Profile image for Microsoft: Transforming with AI – Becoming a "Seafood Frontier" Firm

Microsoft: Transforming with AI – Becoming a "Seafood Frontier" Firm Passed

Thursday March 5, 2026 09:00 - 10:45 CET Conference Area B

Lecturers: Frode Vatne (CIO), Fredrik Sætre (Senior Solution Engineer)

Presenting company:

09:00-09:15: Introduction 
Speaker: TBA
Company: Frontier Firm 

The seafood and aquaculture industry stands at a crossroads of opportunity and responsibility. With consumption growing ~4% annually and projections that 60% of the world’s seafood needs will come from farms within the next decade, there is an urgent imperative to scale production sustainably. This keynote explores how becoming a “Frontier Firm” can meet that challenge – in Microsoft’s terms, a frontier company is an AI-first organization that drives transformation across its people, processes, and innovation. We’ll discuss how embracing advanced technologies (Agentic AI, cloud, IoT) and new ways of working can help seafood enterprises accelerate growth while achieving environmental and social goals. The overarching theme is one of digital transformation for sustainable oceans: how the seafood sector can leverage Microsoft’s latest initiatives and tools to increase efficiency, ensure traceability and quality from ocean to plate, reduce ecological impact, and empower its workforce. In short, it’s about charting a path to industry leadership by innovating on all fronts – making the North Atlantic seafood industry not only thrive economically but also become a role model for responsibility and resilience in the face of global challenges.

09:15-10:00: Voice of the customer
Speaker: Frode Vatne
Company: Pelagia 

- AI agents are no longer tools — they are employees. In this talk, Frode Vatne shares how a bold AI-first strategy has fundamentally changed the rules at Pelagia, with autonomous agents replacing traditional operations and reshaping how organizations create value. - The real limitation isn’t technology — it’s how we think. From digital employees to autonomous AI agents, this seminar challenges conventional IT and organizational models and explores what happens when humans and bots truly work together.
- What if AI agents were hired like employees? Discover how Pelagia’s AI-first journey is redefining work, cost structures, and collaboration between humans and machines.


10:00-10:45: How to make it work 
Speaker: Fredrik Sætre, Senior Solution Engineer
Company: Microsoft 

Working from Bergen Norway, Fredrik Sætre is a Senior Solution Engineer and is a part of the Microsoft Global Black Belt team for AI Business Process, working at the intersection of enterprise technology, AI innovation, and digital transformation.

Speakers

Profile image for Frode Vatne

Frode Vatne Speaker

CIO
Pelagia AS

Profile image for Fredrik Sætre

Fredrik Sætre SpeakerPresenting company

Senior Solution Engineer
Microsoft