Talks with Nicolai Prydz
From entrepreneur to activist
On innovation, power and responsibility, and on what happens when business meets human rights. Available in English and Norwegian.
Kripos and PST search Telenor’s headquarters. The company is formally under suspicion («siktet») of complicity in crimes against humanity.
- Audience
- Executives, boards, conferences and universities
- Duration
- 1 hour, or longer by arrangement
- Format
- Keynote, leadership retreat or teaching
Has spoken atDNB NXT · StartUp Festival · The Norwegian Computer Society (Dataforeningen) · companies, associations and start-up communities
The story
Hear the wild entrepreneur story that only makes sense in hindsight
Nicolai Prydz has built digital companies for more than 25 years. In 2011 he takes a break, and in 2012 he starts the Aung San Suu Kyi World Freedom Fund, with the Nobel Peace Prize laureate as president. There he meets the democracy movement in Myanmar, among them Ko Jimmy, who has just been released after spending half his life in prison.
Back in Norway he builds the start-up HipDriver and the industrial initiative Connected Car Norway, a national joint effort for road safety. Telenor opens talks about cooperation and investment, but a year later launches its own initiative. The dispute goes to arbitration. Telenor is found not liable, but the tribunal writes that the company «i alle fall har beveget seg på grensen mot det illojale» (has at any rate moved to the borderline of the disloyal). Ten million kroner and four years of work are lost.
In 2021, after the military coup, democracy activists in Myanmar ask him for help. He becomes an adviser to the exile government’s telecom minister, in the fight to prevent Telenor from handing over customer data on millions of people to a brutal military junta.
In September 2026, Kripos and PST search Telenor’s headquarters. The company is formally under suspicion («siktet») of complicity in crimes against humanity.
A talk for executives, boards and anyone who wants to understand what is at stake when business, politics and human rights meet. Available in English and Norwegian.
Fee: on request. The talk is tailored to format and audience.
Then and now
From the student stage to the big stages
In 1994 Nicolai Prydz took the stage as president of ANSA UK, the association for Norwegian students abroad. Since then he has appeared on stage at the Norwegian National Opera & Ballet and spoken for audiences such as DNB NXT, the StartUp Festival and the Norwegian Computer Society, on innovation, entrepreneurship, power and responsibility.
Today he tells the story of Telenor in Myanmar, and of what happens when business meets human rights.
Format
Tailored to your audience
Keynote. For conferences, professional days, kick-offs and gatherings.
Boards and management. For boards and leadership teams: innovation, ownership, due diligence and responsible exit.
Teaching. For universities, colleges and academic communities in entrepreneurship, law, ethics and economics.
The talk lasts 1 hour and can be extended by arrangement. Available in English and Norwegian.
Hear him before you book
Podcasts and interviews (in Norwegian)
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25 minNess 549 – Hva visste Støre om Telenor-skandalen i Myanmar?
Recorded the same day Kripos and PST moved in at Fornebu. About Telenor being named a formal suspect, and what the government knew.
Watch and listen → -
46 minNess 519 – Ine Eriksen Søreide lot militærdiktaturet herje
With former human rights judge Hanne Sophie Greve. About the surveillance equipment Telenor installed in Myanmar, and what the Norwegian authorities knew.
Watch and listen → -
46 minNess 488 – Støre visste, og grep aldri inn
Norway owned enough to intervene when the military seized power in 2021. Why did it not happen?
Watch and listen → -
1 h 34 min#766 – Den skjulte skandalen: Telenor, Myanmar og regjeringen
The long conversation: from Telenor’s entry into Myanmar to the surveillance and the government’s role.
Watch and listen → -
1 h 8 minLessNess 5 – Hva visste Støre-regjeringen, og hvorfor gjorde de ingenting?
With Hanne Sophie Greve. About the data sharing after the coup and the people who were affected.
Watch and listen → -
Telenors mareritt i Myanmar
E24’s podcast about Telenor in Myanmar after the coup, with Nicolai Prydz as guest.
Listen to the episode → -
46 minNess 179 – Har Telenor og norske politikere blod på hendene?
About the book and Telenor’s data sharing, just after the launch in June 2025.
Watch and listen →
Booking
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