Our morning at Saab Technologies in Stockholm has by far been my favorite business visit throughout our tour in Scandinavia. I walked in expecting a polished corporate tour and walked out genuinely contemplating about my own future and if it could potentially be here in Stockholm. Our host, Peter Engberg, gave us a tour that moved between hardware, history, and the kind of company culture that is hard to fake.
Peter began with the backstory and it reframed everything we saw afterward. Saab was founded in 1937 in Trollhättan as Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget. Tensions rose across Europe and Sweden wanted to build its own military aircraft rather than depend on foreign suppliers. That mission of self-reliance still runs through the entire company nearly ninety years later.
What surprised me is how much sits under one roof. Most people outside Sweden remember the Saab car brand, but that was only the first chapter. The defense and aerospace side produced legendary fighter aircrafts such as the Draken, the Viggen, and today, the Gripen. They also produced submarines, radars, and ground systems. Through acquisitions such as Bofors and Kockums, parts of Saab’s heritage trace back centuries.
My favorite piece was the Gripen. Seeing it presented on Saab’s huge display wall, with the design philosophy explained alongside it, made the engineering feel tangible. Peter described how the aircraft was built to operate from short civilian roads and turn around quickly with a small ground crew which is practical and clever choices were driven by Sweden’s geography and defense.
The land systems were just as impressive. The display of soldiers in the field showed Saab’s shoulder-fired systems in context, including the Carl-Gustaf, which has been in service around the world for decades. Beyond the technology, what pulled me in was the company itself. Saab has a strong identity, a long story, and products it can stand behind which is exactly the kind of brand I’d love to help tell from the sales and marketing side. Communicating something this technical to the right audiences is a real challenge, and one I find genuinely exciting.
Thank you to Peter for the time and the thoughtful tour. This is a company I’ll be keeping a close eye on.
