Leading change and measuring your AI maturity.

Hear fresh, first-hand insights from Schibsted’s product reorganization in 2025, and how the group is changing the way it works with product development across Norway’s and Sweden’s largest newspapers. Frode H. Pedersen shares experiences from the past year and explains how Schibsted is renewing itself to be better equipped to meet changing user needs and technological shifts.
Frode is Director of Product and UX at Schibsted, responsible for the Performance area, and has over 20 years of experience in the media industry. He currently leads several teams across Norway and Sweden, working with news organizations such as VG, Aftenposten, and Aftonbladet. Previously, he led product development at Bergens Tidende and Stavanger Aftenblad through several major transformations. Frode has also been involved in launching several shared products at Schibsted, including live solutions and commenting platforms, and has won multiple international awards.
2025 was the year we saw GenAI model development stagnate, while GenAI products exploded. In 2026, we will continue to see this trend. And that is actually a good thing. We are approaching the productivity plateau for the use of generative AI, and that is good news for those of us who are engaged in product development. Because we can leave behind the artificial expectations, and see how we can achieve the desired effect and positive impact for users.
Most innovation with generative AI has been good old-fashioned product development recently. So how do we apply those principles to new technology? In this presentation, we will look at how mature generative AI is and how it can be part of the product strategy for technologists, rather than being the strategy.
Mikael Brevik has extensive experience as a developer and speaker at major national and international conferences. Mikael is a programming enthusiast with extensive experience from multiple development disciplines. He is motivated by making teams work, delivering the right kind of quality and value. In addition to being CTO at Variant, he hosts podcasts, writes blog posts and gives presentations.
Please register using the form below. Notice we have limited space/seating, so be sure to register early. Looking forward to see you there!
When: Friday 16 january 2026 Where: Vaskerelven 39, Bergen
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Variant is hosting a meetup in Trondheim Agile, where our own CTO, Mikael Brevik, gives us his arguments for how generative AI can be part of the product strategy rather than being the strategy.
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