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Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Study AI if you want to get hired in the defense industry, the CEO of Scandinavia's biggest military manufacturer says
AI and data engineers will be the defense industry's sought-after jobs, Micael Johansson told BI. The Saab CEO said the defense world is moving toward a business model that offers software. He said Saab, which makes the Gripen, recently hired 6,000 more people amid the boom. Artificial intelligence and software skills will be a young graduate's best bets for a job in the rapidly surging defense industry, said Micael Johansson, CEO of Saab. "I think there will be a big change going forward," Johansson told Business Insider on the sidelines of this year's Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. "Our systems will be software-defined, so of course, AI engineers, great software skills, data engineers will be super important to us," said the CEO, who was elected president of the Aerospace, Security and Defence Industries Association of Europe last month. Johansson said defense primes like Saab, which manufactures the Gripen fighter aircraft, will still need technicians and mechanics to build weapons platforms. "We need excellent, skillful production people as well. Finding welders to do submarine work is not an easy thing, so it's a mix of jobs," he said. But he added that Saab and the larger industry are moving toward a live service business model that emphasizes software in weapons systems that can be incrementally updated and connected with other platforms. Part of that industry push comes from observing the war in Ukraine, where both sides are developing new techniques in drone jamming and countermeasures in a matter of weeks. "The technology will grow so quickly, so you cannot buy a sort of, 50,000 drones and put them in stock. You want to have almost like drones as a service," Johansson said. Saab, the Nordics' biggest defense manufacturer, has enjoyed an industry-wide boom since the start of the Ukraine war. The Swedish firm reported 2024 annual sales of 63.75 billion Swedish krona, or about $6.6 billion. By comparison, annual revenue in 2021 was 39.15 billion krona. Amid the uncertainty of Washington's long-term role in NATO, the firm's share price has surged by more than 120% since President Donald Trump's inauguration in January to 484.30 krona, as of Monday afternoon. Johansson said Saab has been investing heavily to meet demand and has grown its workforce from 19,000 to 25,000 in the last two years. "We've had more than 200,000 applicants last year for the company and 74,000 for this first quarter," he said. The CEO had said in February that he expected the Stockholm-based firm to hire 1,000 more people in Sweden this year. On Friday, he told BI he'd revised the figure to 2,000 after realizing Saab had already hired 900 new staff in the first quarter. "Probably will be wrong again," he said. Read the original article on Business Insider Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Business Insider
6 hours ago
- Business
- Business Insider
Study AI if you want to get hired in the defense industry, the CEO of Scandinavia's biggest military manufacturer says
Artificial intelligence and software skills will be a young graduate's best bets for a job in the rapidly surging defense industry, said Micael Johansson, CEO of Saab. "I think there will be a big change going forward," Johansson told Business Insider on the sidelines of this year's Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. "Our systems will be software-defined, so of course, AI engineers, great software skills, data engineers will be super important to us," said the CEO, who was elected president of the Aerospace, Security and Defence Industries Association of Europe last month. Johansson said defense primes like Saab, which manufactures the Gripen fighter aircraft, will still need technicians and mechanics to build weapons platforms. "We need excellent, skillful production people as well. Finding welders to do submarine work is not an easy thing, so it's a mix of jobs," he said. But he added that Saab and the larger industry are moving toward a live service business model that emphasizes software in weapons systems that can be incrementally updated and connected with other platforms. Part of that industry push comes from observing the war in Ukraine, where both sides are developing new techniques in drone jamming and countermeasures in a matter of weeks. "The technology will grow so quickly, so you cannot buy a sort of, 50,000 drones and put them in stock. You want to have almost like drones as a service," Johansson said. Saab, the Nordics' biggest defense manufacturer, has enjoyed an industry-wide boom since the start of the Ukraine war. The Swedish firm reported 2024 annual sales of 63.75 billion Swedish krona, or about $6.6 billion. By comparison, annual revenue in 2021 was 39.15 billion krona. Amid the uncertainty of Washington's long-term role in NATO, the firm's share price has surged by more than 120% since President Donald Trump's inauguration in January to 484.30 krona, as of Monday afternoon. Johansson said Saab has been investing heavily to meet demand and has grown its workforce from 19,000 to 25,000 in the last two years. "We've had more than 200,000 applicants last year for the company and 74,000 for this first quarter," he said. The CEO had said in February that he expected the Stockholm-based firm to hire 1,000 more people in Sweden this year. On Friday, he told BI he'd revised the figure to 2,000 after realizing Saab had already hired 900 new staff in the first quarter. "Probably will be wrong again," he said.
Business Recorder
3 days ago
- Business
- Business Recorder
Saab CEO sees Europe streamlining defence demands amid spending push
SINGAPORE: The European defence market needs to align requirements and demand in order to create scale as it attempts to boost capability, the CEO of Swedish defence group Saab said. 'The important thing is that you cannot have every country, sort of tailoring the requirements to different sorts of versions, then it becomes difficult,' Micael Johansson told Reuters in an interview on Saturday on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue security meeting in Singapore. The European Union's 23 members are expected to agree at a summit in June to raise the defence spending target above the current 2% of national output as countries bend to pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to spend more. 'Europe has a big catch up to do in terms of capability that we need to have in place to take care of our own security,' Johansson said, adding that defence capabilities will still need to be built up even if a peace deal in Ukraine is achieved. Beyond improving capabilities in Europe, he said that he has seen a greater willingness for collaboration between countries other than the U.S. for defence products, and that European players are prepared to establish sovereign capabilities in the countries they partner. 'That's what we're prepared to do, if we're part of this of course, to help, and that includes technology transfer and collaboration, and not just selling,' he said. The Thai Air Force chose to purchase its Gripen fighter jets in August last year, selecting Saab over Lockheed Martin's F-16 fighter jets even though Thailand is a security ally of the United States. EU threatens countermeasures over Trump's steel tariffs hike He also noted that the company's fighter jet programme is building more unmanned capabilities as air defence systems and lethal weapons capabilities improve. 'Because of the congested environment that you have to operate in, the suppression of enemy air defence systems, you have to take bigger risks and you have to think about attrition. Then you don't want to send your fighter pilots into something that's really, really dangerous,' he said.
Economic Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Economic Times
Saab CEO Micael Johansson sees Europe streamlining defence demands amid spending push
Reuters FILE PHOTO: President and CEO of Saab Group Micael Johansson attends a meeting with Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Saab Marcus Wallenberg, at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil November 23, 2023. FILE PHOTO; REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino/File Photo The European defence market needs to align requirements and demand in order to create scale as it attempts to boost capability, the CEO of Swedish defence group Saab said. "The important thing is that you cannot have every country, sort of tailoring the requirements to different sorts of versions, then it becomes difficult," Micael Johansson told Reuters in an interview on Saturday on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue security meeting in Singapore. The European Union's 23 members are expected to agree at a summit in June to raise the defence spending target above the current 2% of national output as countries bend to pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to spend more. "Europe has a big catch up to do in terms of capability that we need to have in place to take care of our own security," Johansson said, adding that defence capabilities will still need to be built up even if a peace deal in Ukraine is achieved. Beyond improving capabilities in Europe, he said that he has seen a greater willingness for collaboration between countries other than the U.S. for defence products, and that European players are prepared to establish sovereign capabilities in the countries they partner. "That's what we're prepared to do, if we're part of this of course, to help, and that includes technology transfer and collaboration, and not just selling," he said. The Thai Air Force chose to purchase its Gripen fighter jets in August last year, selecting Saab over Lockheed Martin's F-16 fighter jets even though Thailand is a security ally of the United States. He also noted that the company's fighter jet programme is building more unmanned capabilities as air defence systems and lethal weapons capabilities improve. "Because of the congested environment that you have to operate in, the suppression of enemy air defence systems, you have to take bigger risks and you have to think about attrition. Then you don't want to send your fighter pilots into something that's really, really dangerous," he said.
Time of India
3 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Saab CEO Micael Johansson sees Europe streamlining defence demands amid spending push
The European defence market needs to align requirements and demand in order to create scale as it attempts to boost capability, the CEO of Swedish defence group Saab said. "The important thing is that you cannot have every country, sort of tailoring the requirements to different sorts of versions, then it becomes difficult," Micael Johansson told Reuters in an interview on Saturday on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue security meeting in Singapore. The European Union's 23 members are expected to agree at a summit in June to raise the defence spending target above the current 2% of national output as countries bend to pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to spend more. "Europe has a big catch up to do in terms of capability that we need to have in place to take care of our own security," Johansson said, adding that defence capabilities will still need to be built up even if a peace deal in Ukraine is achieved. Beyond improving capabilities in Europe, he said that he has seen a greater willingness for collaboration between countries other than the U.S. for defence products, and that European players are prepared to establish sovereign capabilities in the countries they partner. Live Events "That's what we're prepared to do, if we're part of this of course, to help, and that includes technology transfer and collaboration, and not just selling," he said. The Thai Air Force chose to purchase its Gripen fighter jets in August last year, selecting Saab over Lockheed Martin's F-16 fighter jets even though Thailand is a security ally of the United States. He also noted that the company's fighter jet programme is building more unmanned capabilities as air defence systems and lethal weapons capabilities improve. "Because of the congested environment that you have to operate in, the suppression of enemy air defence systems, you have to take bigger risks and you have to think about attrition. Then you don't want to send your fighter pilots into something that's really, really dangerous," he said.
