Odgers Berndtson Hires Two New Partners, Opens Atlanta Office

Odgers Berndtson continues its breakneck growth by adding Mats-Ola Bydell and Christopher Grahn as partners and opening an office in Atlanta—its third new location this year.

“Atlanta is home to some of the world’s most famous and innovative companies,” said Steve Potter, CEO of Odgers Berndtson U.S., “and its talent pool is accordingly vast. We expect Atlanta to be a big part of our future business, and look forward to being part of the community.”

The Atlanta office will be led by Mr. Bydell, who joins Odgers Berndtson as a Partner in the Industrial Practice. He specializes in board and senior executive succession for both large and mid-cap global companies, and has extensive experience providing executive search and talent solutions to North American and global European-headquartered clients. His geographically wide experience allows him to add value in both a search and an advisory capacity to clients engaging in talent decisions at a local, regional, or global level.

Mr. Bydell comes to the firm from Korn Ferry, where for 10 years he was a Senior Client Partner in its Global Industrial Market. Previously, he spent 14 years with a global recruitment and assessment firm, where he was an Executive Vice President, International Business, and Operating President of the firm’s consulting group. He was responsible for establishing business in China and India, and served on the boards of the company’s offices in China, India, Belgium, and Germany

“Mats-Ola is a heavy hitter,” said Steve Potter. “He’s got more than 20 years of search experience, he knows the global industrial market like the back of his hand, and he’s a fabulous leader. I am delighted to have him in charge of the firm’s Atlanta presence.”

Mr. Grahn joins the firm’s Industrial and Technology Practices. He has 15+ years of experience as a CEO, President, and Director at technology companies in North America, Asia-Pacific, and Europe, plus deep experience in strategy consulting and non-executive board member recruiting. Christopher is advising several Nordic growth companies in the U.S., primarily in renewable energy and technology enabled services. He was previously Senior Adviser and Vice President Strategic Partnerships at Lexplore AB, a Swedish artificial intelligence and eye-tracking company. Prior to that, he was a Vice President at Ericsson Inc., where he managed Ericsson’s growth with reference to the Internet of things. Christopher has a M.Sc. in Industrial Engineering and Management from Sweden’s Linkoping Institute of Technology.

“Christopher is a longtime industry executive with very strong international experience,” said Steve Potter. “He’s got deep, first-hand understanding of today’s leadership needs in the industrial world, where technology has a tremendous impact. We’re especially excited about the work he’s done in technology enabled services and digitization, the Internet of things, autonomous driving, and artificial intelligence. His addition to the firm significantly enhances our capacity in those spaces in the U.S.”