Petter Kilefors

Managing Partner

Head of Arthur D. Little Nordics

Sweden

Petter advises private and public organizations with strategy & innovation challenges across sectors.

Education

Stockholm School of Economics
M.Sc., Economics and Business Administration
Rotterdam School of Management
M.Sc. International Business

Country Grouping

Petter is the Managing Partner of Arthur D. Little in the Nordic region.

Petter is a member of the global Strategy & Organization Practice, globally responsible for Private Equity with industry affiliation to the TIME, Health Care & Life Sciences, and Public Services Practices.

His professional focus is on strategy & organization, advice to private equity and industrial investors pre- and post-transaction (e.g. due diligence, valuation, strategy, change management, post-merger integration), and governance issues faced by corporations, investors, governments and multilateral organizations.

Petter holds a Master’s in Economic Science and Business Administration from the Stockholm School of Economics and the Rotterdam School of Management.

Optimistic global CEOs focus on people and skills in an AI future
Optimistic global CEOs focus on people and skills in an AI future
Embracing the opportunities that artificial intelligence (AI) and talent together can unlock, CEOs are looking beyond the current instability, and increasingly confident about the future prospects for their organizations and the wider economy. Two-thirds are highly positive about the global outlook over the next three to five years, a major increase from 2023. Given that global tensions have worsened over the last 12 months, with conflict in the Middle East, disruptions to Red Sea supply chains, and the continuing war in Ukraine, this optimism is dramatic and heartening.
Positive in an uncertain world: Confident CEOs reskill companies for AI-driven growth
Positive in an uncertain world: Confident CEOs reskill companies for AI-driven growth
CEOs prepare for sustainable future through increased tech adoption, internal talent development
Embracing uncertainty, driving growth
Embracing uncertainty, driving growth
A crisis is an opportunity riding a dangerous wind, according to a Chinese proverb – and the world is currently beset with crises. The global pandemic, climate change, and unprecedented geopolitical volatility have provided a wake-up call to all organizations, bringing a long-lasting era of worldwide economic growth to a close.
Time to renew your pilot’s license?
Time to renew your pilot’s license?
Five technologies board members and CEOs must keep on their radar screens
TURNING TURMOIL TO ADVANTAGE: HOW CEOS ARE NAVIGATING CHANGE TO DRIVE GROWTH
Turning Turmoil to Advantage: How CEOs Are Navigating Change to Drive Growth
CEOs are pushing for growth during global turbulence, focusing on 10 key areas for success
When global megatrends run amok
Crises change our world. History tells a simple lesson — the deeper and more severe the crisis, the stronger the transformative effects on long-term societal development. Informative cases are abundant, ranging from the Black Death’s influence on reorganization of medieval agriculture to the ways the experiences of the combined tragedies of WWI and WWII transformed principles and mechanisms of managing the world economy. In retrospect, the long-term impact of these historical transformations has been associated with increasing growth and welfare.    
Growth in the new normal
As challenging as the current economic headwinds may be, many of these forces are likely short-term idiosyncrasies of the post-COVID-19 economic recovery. We believe that several longer-term and even accelerating economic mega-trends will undoubtedly have a profound impact on the global economy in the next five years and must be addressed with immediate and serious executive attention. In this Viewpoint, we cover four global growth mega-trends: 
BYE-BYE COMFORT ZONE, WELCOME VUCA
NOW IS THE RIGHT TIME TO PUT GROWTH ON AGENDA As the global vaccination campaign continues, companies are preparing for the post-COVID-19 economic rebound to rebuild their financial strength and recover ground that they have lost during the COVID recession. Simultaneously, they must also respond to drivers and trends that the pandemic has either induced or significantly accelerated. They must balance the demand surge and digitalization tailwind against supply shortages.
Electric buses
Electric buses are expected to be more efficient and greener than diesel buses, and key to making cities more environmentally friendly. Every city must carefully choose its individual solution for its bus fleet, and OEMs have to be ready to mirror the local requirements by understanding the needs of both PTOs and PTAs.
Dematerialized ticketing
Transport authorities and mass transit operators should consider dematerialization of ticketing for increased resilience and to pave the way for Mobility-as-a-Service in a post-Covid world
Digitalization of government services
Governments and constituent entities are embracing digitalization to provide user-friendly government services to citizens and simultaneously reduce their cost to offer such services. There are numerous success stories, interestingly some of them are from very small nations but failures abound as well. A successful digitalization approach should be viewed from the citizens’ experience perspective rather than purely as a large process automation / IT modernization program. A successful digitalization initiative entails:
The Headquarters Redesign
For a long time, steering a corporation from its head offices was like a long-distance drive on a straight and broad highway: a smooth and comfortable ride – no sharp turns, constant speed and high reliability. For most corporations, the global economic crisis in 2009 changed this driving mode to “off-road”. Today we frequently need radical turns to steer the corporation in the right direction. The role and effectiveness of a corporate headquarters become more important to mastering megatrends as well as industry specific changes. This development affects whole industries.
Transformation by Radical Innovation
Is your company sufficiently innovative? Most CEOs and CTOs would like to say yes, although Arthur D. Little’s recent Global Innovation Excellence study reveals that most companies are focusing on incremental, rather than radical, innovation. The most successful innovators in the study, in terms of EBIT and sales from new products, spend as much as one third of total R&D resources on radical innovation activities.
The €100 billion opportunity
Partnerships are key to innovating the electromobility ecosystem. However, the course of electromobility over the last years has not met expectations. Our new study on electromobility partnership performance reveals that only a minority of current partnerships display strong performance.
The next generation of corporate incubators
While large organizations have enthusiastically embraced the creation of in-house corporate incubators to identify and support breakthrough growth opportunities with start-ups, the results have been disappointing for many. This article argues that to overcome these challenges and successfully scale up new opportunities, corporates have to embrace next-generation models.

Petter is the Managing Partner of Arthur D. Little in the Nordic region.

Petter is a member of the global Strategy & Organization Practice, globally responsible for Private Equity with industry affiliation to the TIME, Health Care & Life Sciences, and Public Services Practices.

His professional focus is on strategy & organization, advice to private equity and industrial investors pre- and post-transaction (e.g. due diligence, valuation, strategy, change management, post-merger integration), and governance issues faced by corporations, investors, governments and multilateral organizations.

Petter holds a Master’s in Economic Science and Business Administration from the Stockholm School of Economics and the Rotterdam School of Management.

Optimistic global CEOs focus on people and skills in an AI future
Optimistic global CEOs focus on people and skills in an AI future
Embracing the opportunities that artificial intelligence (AI) and talent together can unlock, CEOs are looking beyond the current instability, and increasingly confident about the future prospects for their organizations and the wider economy. Two-thirds are highly positive about the global outlook over the next three to five years, a major increase from 2023. Given that global tensions have worsened over the last 12 months, with conflict in the Middle East, disruptions to Red Sea supply chains, and the continuing war in Ukraine, this optimism is dramatic and heartening.
Positive in an uncertain world: Confident CEOs reskill companies for AI-driven growth
Positive in an uncertain world: Confident CEOs reskill companies for AI-driven growth
CEOs prepare for sustainable future through increased tech adoption, internal talent development
Embracing uncertainty, driving growth
Embracing uncertainty, driving growth
A crisis is an opportunity riding a dangerous wind, according to a Chinese proverb – and the world is currently beset with crises. The global pandemic, climate change, and unprecedented geopolitical volatility have provided a wake-up call to all organizations, bringing a long-lasting era of worldwide economic growth to a close.
Time to renew your pilot’s license?
Time to renew your pilot’s license?
Five technologies board members and CEOs must keep on their radar screens
TURNING TURMOIL TO ADVANTAGE: HOW CEOS ARE NAVIGATING CHANGE TO DRIVE GROWTH
Turning Turmoil to Advantage: How CEOs Are Navigating Change to Drive Growth
CEOs are pushing for growth during global turbulence, focusing on 10 key areas for success
When global megatrends run amok
Crises change our world. History tells a simple lesson — the deeper and more severe the crisis, the stronger the transformative effects on long-term societal development. Informative cases are abundant, ranging from the Black Death’s influence on reorganization of medieval agriculture to the ways the experiences of the combined tragedies of WWI and WWII transformed principles and mechanisms of managing the world economy. In retrospect, the long-term impact of these historical transformations has been associated with increasing growth and welfare.    
Growth in the new normal
As challenging as the current economic headwinds may be, many of these forces are likely short-term idiosyncrasies of the post-COVID-19 economic recovery. We believe that several longer-term and even accelerating economic mega-trends will undoubtedly have a profound impact on the global economy in the next five years and must be addressed with immediate and serious executive attention. In this Viewpoint, we cover four global growth mega-trends: 
BYE-BYE COMFORT ZONE, WELCOME VUCA
NOW IS THE RIGHT TIME TO PUT GROWTH ON AGENDA As the global vaccination campaign continues, companies are preparing for the post-COVID-19 economic rebound to rebuild their financial strength and recover ground that they have lost during the COVID recession. Simultaneously, they must also respond to drivers and trends that the pandemic has either induced or significantly accelerated. They must balance the demand surge and digitalization tailwind against supply shortages.
Electric buses
Electric buses are expected to be more efficient and greener than diesel buses, and key to making cities more environmentally friendly. Every city must carefully choose its individual solution for its bus fleet, and OEMs have to be ready to mirror the local requirements by understanding the needs of both PTOs and PTAs.
Dematerialized ticketing
Transport authorities and mass transit operators should consider dematerialization of ticketing for increased resilience and to pave the way for Mobility-as-a-Service in a post-Covid world
Digitalization of government services
Governments and constituent entities are embracing digitalization to provide user-friendly government services to citizens and simultaneously reduce their cost to offer such services. There are numerous success stories, interestingly some of them are from very small nations but failures abound as well. A successful digitalization approach should be viewed from the citizens’ experience perspective rather than purely as a large process automation / IT modernization program. A successful digitalization initiative entails:
The Headquarters Redesign
For a long time, steering a corporation from its head offices was like a long-distance drive on a straight and broad highway: a smooth and comfortable ride – no sharp turns, constant speed and high reliability. For most corporations, the global economic crisis in 2009 changed this driving mode to “off-road”. Today we frequently need radical turns to steer the corporation in the right direction. The role and effectiveness of a corporate headquarters become more important to mastering megatrends as well as industry specific changes. This development affects whole industries.
Transformation by Radical Innovation
Is your company sufficiently innovative? Most CEOs and CTOs would like to say yes, although Arthur D. Little’s recent Global Innovation Excellence study reveals that most companies are focusing on incremental, rather than radical, innovation. The most successful innovators in the study, in terms of EBIT and sales from new products, spend as much as one third of total R&D resources on radical innovation activities.
The €100 billion opportunity
Partnerships are key to innovating the electromobility ecosystem. However, the course of electromobility over the last years has not met expectations. Our new study on electromobility partnership performance reveals that only a minority of current partnerships display strong performance.
The next generation of corporate incubators
While large organizations have enthusiastically embraced the creation of in-house corporate incubators to identify and support breakthrough growth opportunities with start-ups, the results have been disappointing for many. This article argues that to overcome these challenges and successfully scale up new opportunities, corporates have to embrace next-generation models.

More About Petter
  • Stockholm School of Economics
    M.Sc., Economics and Business Administration
  • Rotterdam School of Management
    M.Sc. International Business