I look at the two mugs standing on my oak kitchen table, this beginning of december. One dark with Natos compass star from Riga, one white with Ukrainian folk patterns from Lviv. Through the window, the Swedish winter light grows brighter.
This autumn my travels have led to cities where history is being written. Kyiv in September, Riga in October, Lviv in November. In each place, I have spoken about how artificial intelligence changes the battlefield of information. In each place, I have met people who understand what is at stake, and want to share their knowledge and work together.
In Riga, at the Nato StratCom Centre of Excellence, we discussed how AI can spread lies and how it can fight them. People gathered from all over Nato to share experiences and learn together.
In Lviv, the Ukrainian officials I worked with knows this isnt just theory. There, our phones would buzz with air raid alerts, only to be followed the morning after in workshops about fighting disinformation. They took notes. They asked precise questions. They had no time to waste.
My work has changed these past two years, since the full scale invasion of Ukraine began. Now my focus today is on digital resilience, and on innovation management practices to strengthen leadership and how we organize. On how we adapt, and on how we defend smarter. The old ways are not enough anymore.
These cups were gifts. But for me they mean more than courtesy. They speak of Partnerships and of standing together. Of warm hands around hot coffee while planning how to face cold threats. Just like I held that warm cup of coffee on the train departing Kyiv earlier this year. Winter is coming to Ukraine and it will be hard. I think of all of you who right now have to live through a third winter of war. The cup with folk patterns reminds me of this. But it also reminds me that patterns survive, that people endure, that we are stronger when we work together.