DR Nyheder asked three Danish business leaders at an AI festival in Ballerup how artificial intelligence has already changed their workplaces, days after Danmarks Nationalbank found that companies hire fewer people once they adopt AI.
The interviews were published on September 20, 2026 by DR. The three leaders are Nikolaj Bramsen, CEO of the software company Systematic, Tenna Ørum Kristensen, head of data and AI at Copenhagen Airports, and Frederik Søndergaard Hansen, founder and CEO of Stormborn.
The backdrop is an analysis from Danmarks Nationalbank. According to the central bank, published on September 16, 2026, Danish firms that begin using AI have lower employment growth than comparable firms that do not.
The analysis concludes that adopting firms mainly cut back on new hiring rather than existing staff. The effect is concentrated among younger workers and those with longer educations, and the bank states there are no signs so far that wages have been affected.
Three workplaces, three approaches
Bramsen told DR that a modern IT company has to apply AI across most tasks and processes. Systematic uses it to generate code, draft text, translate customer needs, and produce market analyses and visual design.
He added that the company’s growth would previously have required 300 additional hires, but that AI may reduce that to 150 to 200. As routine tasks are reorganized, he said, it becomes easy to cut back on young staff, so Systematic is deliberately continuing to recruit broadly.
At Copenhagen Airports, Kristensen said AI supports administrative staff and quality assurance, but also operational and passenger processes. The technology is used to optimize each suitcase’s route through kilometers of baggage belts, and to manage waiting times and passenger flow toward the gates.
She expects greater use of AI, but also a slowdown at some point, as companies learn what they do and do not want to use it for. In her view, the main change is converting tasks and roles rather than reducing staff numbers.
Hansen said Stormborn, which works with data and monitoring services for the offshore wind sector, uses AI and AI agents across the entire business. That includes developing new code, analyzing incoming data streams, and integrating hardware such as radar and cameras.
He described the Nationalbank analysis as correct and sharp, and said his company hires fewer but highly skilled people, particularly those who are good at using AI. He acknowledged the societal problem in hiring fewer, while pointing to what he called large growth potential that could mean more hires later.
Hansen said the people the company recruits will be those who understand how to apply AI from the start. The three interviews were conducted at an AI festival in Ballerup, DR reports.
