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SEPTEMBER 19TH, 2025
13.00 - 17.00

Welcome to Verge: the event exploring talent and the future of work.

This event is for you who work in any part of the employee journey. From employer branding and recruitment, to HR, management and leadership. Let’s join forces at Verge to learn new ways of working, get inspired by thought leaders in their respective fields and discuss possibilities with likeminded people.

Check out the detailed program and all our speakers further down on the page and make sure to sign up to secure your ticket!

We will deep dive into DEI and how that can become your competitive advantage. Learn more about how hiring a winning team can come from being systematic in your process, and how you can use a magnetic employer brand to create buzz and awareness around your brand with top talent. Of course we will talk about AI, and we will also talk about the future superworker: how do we not only use AI in our workflow, but create workflows by AI agents.

Meet us at the Verge of Talent Smash. Welcome to Epicenter!

Verge is Epicenter’s flagship event series, known for breaking silos and sparking conversations that matter. After sold-out editions in Helsinki, Verge now arrives in Oslo for the first time, bringing with it a reimagined Talent Smash that pushes beyond best practices and into bold innovation.

This event is designed for anyone involved in hiring, growing, and developing teams. Whether you’re a talent acquisition leader, employer brand strategist, startup founder, or business executive, this is where you’ll gain the insight to stay ahead.


Agenda

12:00

Registration, coffee and mingling

13:00

Welcome to VERGE!

13:15

DEI as a Performance Driver

Diversity, equity, and inclusion aren’t just HR checkboxes—they’re strategic levers for innovation and high performance. This session makes a compelling business case for embedding DEI into every layer of the organization. From hiring practices to leadership pipelines, attendees will discover how inclusive workplaces outperform on creativity, engagement, and retention.

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Kimiya Sajjadi
CEO & Founder, Big Enough Global
Marie Louise Sunde
CEO, Equality Check
13:45

The Superworker Shift: Building for the Future of Work

The future of work isn’t coming, it’s already here. AI is no longer a tool we add to our workflow; it’s becoming the very foundation of how we operate, lead, and create value. As AI reshapes industries, a new kind of talent is emerging: the Superworker. These are the individuals who don’t just use AI—they build their entire way of working around it. They’re faster, sharper, and more adaptable. But the Superworker isn’t born; they’re built, by leaders, by systems, and by a mindset shift that’s already underway. We’ll explore the rise of the Superworker and what it means for your business, your teams, and your leadership.

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Øivind Eide
Co-Founder & Author, Well Told
14:15

Networking & mingle break

14:30

Keynote: The future is systemised – why hiring the winning team comes from working systematically

Market leaders don't succeed by accident, they organise what matters most. But when it comes to their most critical asset, talent, too many organisations still rely on fragmented processes that miss top performers and repeat costly mistakes. This keynote presents the research-backed case for transforming hiring into your definitive competitive advantage by creating a system over processes.

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Martin Neerland
Country Manager, Norway, Alva Labs
14:50

Building a Magnetic Employer Brand

Great companies don’t just hire talent—they attract it. In this session, branding, HR, and communications professionals share how to build an employer identity that feels honest, exciting, and irresistible. Whether you’re battling for engineers, designers, or Gen Z’s attention, learn how to create a brand people want to be part of—and share.

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Tonje Sandgrind Refvik
Head of Employer Branding, DNB
Kristin Bjerke
Chief Operating Officer, ALV
Carlo Duraturo
Country Manager Norway, Universum Global
15:30

Networking & mingle break

15:40

AI's role in Talent Acquisistion

Automation is redefining every stage of hiring—from sourcing and screening to onboarding. But what are we gaining, and what are we losing? This panel brings together voices from tech, talent, and operations to debate the promise and peril of AI recruitment. It explores the ethical trade-offs, the operational wins, and the deeper question: can machines ever really understand people?

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Esben Poulsen
Chief Operating Officer (COO), Amby
16:15

Afterwork

SPEAKERS

Øivind Eide
Co-Founder & Author, Well Told

Øivind H. Eide is one of the three founders of Well Told, a creative agency built on the idea that small expert teams working closely with AI can achieve what once required much larger organizations. With more than 25 years of experience in advertising, design, and marketing, he has led strategy and concept development for some of Norway’s largest brands across industries.

At Well Told, Øivind acts as strategist, creative, designer, and project manager—all roles supported by AI “colleagues” he has built to extend his capacity. His philosophy is simple: augmentation, not automation. For him, the value of AI lies not in replacing people, but in combining human judgment, instinct, and creativity with the analytical power of machines.

He is also the author of AI at the Office (KI på kontoret), a practical guide to using artificial intelligence in everyday work.

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Tonje Sandgrind Refvik
Head of Employer Branding, DNB

Tonje has a passionate commitment to working across different professional disciplines and finding the best solutions with others. In other words, she is somewhat less boisterous and loud than her Bergen origins might suggest. Since 2014, Tonje has worked in recruitment, with a special focus on how to attract and recruit people for IT and other demanding specialist roles. This background has well-equipped her for her current role as Head of Employer Branding at DNB, where the collaboration between several strong professional disciplines plays a central role in achieving success.

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Carlo Duraturo
Country Manager Norway, Universum Global

Carlo Duraturo is responsible for Universum in Norway – born and raised in Employer Branding, with over 20 years of experience working with employer positioning both in Norway and internationally.

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Kristin Bjerke
Chief Operating Officer, ALV

Kristin is the Chief Operating Officer and Co-founder of Alv AS, an IT consultancy company delivering system development competency. She holds a master’s degree in Electric Power Engineering, but got into the IT consulting business after a few years as an engineer. In 2019 she joined Alv AS, as a co-founder and consultant. She and holds the responsibility for the employee experience, growth, personnel management and a broad range of topics related to Employer Branding. People is the only asset of a consulting company, and Kristin is passionate about ensuring that the people in Alv thrive in their career and life, which also ensures that we give the very best to our clients.

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Martin Neerland
Country Manager, Norway, Alva Labs

Martin Neerland is a strategic, results-driven HR leader with over 14 years’ experience at the intersection of HR, technology, and organisational growth. As Country Manager for Norway at Alva Labs, he champions the integration of structured, research-based assessments into hiring practices, enabling companies to make fairer, data-informed recruitment decisions.

Drawing from extensive expertise in HR, talent strategy, and business operations, Martin is on a mission to empower HR and Talent Acquisition teams to become business-critical growth engines, one predictive hire at a time.

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Kimiya Sajjadi
CEO & Founder, Big Enough Global

After being a professional chess player and studying law for 2.5 years, Kimiya Sajjadi decided to go all-in on her company, Big Enough Global. Since then, she has assisted over 100 businesses across the country with their work on equality, diversity, and inclusion. Her clients include major names like the Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training, NAV, the Federation of Norwegian Financial Services, Coop Midt-Norge, Thommessen, the Norwegian Public Roads Administration, and Siemens Energy.

Due to her work, she has been named one of Dagens Næringsliv's "30 under 30" rising stars, been a finalist for Årets Ladejarl and the Vixen Awards, and received YS's Gender Equality Award. Kimiya is an active public debater who regularly shares insights with her 15,000 followers on LinkedIn. On Instagram, she has reached over 20 million views, inspiring a broad global audience.

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Marie Louise Sunde
CEO, Equality Check

Marie Louise Sunde is a medical doctor and holds a PhD in surgery. She is the Founder and CEO of Equality Check - helping companies turning DEI to a competitive advantage by using data, domain knowledge and evidence based solutions.

Before founding Equality Check, Dr. Sunde was working as a senior surgical resident. She Founded #HunSpanderer and co-authored “Hvem Spanderer?” Dr. Sunde is on the advisory board of Women in Global Health, and at the board of Queen Sonja’s Singing Competition.

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Esben Poulsen
Chief Operating Officer (COO), Amby

Esben Anneberg Poulsen is COO at Amby, a Nordic talent advisory firm helping startups, scaleups, and enterprises build world-class teams. He has over a decade of experience in consulting, venture capital, and operational leadership, including co-founding the VC firm Arkwright X. At Amby, he leads the company’s strategy, P&L, and AI agenda. Esben also hosts Venture Capital in Scandinavia, a podcast exploring the Nordic investment ecosystem.

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Joey Bayer
Head of International Community, Epicenter

MODERATOR AT VERGE

Joey Bayer has been creating conversations that matter for more than 16 years. From curating the stage to connecting key players, he has mastered the art of bringing people together for moments that inspire and challenge.

He has hosted some of the world’s most fascinating figures, from former US President Bill Clinton to icons like Liza Minelli and CEOs of Fortune 500 companies. Known for his ability to cut through the noise and get straight to the heart of the discussion, Joey has earned the trust of leaders across industries.

After moderating the last two Verge events in Helsinki, Joey now brings his energy and insight to Oslo, where he will once again shape dialogue that matters.

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Step into VERGE, the new global event series by Epicenter - the house of innovation.

At VERGE, we stand at the tipping point of what’s next. Designed for those who dare to explore, challenge, and redefine the future, this is the movement that is set to amplify innovation on a global stage.  

See you at Epicenter.

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