rethinking entire user journeys, and why low ego and high chaos tolerance matter more than years of experience when building AI products.
Host: Vilde Opsal, Director of AI Engineering and Data Science at Vend
Guests: Rob Van Sundert, Director AI Product Improvement
Producer: Camilla Buch, Senior Communications Manager at Vend
25 Aug 2026
Waking up in a panic – AI in finance
What happens when a CFO realises their 20 years of experience might not protect them from becoming obsolete? In this episode, host Vilde Opsal sits down with Vend CFO Per Christian Mørland and AI Tools and Integration Specialist Thomas Eide to talk about the reality of bringing AI into finance. PC shares the middle-of-the-night panic that pushed him to sign up for our internal builder program, drop social media, and block out hours every day to learn coding basics. Together with Thomas, they explore why AI problems are almost always data problems in disguise, how pairing domain experts with technical builders changes everything, and how real-time data access is replacing traditional reporting tools.
Host: Vilde Opsal, Director of AI Engineering and Data Science at Vend
Guests: Per Christian Mørland, Vend CFO; and Thomas Eide, AI Tools and Integration Specialist
Producer: Camilla Buch, Senior Communications Manager at Vend
25 Aug 2026
When delivery is fast, discovery is the bottleneck
When AI handles delivery, what happens to the role of a product manager? Vilde Opsal is joined by Senior Product Manager Anna Eckerborn Olsson and Product Manager Armin Walian to explore how augmented workflows are reshaping product development at Vend. Armin shares how his team stopped writing code manually, allowing him to push bug fixes directly, while Anna dives into Project Nemo and the challenges of exploring open-ended product spaces. They discuss building knowledge bases in GitHub, managing team cognitive load, avoiding the trap of shipping without thinking, and why blurring the lines between product, UX, and tech makes this the most exciting time to be a PM.
Host: Vilde Opsal, Director of AI Engineering and Data Science at Vend
Guests: Armin Walian, Product Manager; and Anna Eckerborn Olsson, Senior Product Manager
Producer: Camilla Buch, Senior Communications Manager at Vend
25 Jun 2026
When using AI stops feeling like throwing dice – AI Behind the screens, a Vend Podcast
Software engineering is the first knowledge frontier to be radically altered by AI. In this episode, host Vilde is joined by Director of Unlocking Opportunities, Technology, Niklas Derouche, and Lead Software Designer, Melker Forssell, to map out the reality of augmented engineering at Vend. They share the frank struggles of early experimentation, when using early models felt like throwing dice, and how they turned those frustrations into a workflow that clears backlogs and improves code quality. The trio dives into the organic growth of Vend's single most active Slack channel, why standardising on a tool creates a unifying tech culture across five countries, and the vital importance of talking openly about cognitive load and token burn. Host: Vilde Opsal, Director of AI Engineering and Data Science at Vend Guests: Niklas Derouche, Director of Unlocking Opportunities, Technology at Vend, and Melker Forssell, Lead Software Engineer at Vend. Producer: Camilla Buch, Senior Communications Manager at Vend
25 Jun 2026
The problem with secret cyborgs – AI Behind the screens, a Vend Podcast
Two years ago, our focus was on rolling out a single enterprise AI tool. Today, our strategy has completely evolved. In this episode, host Vilde Opsal talks with Andreas Bengtsson, VP of AI at Vend, about our transition to a dynamic portfolio approach, matching the best tool to the right job. Andreas draws historical parallels between generative AI and the Gutenberg printing press, explores what an AI-native organisation actually looks like, and warns against the "buy-in trap" of spending too much time with AI instead of your colleagues. It is a thoughtful look at balancing fast tech adoption with trust and human relationships. Host: Vilde Opsal, Director of AI Engineering and Data Science at Vend. Guest: Andreas Bengtsson, VP of AI at Vend. Producer: Camilla Buch, Senior Communications Manager at Vend
25 Jun 2026
Why our CEO is coding with Claude – AI Behind the screens, a Vend Podcast
What does the AI shift mean for the future of Nordic marketplaces? In our premiere episode, host and Director of AI Engineering and Data Science, Vilde Opsal, sits down with Vend CEO Christian Printzell Halvorsen to look at the big picture of our tech evolution. Christian compares the current AI wave to the monumental historical shifts from print to online and desktop to mobile. They discuss Vend's edge, the logic behind setting up a Department of AI with a strict 1,000-day expiration date, and our experimental unit, Team AI Mode. Christian also opens up about his personal journey coding with Claude, leading from the front, and why Vend aims to be the best place to learn new skills. Host: Vilde Opsal, Director of AI Engineering and Data Science at Vend. Guest: Christian Printzell Halvorsen, CEO at Vend. Producer: Camilla Buch, Senior Communications Manager at Vend.
5 May 2026
The power of employee-driven change – sustainability and communities
Vend’s very first Sustainability podcast episode, focused on sustainability and communities, exploring the role we can play as a company and the collective impact we can create together – including the power of employee-driven change.
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