Our corporate cultures hit each other right away

What makes you like your job?

Håkon Hatlestad, Consultant, Stavanger: What matters most is the people around me, both colleagues and customers. I can always talk to someone about both good things and different problems. I could work on anything in Upheads with the people here.

Simon Granström, Azureteamet, Malmö: I like the fact that we don't have such a tight rein on what we should develop in. For example, I have a colleague who wants to develop in AI and this has enabled me to learn more about AI. Everyone is extremely competent and everyone helps each other.

Emma Lindberg, Economics, Malmö: Yes, basically it's the colleagues for me too. Everyone is happy and supportive and it's always fun to come to the office. I also like that so much is happening all the time in the industry and that Microsoft's services and products and my work tasks are changing.

Tammar Zaki, Productivity Team, Malmö: As Simon said, the focus is on supporting each other and I really like the team spirit because everyone feels like the same team even if we are in different teams. And I like all the opportunities to develop at work.

Martin Schöpwinkel, salesman, Stavanger: I think it's fun to work in an industry that is rapidly developing and that new things are coming all the time. Upheads is changing rapidly and it's nice to have more colleagues who create a good culture.

Speaking of business culture, what do you appreciate about the other country's business culture?

Håkon: Culturally, we are quite similar and both companies' cultures feel abnormal. Of course we are professional and fast, but we also have fun with each other.

Simon: I appreciate that we have not been absorbed into a giant group where we have to adapt, but that we have kept the identity of WeSafe.

Emma: From the very first draw with Bjørg, it felt like we have the same values. Norway are happy doers who work as a team to solve what is best for the customers. They also seem to be very good at celebrating, and I think it's important to show appreciation for what you've accomplished.

Tammar: My first day as an employee was on the trip with Upheads in Italy, and I didn't notice any difference between people from different companies. I even spoke Norwegian with Emma. Everyone is very nice so it's a great feeling.

Martin: Yes, when we were in Italy together, I felt that it worked very well from the start. Our company cultures met each other immediately.

What do you think the merger means for customers?

Håkon: WeSafe has the people who are passionate about new technology and are better than us at new technologies like AI, Azure and Copilot. We get a lot of questions from customers about new things, and we can learn a lot from the Swedish part so we can answer customers and help them.

Simon: If customers want, they can benefit greatly from the merger because we benefit from each other's competencies. We have taken advantage of physical servers and backup that we can offer in-house. So if you want new pieces, you don't have to bring in another party.

Emma: Basically, we have more competence, more experience and we offer a larger product portfolio. The customers get more and better help because we might come across a new problem that Norway might have had before, and then they can help us and the customer with that.

Tammar: There is so much expertise and experience in Norway that we can benefit from, so there are many positive aspects to the merger.

Martin: WeSafe brings new knowledge, especially in AI, from which we can develop lots of new services and products. As Tammar said, we are very good at working together as a team. We can use the skills of our employees, regardless of the country or customer, to help customers with specific problems.

Read more about the merger

Questions and answers

Interview with Uphead's President and CEO Bjørg Tomlin

Interview with WeSafe founder Peter Fritzon

Interview with safety officers for each country