About the event
Hvatningardagur/
Vertonet Inspiration Day
Tjarnarbíó
3. apríl 2025
Vertonet Inspiration Day is our biggest annual event—bringing together voices from the tech industry in a space built on inclusion, equality, and community. It’s a day to connect, get inspired, and imagine what’s next for tech in Iceland.
In 2025, our theme is Leading Beyond Tomorrow. What kind of leadership do we want to see in the IT of the future?
Through powerful talks, engaging conversations, and an interactive fishbowl debate, we’ll explore the future of leadership in tech—together.
Join us for a dynamic day with inspiring speakers who’ve challenged the norm, led with vision, and helped reshape the tech landscape.
Vertonet welcomes all women and non-binaries in tech. Men are warmly welcomed too—we value and encourage their presence as allies.
Let's come together to shape the future of IT in Iceland – we start today!
Agenda
13:00
Venue opens
13:30
Elísabet Ósk Stefánsdóttir, Chair of Vertonet, opens the conference
13:40
Kristjana Björk Barðdal, Founder - Atelier Agency, the MC of the event, introduces the agenda
13:45
María Björk Einarsdóttir, CEO - Síminn
From Potential to Power: Creating a Diverse Leadership Pipeline
Succession planning isn’t just about filling roles—it’s about shaping the future of leadership. In this talk, María Björk Einarsdóttir, CEO of Síminn, will explore how organizations can develop strong, diverse leadership pipelines to drive innovation and long-term success. Drawing from her experience in executive leadership across multiple industries, María will highlight the business impact of diversity, the risks of reactive succession planning, and practical strategies to ensure that the next generation of leaders truly reflects the world they serve.
14:05
Ólöf Kristjánsdóttir, CMO - Taktikal & chair of WomenTechIceland
Kill them with kindness - leadership of the future
True leadership isn’t about being the loudest in the room—it’s about making an impact by embracing who you are. In this talk, I’ll explore what it means to be a leader today, not just by stepping forward but by creating space for others. Whether leaders are outspoken or lead quietly through action and presence, leadership requires kindness, courage, and a deep understanding of those around them. Drawing from personal experiences and public discourse, I’ll share lessons on inclusion, the strength of introverted leadership, and how to uncover your own unique leadership style. My hope is to inspire—not just to uplift others, but to help you recognize and embrace the leader within yourself.
14:25
Sóley Tómasdóttir, Gender and Diversity Expert
Who is qualified?
Is our recruitment process fair? Does it bring us the best people?
What kind of criteria do we use and when was it determined? -What can we expect from the current criteria? Could it be changed? What would happen if we tried?
14:45
Coffee break
15:05
Baddý Sonja Breidert, CEO at 1xInternet
The Strength of a Company Reflects the Strength of Its People
In this talk, I will share my experience in building a company where diverse individuals can thrive. Some need flexible working hours, others prefer to work from home and by accommodating the needs of our employees, we not only empower individuals but also strengthen the company as a whole. Flexibility and trust are key elements in the workplace of the future, where everyone has the opportunity to shine in their own way.
15:25
Gamithra Marga, Founder of TVÍK and co-founder of the Icelandic Association for Humane Technology
Spreadsheets, souls, and fragile futures
We talk a lot about diversity, inclusion, and empowerment, but what if the real problem isn’t representation – what if we’re just inviting people into broken structures? Diversity isn’t an artificial goal; it’s how everything naturally thrives, from ecosystems to ideas to economies. But in the robotic pursuit of easily measurable wins, we strip away the complexity that makes systems strong. How we can stop measuring what doesn’t need fixing, stop bashing our heads against what doesn’t work, and start designing systems that support human complexity? It’s about trusting our messy human instincts when leading projects, companies, and movements, and finding the courage to build things for a brighter future.
15:45
Ásdís Eir Símonardóttir, Former Playbook Accelerator and Head of People and Culture at Lyfja
Co-Creating Inclusion: A Playbook You Can Use
What happens when a community writes a playbook for inclusion - together? In this talk, we´ll share how we launched Iceland's first-ever experimental co-creation of a DEIB Playbook, crowdsourcing real-world insights to create something truly practical and usable. More than a document, it’s a toolkit for action - designed for anyone who wants to move beyond good intentions. Curious about what we learned? And how you can put the Playbook to work? Let’s dive in!
16:05
Panel Discussion
16:35
Vertonet’s Incentive Award 2024
Every year, Vertonet selects a recipient for an incentive award, recognizing individuals who have made significant contributions to making the IT sector an attractive career choice for women and non-binaries.
16:50
Cocktail - Networking
Let's take the opportunity to mingle and network over light refreshments
Meet The Speakers
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María Björk Einarsdóttir
CEO - Síminn
María Björk Einarsdóttir is the CEO of Síminn. She has held leadership roles in various leading companies and served on corporate boards. In her work, María has placed strong emphasis on leadership development in a broad sense, as she firmly believes that strong and diverse human resources are the foundation for achieving business goals.
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Ólöf Kristjánsdóttir
CMO - Taktikal
Ólöf Kristjánsdóttir is the CMO at Taktikal, an Icelandic startup leading in trusted digital solutions. With over 15 years in B2B and SaaS marketing, Ólöf has a strong record in driving growth, brand strategy, and market expansion. She excels in agile leadership, fostering innovation and collaboration in fast-paced environments. Passionate about diversity and inclusion, she joined the WomenTechIceland board in 2022 to create more opportunities for women in tech. Ólöf believes great leadership means making space for others and inspiring their growth.
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Sóley Tómasdóttir
Gender and Diversity Expert
Sóley Tómasdóttir is the owner of Just Consulting, where she offers trainings and consultancy on diversity, equity and inclusion. Her expertise is based on a mixture of academic knowledge and excessive experience of management and politics. Sóley has been an active change agent in Icelandic society for decades, initiating many successful projects in cooperation with local and national authorities, organisations and individuals.
Baddý Sonja Breidert
CEO, 1xINTERNET
Baddý Sonja Breidert is the CEO of 1xINTERNET, a software company with 85 employees across Europe. She serves on the boards of Origo, Helix Health, and Defend Iceland. Previously, she chaired the board of the Drupal Association.
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Gamithra Marga
Founder of TVÍK
Gamithra is one of the founders of the Icelandic Association for Humane Technology and as the founder of the edtech startup, TVÍK, spends a lot of time thinking about social innovation. She loves computers, languages and feelings and cares about building a more beautiful and humane future.
Ásdís Eir Símonardóttir
Head of People and Culture, Lyfja
Ásdís is Head of People and Culture at Lyfja, with a background in work psychology and a focus on culture-driven performance, inclusive leadership, and organizational growth. She’s a product-minded people leader who enjoys treating the employee experience with the same care and curiosity as a great product—always iterating, testing, and building in public when possible.
As the Playbook Accelerator for Vertonet’s DEIB initiative, she brought people together to co-create Iceland’s first open-source Inclusion Playbook. She believes inclusion should be treated like a product—built with users, tested often, and never quite finished.
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Kristjana Björk Barðdal
Founder, Atelier Agency
Kristjana Björk is our moderator for the conference. She recently founded Atelier Agency together with Gummi Kíró. She is both an engineer and a computer scientist with a keen interest in people and communication. She also founded and runs Gelluvinnustofur and has just started working independently. She has held various jobs, ranging from working as a hackathon consultant to selling used caravans. Kristjana sits on the board of Ský, in addition to hosting their podcast, UTvarpið. Previously she served on the boards of VERTOnet, UAK, and several other associations.
Bakhjarlar Hvatningardagsins 2025
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