Jakob Pålsson (muppet edition)Jakob Pålsson
Open for work

Hi, I'm Jakob Pålsson

I'm a CTO and senior software engineer building products across AI, hardware, geospatial and full-stack web. Based in Stockholm.

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Journey

Where I've built

Ten years in Swedish tech startups, on top of an Electronics Design education. Each entry is the short version. Ask the chat or grab the résumé for the full story.

  1. CTO & Co-Founder

    ·Hyggligt Skogsbruk AB
    May 2023 – Present

    Stockholm, Sweden

    I co-founded Hyggligt to make continuous-cover forestry profitable at scale. As CTO I built LiDAR drone scans, per-tree analysis, an optimization model for the harvesting plan, custom RTK hardware on the harvester, and the in-cab software that guides the operator.

    • AI / Computer Vision
    • LiDAR / 3D
    • Hardware (RTK GNSS)
    • Geospatial
    • Windows desktop
    • Leadership
    Read more

    I co-founded Hyggligt with six experts in their fields including forestry, design, engineers and law to make continuous-cover forestry profitable at scale. As CTO I built the technology and the engineering team across hardware, AI, geospatial software, a Windows in-cab app and a customer-facing web platform.

    I designed a custom RTK positioning hardware for the harvester head so the head shows on the map at centimeter accuracy on a moving machine in the forest. That's well beyond the harvester's onboard GPS. I led a Vinnova / Visual Sweden R&D project with Linköping University training an AI model on photorealistic synthetic forest data to identify tree species, disease and dead wood. The output feeds the optimization model so harvest decisions balance economics and biodiversity.

    I tech-led the production pilot with Svenska kyrkan in the Diocese of Luleå: drone capture, per-tree analysis, centered selective-harvesting plan, our positioning hardware and the in-cab software. Operators followed the plan from day one, including ones who had never done selective harvesting before.

    Backed by the Sting incubator, Forest Friends and angel investors. Esri partner. Google Cloud Startup Program.

  2. Founder & Lead Developer

    ·Rint AB
    Aug 2021 – May 2023

    Sweden

    I ran a one-person consultancy delivering high-performance web products for brand-name clients. Lead developer and architect on most engagements, working with established design and product partners.

    • Next.js
    • Svelte
    • E-commerce
    • 3D / Unreal Engine
    • Mapbox
    • Generative AI
    Read more

    Two years of contract work as Rint AB: fifteen-plus engagements across e-commerce, marketing-tech, GIS and 3D visualisation. Selected work:

    Hatstore. I built hatstore.se from scratch in Svelte. Hatstore grew revenue 22% to SEK 304M, attributed in part to the new platform.

    Activision. I built the Swedish PR site for the latest Call of Duty launch (Next.js). Reached 18M people and drove 800+ Swedish participants.

    Apotek Hjärtat. I built a campaign site (Next.js, Google Sheets API) that recommends travel destinations with the fewest sunshine hours to reduce sunburn risk, plus a quiz with a paid trip as the prize. Reach 23.3M; every giveaway trip claimed.

    Skånemejerier / Lindahls Kvarg. PR site featuring an AI-generated personalized workout song (Next.js, ffmpeg, generative audio).

    Visualiseringscenter C. Digital twin of Norrköping municipality in Unreal Engine 5 + Cesium (Nanite, Lumen).

    Doconomy. "The Sustainable Consumption Index": data visualisation showing how consumption affects the environment.

    Reformaten. "Action Map": interactive Mapbox world map for policies, research and initiatives that improve food environments globally.

  3. Co-Founder & Lead Developer

    ·Flexime Technologies AB
    Feb 2017 – Oct 2022

    Norrköping, Sweden

    I co-founded a SaaS plus NFC-hardware platform that automates time and workforce management for the Swedish staffing industry, from clock-in at the workplace through to payroll and invoicing in the customer's ERP.

    • SaaS
    • NFC hardware
    • Mobile (geofencing)
    • Cloud / ERP
    • Firmware
    Read more

    I owned the product and the full stack: a web platform, a cross-platform mobile app with geofencing, the firmware and cloud connectivity for in-house NFC terminals, a customer-configurable rules engine, file-import pipelines that ingested third-party scheduling files in any format, and ERP / accounting integrations that pushed processed time straight into payroll and invoicing.

    We scaled to 2,500+ daily users, 250+ workplaces and 250,000+ shifts automatically processed per year. Manpower, Lernia and Randstad were among the customers. We cut customer time spent on timesheet reporting by more than 50%.

    Pay-per-use commercial model.

  4. Embedded Systems Developer

    ·Sparv Embedded AB
    Jun 2015 – Jan 2017

    Linköping, Sweden

    I built firmware for the Windsond ultra-light weather-balloon radiosondes and cross-platform companion apps for receiving and visualising the sensor data on the ground.

    • Firmware
    • Cross-platform apps
    Read more

    Sparv Embedded builds precision atmospheric sensor systems, best known for the Windsond ultra-light radiosondes used on weather balloons.

  5. Coach

    ·CoderDojo Norrköping
    Mar 2014 – Mar 2015

    Norrköping, Sweden

    I coached kids learning to program. Started small, quickly became popular in Norrköping, taught everything from games to robots.

    • Teaching
    • Volunteering
    Read more

    I coached kids learning to program: games, robots, the lot. Started small and quickly became popular in Norrköping.

  6. Summer Intern

    ·Texas Instruments, Oslo
    Jun 2013 – Aug 2014

    Oslo, Norway

    Two summer internships at TI's worldwide HQ for low-power wireless (formerly Chipcon). I developed firmware for their latest low-power RF SoC and ran independent projects across both summers.

    • Firmware
    • RF SoC
    • Low-power wireless
    Read more

    TI's Oslo office (originally the Norwegian company Chipcon, acquired by TI in 2006) is the worldwide HQ for low-power wireless. The site designs short-range, low-power RF SoCs (the CC series) for Bluetooth Low Energy, ZigBee and 802.15.4, used in consumer electronics, building automation and IoT.

Selected work

Things I've shipped

Products I've built or led over the last few years: forestry AI, e-commerce, campaign sites, and a few garage projects.

Outside of work

The other half of the story

When I'm not at the keyboard, I'm usually doing other cool stuff.

Outside work I boulder most weeks, run when I can, and play padel or badminton when friends are up for it. I'm slowly learning Swedish folk on a mandolin. I shoot analog film on a Canon AV-1 (the frames to the side are mine, mostly from a recent trip to California). I'm building a CNC mill from scratch and 3D-print parts when something around the house needs fixing. I study Japanese, play chess, and read sci-fi that sticks with you. Recent picks: The Santaroga Barrier and The Naked Sun.

I recently spoke at the Forest Innovation Summit at UC Berkeley, on cross-regional collaboration between Sweden and California in wildfire prevention using AI and precision forestry.

  • Bouldering
  • Running
  • Padel & badminton
  • Analog photography
  • 3D printing
  • CNC build
  • Mandolin
  • Chess
  • Learning Japanese
  • Sci-fi books

Shot on a Canon AV-1 in California earlier this year. Click any frame to open the lightbox and flip through the rest.

Contact

Want to talk?

Easiest is email or a quick LinkedIn message. Phone works too. The chat above answers most things, and the résumé is one click away.