Women who build what’s next – The problem solver

As Senior Business Initiatives Manager at Vend, Marianne Lindsten thrives where structure meets uncertainty. From leading cross-Nordic transformations to aligning teams across commercial, technical, and regulatory landscapes, her work sits at the intersection of strategy, systems thinking, and human collaboration.

In our Women Who Build What’s Next series, Marianne shares what it really takes to tackle complexity — and why sustainable growth begins with clarity, courage, and a relentless focus on customer value

Tell us about a complex problem you’ve recently helped solve.

Last year, I led a large cross-Nordic transformation to harmonise business models and product offerings across several markets. On the surface, it appeared to be a pricing and packaging project. In reality, it was about redefining how we deliver consistent, long-term customer value across countries with different histories and needs.

The hardest part was not building the solution. It was aligning structural and human complexity around a shared direction. Each market had its own commercial logic, regulatory environment, legacy systems, and customer expectations. Aligning these differences without losing local relevance required trust, transparency, and strong alignment across markets.

At the same time, expectations were high. We were operating with ambitious timelines and clear growth targets. That kind of pressure can either fragment teams or unite them.

What made this special was the way people leaned in. We challenged each other openly. We stayed honest about trade-offs. And we remained anchored in one question: Does this truly create value for our customers?

When we launched in our first market, we exceeded our initial targets by more than 100%. That early traction confirmed that alignment, courage, and customer value are powerful growth drivers.

For me, the most rewarding part was not the numbers. It was seeing teams across countries move from local optimisation to shared ambition and realising that when you combine trust, clarity, and ownership, you can solve problems that initially feel almost impossible.

What approach did you take, and what made it successful?

We treated the plan as a compass, not a map. It gave us direction, but not rigidity. We aligned around one non-negotiable principle: customer first. Every major decision had to pass that test. If it did not clearly strengthen customer value, we reworked it or chose a different path.

We actively challenged our own assumptions and encouraged constructive debate across disciplines and markets. Disagreement was not seen as friction, but as a way to improve the solution.

In the end, success came from clarity of vision, the courage to adjust when reality changed, and a team culture built on trust. That trust allowed us to prioritise long-term customer value over short-term convenience, which ultimately positioned us for sustainable growth.

How does diverse thinking improve problem-solving in tech?

Complex systems require cognitive diversity.

In technology, there is often an assumption that the best solution is purely technical. In reality, the most difficult challenges sit at the intersection of product, commercial models, user behaviour, regulation, and culture. Solving them requires more than technical excellence; it requires multiple perspectives working together.

In major initiatives, we bring engineers, commercial leads, product managers, designers, analysts, and market representatives into the same discussions. That diversity creates productive tension. It forces us to articulate assumptions rather than operate on them implicitly. It surfaces risks earlier. And it pushes solutions beyond what any single discipline could design on its own.

Steve Jobs said that innovation happens at the intersection of technology and the liberal arts. I have seen the same dynamic inside organisations. Breakthroughs rarely come from alignment on a single way of thinking. They emerge when different perspectives challenge each other constructively, while remaining aligned on a shared goal. 

Diverse thinking does not slow problem-solving. When structured well, it improves the quality of decisions and increases the likelihood of building solutions that truly work in the real world

What’s one misconception about working in tech that you’d like to challenge?

That working in tech is mainly about coding.

Don’t get me wrong, coding is essential, but it is only one part of creating meaningful outcomes in a technology organisation. Technology alone does not create value. Value is created when technology solves real problems for real users in a way that is sustainable over time.

Successful tech organisations operate in constant uncertainty. They move forward based on the best available insight, knowing that waiting for perfect certainty often means standing still. They prioritise relentlessly. They deliberately balance speed with quality, scalability with simplicity, and short-term targets with long-term trust. These decisions require judgment; they are not solved by code alone.

Driving successful outcomes requires systems thinking. Understanding how architecture, user behaviour, market dynamics, and business models interact. It requires decision discipline, having the courage to say no, even to good ideas. And it requires resilience, because most ideas look promising until reality puts them to the test.

Technology unlocks enormous potential, particularly in the age of AI. Yet AI does not replace human judgment; it amplifies the need for it. Algorithms optimise for what they are designed to optimise, but people decide what truly matters. Human judgment, collaboration, and clarity of purpose transform technological possibility into meaningful impact.

What advice would you give to someone who doubts whether they’re “technical enough”?

Do not confuse technical depth with value creation. You do not need to write code to work in tech. But you do need curiosity. You need the willingness to ask “why” repeatedly. You need to understand how systems connect and how decisions create ripple effects.

If you can structure problems, translate complexity into clarity, and align people around decisions, you are already contributing at a high level.

Technical skills can be learned. Technology is a powerful tool. But impact comes from clarity of direction, quality of decisions, and the ability to execute consistently as a team. That is what truly defines working in tech.