CIO Insights: Lars Ole Dybdal, COOP

Meet the transformational CIOs who are currently leading their businesses into the digital future. 

Explore their most important initiatives, leadership goals, and how they see their roles evolving in the near future. 

This time, in CIO Insights, we feature Lars Ole Dybdal, CTO/CIO, COOP.

We work together as human beings – not as rows in an Excel sheet

For CIO Lars Ole Dybdal, digital transformation is not just about technology – it’s about community, responsibility, and a deep belief that change happens through trust and integrity. 

When CIO Lars Ole Dybdal walked through the doors of Coop’s headquarters in Copenhagen’s western suburbs in 2022, it wasn’t just the technology that attracted him. It was something deeper – something about values, community – and a memory of youth behind the till and on the delivery bike:

‘I thought Coop was a super exciting company to join. I started out myself as a bottle boy when I was 14, riding Long Johns and delivering goods, tapping away on manual tills. So, I really connect with Coop’s purpose – what it wants to do for the community and for society. That matters to me. And it always has, wherever I’ve worked. I’m not driven by technology for technology’s sake. It’s not about bits and bytes. It’s about making sure the business can do its job. If there aren’t any goods in the shops – and that has societal implications, especially now, when we need to be able to manage three days on our own – then we’ve got a problem. That’s what the IT function has to support.’

Even with significant CIO experience from the Central Denmark Region and the Danish National Police, Lars Ole didn’t arrive at Coop with grand gestures.

‘Whenever I start somewhere new, I always take time to test the waters and get a sense of what I’m stepping into. Coming in all guns blazing, saying ‘I know it all, I can do it all’ – I simply don’t believe in that. I’ve been in a few places, and to be honest, you often find the same core issues: legacy IT, collaboration challenges, cultural barriers, and a lack of overall coherence in IT architecture and its alignment with the business. That’s what I see everywhere. But that doesn’t mean I walk in and change everything right away.’

While the challenges may look familiar, retail does not. The pace, the complexity, and the consequences are something else entirely.

‘Retail is an insane machine. It runs at a completely wild pace – not just 24/7, but across 300 million expeditions a year. And it is tiny details – milliseconds – that can make a huge difference. So, it’s crucial to understand how what we do in IT connects to the business. And I’ve only had positive responses to that. People are on board. But they also need to know: where are we heading?

Lars Ole puts emphasis on laying down the tracks for that direction – in collaboration, and with space for the tracks not to be perfectly aligned from the start.

‘I don’t think life would be much fun if it just ran in a straight line from start to finish. There are curveballs. What matters most to me is that we can always explain why we’re doing what we’re doing. Because yes – we make mistakes. We take decisions that may later prove wrong. But then we must be able to say: You know what, that wasn’t the right call. And then we fix it. Better to reverse a wrong decision quickly than cling to something that doesn’t work. That goes for big things in the company too – like shutting down Coop Mad, Irma, e-commerce. It hurts, but it’s necessary in order to simplify and come out stronger.’

Sometimes, the digital tracks have to point in entirely new directions, such as the implementation of AI. But here, Lars Ole is cautious about being the first to race off down the AI or cloud track:

‘I usually compare with an old Volvo B20 engine: If you tune it properly, it can deliver decent performance. It’ll never be an electric car, but that doesn’t mean you should throw everything out before you’ve got a grip on what you’ve already got. That goes for AI too. We’re working with it – our forecasting and replenishment systems are already AI-driven. But it must be done in a balanced way. We shouldn’t be first movers just for the sake of it. There’s a lot of hype out there. Just try naming the three biggest and lasting blockchain hits. I certainly can’t think of any.’

That balanced approach also shapes Lars Ole’s thinking on the shift to cloud – especially in a new geopolitical reality, where companies are reassessing their dependencies on supply and infrastructure.

‘I’ve always called myself a cloud sceptic. It’s just someone else’s data centre. I was also there for the first wave of outsourcing – and you very quickly learn that you can’t outsource responsibility. You can’t just send a mess away and hope it’ll sort itself out. No. The responsibility stays with us. The shopkeeper doesn’t care where the servers are. If the system’s down, it’s my responsibility. Full stop.’

Responsibility is a core value for Lars Ole – both personally and organizationally – especially when it comes to cybersecurity:

‘It’s not the security department that’s responsible for security. It’s all of us. Yes, we in IT have to build secure solutions and systems. We have to monitor; we have to have contingency plans. But it’s also about raising awareness. You can’t just put up rules and think that solves it. We need people to be curious and source-critical. Because the systems won’t do that thinking for us. That’s all on us.’

And there’s a particular mission occupying Lars Ole these days – one that is closely linked to that sense of responsibility.

‘I’m still on a journey to bring technology and tech understanding into the business side – but also to bring the business into the tech organization. I actually think that’s my mission all the way to retirement, one day. Because fundamentally, that’s what companies all over the world – including in Denmark – need: to bring those two worlds closer together. That’s why the demand for the right knowledge in boards and executive leadership is becoming more and more important. Whether we’re talking about cybersecurity or the requirements of the NIS2 directive – the responsibility is personal. It’s no longer enough to say: ‘I don’t really get IT.’ Because then you’re not just revealing a lack of knowledge, but perhaps worse: a lack of interest. And that’s not acceptable. We owe it to ourselves and our businesses to understand the risk landscape we’re in – and take responsibility for it.’

But it all starts somewhere else – in the everyday, with values, and what happens in the shops:

‘Our salaries come through the tills out in the stores. If those aren’t running, then frankly there’s no reason for us to be here. We must never forget that. I often say to people: Take out your ID badge and have a look – it doesn’t say IT, it says Coop. We’re here for Coop. And that also means we in IT need to be more visible – closer to the retail chains, to the executive team, to the board. Because we won’t just be noticed on our own. That only happens automatically when something goes wrong – and that’s maybe not the best way to be seen.’

And it ends with the people – especially for Lars Ole, his team, and what they mean to the business and what they can achieve:

‘I believe in decency. I believe in honesty. I believe in authenticity. And I believe we work together as human beings – not as rows in an Excel sheet. We have relationships, stories, preferences. As leaders, we must be able to embrace that. So, I try to stay close to as many employees as possible, and I genuinely believe that when it comes to leading people, there’s no one-size-fits-all. For me, it’s not about frameworks – it’s about people. We must remember it’s Peter we’re talking to. Or Anne. And we have to ask: How can I help you shine? How can we succeed together in delivering the company’s goals? This isn’t an individual sport – we only win as a team.’

And it was as a team that Lars Ole won, too, when – on his second day at Coop – the system used by stores to order goods went down completely.

‘Is this a welcome gift? I asked. And someone said: No, we’re used to it, was the answer. It’s been like this for five years. So, I said: Then we need to fix it. So, we put 14 people in a meeting room, set up four whiteboards, and started grinding through it. What could it be? What’s the root cause? No patching symptoms – we need a cure. And after four weeks, they had actually solved it. It’s still working today. That taught me something important: You have to go for the root of the problem, and you have to trust your team to solve it. Trust is the most important leadership tool in my toolbox.’

”There is nothing more inspiring than deep expertise.”

It’s a belief Lars Ole holds firmly – not just in crisis, but every day.

‘Nobody wants to be a low performer – people want to succeed. And if they’re not, that’s on us as leaders. We’re the coaches; it’s our job to help people play in the right position.’

Part of that responsibility, he adds, is also knowing when to seek out others.

‘I’ve tried many networks over the years – some of them good – but the CIO Transformation Board is something else. It’s a trusted, confidential space with sharp minds and kind people I genuinely love spending time with. What we get from each other, I bring straight back to Coop.’

That exchange of perspectives – between people, across domains – fuels Lars Oles own drive to learn.

‘I’m always curious – if there’s something I don’t know, I make sure it doesn’t happen twice. That sense of wonder, of not quite understanding something, drives me, especially when people master a craft, I couldn’t dream of doing myself. There is nothing more inspiring than deep expertise.’

The CIO Transformation Board

In the Danish ICT Industry Association (IT-Branchen), we have the CIO Transformation Board, which brings together the most visionary CIOs from Denmark’s large and medium-sized companies. These are CIOs from businesses where digitalization is a strategic part of the business — but where there is also a desire to do more than just digitalize.

We aim not only to highlight Denmark’s most talented CIOs and share experiences and best practices across industries, but also to set the agenda in the media and with politicians regarding Denmark’s and the business sector’s digital future.

The CIO Transformation Board is created for those who also want to help find the new balance between people and technology. For those who have a stance and want to help influence our green transition, address the skills shortage, and strengthen growth in Denmark.

Read more about the CIO Transformation Board