Martin Skarin

From the shop floor to Fiwe

Martin’s path into the IT industry didn’t start in an office, it started in a workshop. But craftsmanship runs deeper than that.

Already in primary school, he was making lace using 24 bobbins and had both a loom and a woodworking shop at home. So when he attended a technical high school program at SKF in the mid-80s, machines and tools were nothing new. Turning, milling, and solving problems with his hands were part of everyday life. For Martin, creating wasn’t a hobby. It was a way of being.

That practical mindset led him to Chalmers University of Technology, where he studied Industrial Engineering and Management with a financial focus. But fate had other plans. A guest lecturer from the IT industry drew him into a different world, and in 1998 Martin joined a fast-growing ERP company. There, he met the colleagues who would later become the first Fiwe:ians.

”We were a group of people passionate about e-commerce who saw what was coming. Fiwe felt like the right way to take it further,” Martin explains.

At Fiwe since the beginning in 2006

Of those who was part of Fiwe in Gothenburg since the start, Martin is one of three still actively involved in day-to-day customer work. That’s no coincidence, it reflects a genuine commitment to what they build and to the people they build it with.

"It’s as much about who we are as what we do. We want to be part of the entire journey, not just deliver a project and move on. That’s a big reason why I’m still here,” says Martin.

Today, Martin’s time is split. Half of it is spent working closely with customers in e-commerce projects as a solution lead. The other half is dedicated to exploring how AI is changing the rules of the game – not just in theory, but in practice – and how it creates opportunities to build real business value for Fiwe’s customers.

"I’m quick to take ideas all the way – execute, test, and learn along the way. And there’s room for that at Fiwe. We’re an interesting mix of people with different perspectives and experiences, and that creates something you rarely find elsewhere,” says Martin.

The surfing dad

Martin prefers to spend his free time on the water or with his family. Family has always come first – in total, he took 3,5 years of parental leave, proving that a career in tech and an active family life can go hand in hand.

On the water, he is just as determined. As an early adopter of wingfoil surfing, he drew curious looks in Askimsviken outside Hovås long before the equipment was even available in Sweden, inspired by a video of a Frenchman in Indonesia gliding above the waves. That was all it took.

"When I decide something is right, I go for it. That applies whether it’s a surfboard or a business problem,” says Martin.

Product search – the missing link

One of Martin’s key focus areas is product search. It may sound technical, but for him it’s something more fundamental: the gap between how products are created and how people actually search for them.

”From workshop catalogs with photocopies to complete product data and APIs – it’s been an incredible journey. But the biggest missing link is still search. The people who create products don’t think like the people looking for them,” Martin explains.

It’s a problem he now sees getting closer to a solution thanks to new technologies, and not least, AI. Hear Martin talk more about the future of product search in this episode (in Swedish) of Fiwe’s podcast Syntra.

AI is changing the rules of the game

Martin isn’t impressed by AI itself. He’s impressed by what you can do with it, if you approach it the right way. His perspective isn’t that of a tech enthusiast, but of an industrialist.

”My heroes are the innovators of the 20th century. Not the ones who invented something, but the ones who built a business around it. That’s how I see AI,” says Martin.

There is no doubt that AI is already transforming how systems for areas like e-commerce are built and managed — and that this impact will only grow. Martin and Fiwe have always been at the forefront of that development. It’s a path he is now exploring in depth, driven by the same instinct that has always been there: the workbench, the lace-making tools, the surfboard, the code. Craftsmanship has always had a strong pull for Martin and AI is no exception.

”Craftsmanship has always been about understanding the material at a deep level and then shaping it the right way. That’s exactly how I see AI, and those who take that approach seriously will shape what this industry looks like in ten years,” Martin concludes.