The Importance of Being Human in Digital Times
Björn Atterstam
Björn Atterstam is a psychologist, he is a pioneer in human-driven innovations and personal development. For more than 20 years he has been working with large organisations across the world to create novel and impactful approaches for developing strategy, organisations and individuals. Björn studied at Columbia University and Wharton, University of Pennsylvania. In addition, he is currently teaching and researching at Rotterdam School of Management where he is completing his PhD.
All sessions by Björn →This session is an invitation to consider our relationship with ourselves, with others, and how digital technologies impact our capacity to be, to know, and to do. It is not a session about technology.
It is about what we as humans risk losing as we live increasingly technology-centered lives. On offer is also advice for how to reclaim and honor our fundamental human needs and capabilities. The goal of our shared exploration is not to be alarmist, or to make ourselves depressed, or to reject technology, but rather to increase our awareness and capacity to be human with each other, when and where it matters most.
During the expert session, Björn Atterstam initiates interactive engagements on the Mentimeter app and share personal insights using the chat function.
A clearer, more intentional relationship with self and others: participants learn to notice when they are operating on “autopilot” digitally and how to reconnect with human-to-human signals (listening, nuance, trust, psychological safety) when it matters most.
Practical ways to reclaim core human capabilities without rejecting technology: participants leave with concrete practices/boundaries (e.g., attention hygiene, meeting norms, device expectations, recovery rituals) to honor fundamental human needs while still using technology purposefully.
In this essential masterclass, psychologist Björn Atterstam provides a powerful counter-narrative to the tech-driven world, arguing that our deepest needs—presence, connection, and purposeful thinking—are being eroded by hyper-addictive digital technology. He issues a stark warning, citing data showing declining literacy and IQ, and emphasizes that our screens demand our "entire life," replacing meaningful peak experiences with fleeting distraction.
Atterstam outlines three non-negotiable human capacities that leaders and professionals must reclaim:
Think: By distinguishing between fast, automatic System 1 thinking and effortful, slow System 2 thinking, he provides the tools to resist algorithmic manipulation and cultivate critical thinking. He challenges the audience: are you willing to use your brain first, or risk losing cognitive sharpness to tools like ChatGPT?
Be: Learn to combat the need for constant stimulation and the pervasive habit of multitasking. Atterstam champions the power of Presence—giving a single activity or person your full, undivided attention—a skill that is now incredibly difficult but vital for well-being.
Connect: Moving past casual socialization, he shows that High-Quality Connections at work are a fundamental predictor of job satisfaction and mental health. He encourages attendees to actively nurture relationships, prioritizing empathy and respect over efficiency.
This session is a crucial wakeup call and a practical guide to building the self-awareness and discipline needed to thrive. Björn Atterstam leaves the audience with a clear choice: to be "dumb, distracted, and alone" or to become "smart, focused, and loved."
It is interactive, and the block above says exactly how for this session. Nobody has to speak up who does not want to: the chat and the polls carry most of it, and the questions can come in anonymously.
This session is an invitation to consider our relationship with ourselves, with others, and how digital technologies impact our capacity to be, to know, and to do. It is not a session about technology. It is built for a general working audience: no prior knowledge is assumed, and people who already know the subject get the research and the practical side rather than an introduction.
Björn Atterstam is one of the experts we auditioned ourselves, and we produce every session so we see how each one lands. Participants rate this session 4.0 out of 5, across 105 responses, and rate Björn personally 4.2 out of 5.
It runs 45 min / 15 min: the talk, then live questions. All you do is pick a date. We brief Björn, produce the session, host and moderate it, run the Q&A, and send you the report within an hour of the end.
A team, a department, an employee network or every single employee at once, with no cap and no per-seat price. It runs inside your own Microsoft Teams, Zoom or Google Meet, or on a branded page we build. No integration, no login, no company device or e-mail.
The session is delivered in English. You can add high accuracy live subtitles in 8, 16 or 24 languages, so everyone follows in their own. That is a paid option, priced by the number of languages you need.
No, and that is by design. There is nothing to install, nothing to integrate and no connection to your systems, so there is nothing for IT to validate: we join your own Teams, Zoom or Meet as a guest speaker, or we host a page and your people open a link. No software, no accounts, and no data of yours that we can reach. It is why hundreds of companies, among them some of the largest technology and financial firms in the world, were able to start within a day.
We never receive or hold personal data about your employees. Because the session runs in your own environment, attendance and identity stay with you, and what we report back is aggregated: numbers, ratings and survey answers, not people. That is also why IT approval usually takes minutes rather than weeks.
You keep the recording and can share it internally. You also get attendance over time, participant ratings for the content and the speaker, the survey answers, and the topics your people asked for next.
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