Oscar normally studies Business with Enterprise and Innovation at the University of Edinburgh. Before returning to Scotland for his second year, he is spending the summer at Sicra, where he works closely with CFO Lars-Petter Østlie.

– It’s honestly been amazing. I learn something new every day, and I’ve been given far more responsibility than I ever expected as a 20-year-old. It was a little scary at first, but that is also what makes it so valuable, Oscar says.

Reached out himself

Oscar may be young, but he is far from new to working life. At 15, he started selling tennis coaching services to companies. He later ran his own sole proprietorship providing IT consulting services, worked with several technology and business environments, and even started and later sold a small clothing brand.

– What I find most interesting about business and entrepreneurship is the point where something goes from being an idea to something that actually works. I like taking responsibility early and learning by actually doing things, rather than only reading about them.

Oscar’s path to Sicra began when he was hired through his own business to film the company’s 10th anniversary. That was where he first met Lars-Petter. Oscar later reached out himself to ask whether there might be an opportunity for an internship.

– Oscar was curious, specific and clearly motivated. When someone shows that they genuinely want to come in and learn, I think we as a company should also be willing to open the door, Lars-Petter says.

No practice assignment

Oscar is working on Sicra’s Power BI project, based on a solution established together with View Group and Avito. The solution brings together financial data from Xledger and time-recording data from Sicra’s consulting operations, among other sources.

The first part of the work involved familiarizing himself with the model and testing both the solution and the underlying data. The next step is understanding what the different parts of the business actually need.

Oscar is therefore meeting leaders from across Sicra to identify what information they need to manage their areas of responsibility. Those needs will be translated into dashboards and KPIs that provide better management information for the leadership team and the wider organization.

– It is just as much about understanding the business and the needs behind the numbers as it is about visualizing them. Before meeting the department heads, I have therefore tried to understand what matters to each department while also investigating what we can actually extract from the data we have. The goal is to identify KPIs and relationships that give leaders information they can genuinely use to make good decisions, Oscar says.

For Lars-Petter, giving Sicra’s first intern a real business challenge was a deliberate choice.

–  A standalone internship project can be useful, but it does not give you the same insight into how a company actually works. The Power BI project is directly connected to how we manage and develop the business, from management information and decision-making to how we can run Sicra better. It is important work, and that is precisely what makes it such a valuable learning opportunity. 

Oscar admits that the scope of the responsibility surprised him.

– I had heard all the stories about interns coming in to make coffee and take out the trash, even though that is obviously an exaggeration. So I was a little surprised when I realized I would actually be working on things that could be used by the leadership team. These are tasks with real value, not just practice assignments.

Trust and responsibility

Giving a 20-year-old access to management information and sending him into meetings with company leaders also requires the right framework.

– Responsibility has to be combined with support and trust. Oscar has been given access gradually as he has demonstrated maturity and understanding, Lars-Petter says.

What has impressed him in particular is Oscar’s combination of pace and humility.

– He learns quickly, but he does not pretend to know everything. He is willing to speak up, while also listening and trying to understand the bigger picture before reaching conclusions. I am also impressed by how naturally he moves between technology, finance and people.

For Oscar, working closely with the CFO has become an important part of the experience.

– I get to see the decisions Lars-Petter makes, the situations he deals with and the challenges he solves. It gives me really valuable insight.

The CFO role is not as expected

The internship has also changed Oscar’s perception of what a CFO actually does.

– Before this, I mostly thought about accounting and reporting. Now I see that the role is just as much about strategy, prioritization, communication and leadership.

That is something Lars-Petter recognizes.

– Accounting, reporting and control are still important. But the CFO role is increasingly about contributing to better decisions. You have to understand strategy, technology, people and risk, and be able to translate numbers into insight and insight into action.

Cybersecurity is not just an IT problem

The internship has also given Oscar his first real exposure to the cybersecurity industry.

– What I find most interesting is that cybersecurity is not really just a technical problem. It is a business problem, a risk problem and a leadership problem. I have seen how security affects strategy and decision-making all the way up to executive level, not just within the IT department.

For Lars-Petter, that is exactly the kind of understanding he believes the next generation of leaders will need.

– Technology is no longer a support function that sits alongside the business. Technology has become part of the business model itself, and that means cyber risk has become business risk.

That does not mean future CFOs and CEOs need to become cybersecurity experts.

– They do not need to understand every technical detail themselves. But cybersecurity cannot simply be delegated to IT. Leadership teams need to understand what the risk means for operations, finances, reputation, customers and strategic decisions.

For Oscar, that makes the industry more interesting than he may initially have expected.

– The industry has a clear role in society. You are actually helping customers protect what matters to them. For me, the internship is primarily about learning and contributing, but it is definitely a nice bonus that the work has meaning beyond the company itself.

The learning goes both ways

Although Oscar came to Sicra to learn, Lars-Petter believes the learning is not one-way.

– Oscar questions things that the rest of us may take for granted. That is healthy. He also brings a different kind of digital fluency. For his generation, data and technology are a natural part of how you think and work. We need that perspective as Sicra builds for the future.

When Oscar returns to Edinburgh, he hopes he will both have contributed to the Power BI project and taken away experience that is harder to gain from a university curriculum.

– The most important thing is probably having had the opportunity to see how good leaders actually behave in different situations. That is not something you can learn from a textbook. You have to see it in practice.

He has not yet decided exactly where his career will take him, but growth, strategy, finance and leadership are high on the list.

– If I became as good a leader as Lars-Petter one day, I certainly wouldn’t mind.

The CFO finds that both flattering and a little touching. And he gives an advice in return:

– Oscar should not try to become a copy of anyone else. He should pick up the things he thinks are good from the people he meets, but develop his own leadership style. Keep being curious and stay humble. The best leaders are often the ones who ask the best questions, listen properly and help talented people around them succeed.

Oscar may not be Sicra’s last intern either.

– Oscar has shown that this can work very well. If we bring in more interns, we should do it properly, with relevant assignments, clear ownership and enough time for follow-up. Done well, internships can be a good way to build relationships with young talent early, Lars-Petter says.