In our final “Meet the Team” of 2024, we’d like to introduce you to Erik Schön, Managing Director at Erlang Solutions.

Erik shares his journey with Erlang, Elixir, and the BEAM ecosystem, from his work at Ericsson to joining Erlang Solutions in 2019. He also reflects on a key professional highlight in 2024 and looks ahead to his goals for 2025. Erik also reveals his festive traditions, including a Swedish-Japanese twist.

About Erik

So tell us about yourself and your role at Erlang Solutions.

Hello, I’m Erik! I’ve been a big fan of all things Erlang/Elixir/BEAM since the 90s, having seen many successful applications of it when working at Ericsson as an R&D manager for many years.

Since 2019, I’ve been part of the Erlang Solutions Nordic Fjällrävens (“Arctic Foxes”) team based in Stockholm, Sweden. I love helping our customers succeed by delivering faster, safer, and more efficient solutions.

What has been a professional highlight of yours in 2024?

The highlight of 2024 for me was our successful collaboration with BoardClic, a startup that helps its customers with digital board and C-suite level performance evaluations.

We started our collaboration with a comprehensive code-/architecture review of their Elixir codebase, using our 25 years of experience in delivering software for societal infrastructure, including all the do’s and don’ts for future-proof, secure, resilient, and scalable solutions.

Based on this, we boosted their development of new functionality for a strategically important customer—from idea to live, commercial operation. Two of our curious, competent collaborators, with 10+ years of practical, hands-on Elixir/Erlang/BEAM expertise, worked closely with BoardClic on-site to deliver on time and with quality.

What professional and personal achievements are you looking forward to achieving in 2025? 

Professionally, I look forward to continued success with our customers. This includes strengthening our long-standing partnerships with TV4, Telia, Ericsson, and Cisco. I’m also excited about the start of new partnerships, both inside and outside the BEAM community where we will continue to deliver more team-based, full-stack, end-to-end solutions.

Personally, I look forward to continuing to talk about my trilogy of books – The Art of Change, The Art of Leadership and The Art of Strategy – in podcasts, meetups and conferences.

Do you have any festive traditions that you’re looking forward to this holiday season?

In Sweden, “julbord“ (a buffet-style table of small dishes including different kinds of marinated fish like herring and salmon, meatballs, ham, porridge, etc)  is a very important tradition to look forward to. Since my wife is from Japan, we always try to spice things up a bit by including suitable dishes from the Japanese kitchen, like different kinds of sushi.

Final thoughts

As we wrap up our 2024 meet-the-team series, a big thank you to Erik and all the incredible team members we’ve highlighted this year. Their passion, expertise, and dedication continue to drive our success.

Stay tuned for more insights and profiles in the new year as we introduce even more of the talented people who make Erlang Solutions what it is! if you’d like to speak more with our team, please get in touch.