Selina Helenius
INSEAD
Age: 35
“Pragmatic operator who brings structure to complexity and helps fast-growing businesses scale with discipline.”
Hometown: Swedish-speaking Finn who grew up in London and has lived in Singapore and now Zürich
Family Members: Husband: Harry; Daughters: Ula (3) and Elsa (1)
Fun fact about yourself: I once worked as a game ranger in South Africa.
Undergraduate School and Degree: University of Oxford – MA (Oxon), Biological Sciences
Where are you currently working? Indical Bioscience (Vimian Group) – Head of Commercial and Operational Excellence; Executive Committee Member
Extracurricular Activities, Community Work and Leadership Roles: Recipient of the INSEAD Women’s Scholarship. Awarded the Elsevier Public Health and Policy Presenting Prize at the University of Oxford (best oral presentation in cohort). Contributed subject-matter expertise to an Economist article on African Swine Fever and to an academic publication in Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology. Member of the Industry, Healthcare, and Women in Business clubs at INSEAD. Keen mountain hiker, currently working through the 10 tallest peaks in Switzerland’s Linthgebiet (5 completed so far).
Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? I am most proud of my contribution to the learning environment at INSEAD, as active participation is a central element of the GEMBA experience. I engage consistently in classroom discussions, drawing on experience from both multinational FMCG and high-growth life sciences, and have been recognised with perfect participation scores. In a programme shaped by the diversity of participants’ careers, I have found it particularly valuable to hear how others approach similar challenges in different ways and refine my own thinking through those discussions.
What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? I am most proud of the role I played as Chief of Staff to the CEO in building a private equity-backed carve-out through scale-up to IPO, culminating in one of Sweden’s largest IPOs of 2021 on Nasdaq Stockholm. Having chosen to move from Procter & Gamble into a much less structured, high-growth environment, it was a defining experience in learning to operate effectively across both strategic and operational priorities.
Who was your favorite MBA professor? I have been very impressed by the quality of teaching at INSEAD, particularly the exposure to a wide range of viewpoints and teaching styles. Alexandra Roulet stood out in Business and Society, bringing real-world insight from her experience as an economic adviser to Emmanuel Macron. I also found Charles Galunic’s work on how leadership operates in practice particularly insightful, especially how influence and alignment shape decision-making beyond formal structures, while Philip Parker’s radical, AI-driven approach to marketing offered a very different and forward-looking perspective.
Why did you choose this school’s executive MBA program? I chose INSEAD’s GEMBA for its uniquely global approach to learning and its emphasis on discussion and exchange between participants. I was looking for a programme that would challenge my thinking through exposure to a diverse cohort, while allowing me to continue working and immediately apply new ideas in practice.
What is the biggest lesson you gained during your MBA and how did you apply it at work? One of the biggest lessons I have taken from the GEMBA is the importance of being willing to unlearn. Even if who you have been professionally has made you successful and brought you to where you are today, it is not always what will enable you to reach the next stage. At times, you need to let go of established ways of thinking in order to expand your potential. I have applied this at work by being more conscious of when I am relying on past patterns of decision-making and actively challenging those assumptions. This feels especially relevant in the context of AI, where ways of working are evolving quickly and require a more open and adaptive mindset.
Give us a story during your time as an executive MBA on how you were able to juggle work, family and education? I applied to INSEAD’s GEMBA when my younger daughter was still a newborn, which set the tone for how I approached the programme from the outset. Balancing a full-time executive role, two young children, and the EMBA requires careful prioritisation and a high degree of discipline. There is some truth in the idea that if you want something done, you ask a busy person – the constraints push me to be more organised, make quicker decisions, and avoid unnecessary work.
What advice would you give to a student looking to enter an executive MBA program? Be clear on what you want to get out of the programme; it helps you prioritise where to invest your time and energy, but also be open to your priorities evolving over time. Some of the most valuable aspects of an EMBA come from exposure to different perspectives, which can change how you think about your own path. Engage fully with the cohort. Much of the learning comes from the diversity of experiences, so be open and willing to contribute honestly. Finally, recognise that it requires discipline and support – it is not a walk in the park, but also remember to enjoy it.
What was your biggest regret in business school? If anything, my main regret is that I have not been able to spend as much time between modules traveling and building relationships across the cohort as some of my peers. Balancing the programme alongside a full-time role and young children means I am more constrained in how much I can do outside the formal sessions.
What is one way that your business school has integrated AI into your programming? What insights did you gain from using AI? One example was in marketing, where Philip Parker reimagined the function from an AI-first perspective. Rather than asking how AI could improve an existing team, the question became what team is needed when AI is at the core of how work is done. The key insight for me was that AI is not just a tool for efficiency, but something that can fundamentally reshape how functions are structured. It shifts the focus from optimising current processes to redesigning them entirely. I have started to apply this at work by thinking more critically about where processes can be rethought from first principles.
What was the main reason you chose an executive MBA program over part-time or online alternatives? The main reason was the intensity of the format. At this stage in my career, the value comes as much from learning alongside a cohort of experienced professionals as from the academic content itself. The programme creates a level of energy and engagement that is difficult to replicate in an online or more remote setting. Equally important are the informal moments – conversations between sessions, shared experiences, and even the celebrations – where much of the learning and relationship building happens. That combination of immersion and interaction was something I did not feel could be achieved in part-time or online alternatives.
How did you finance your EMBA and what did you do to make tuition and associated costs more affordable? I primarily self-funded the programme, viewing it as a deliberate investment in my development. I was also awarded the INSEAD Women’s Scholarship, which helped offset part of the cost. In addition, my company supported me with additional leave alongside my regular holiday allowance, which made it possible to balance the programme with work.
What is your ultimate long-term professional goal? My long-term goal is to build and lead businesses that create meaningful impact, particularly through commercialising innovation and creating employment. During my time at INSEAD, I have also become increasingly interested in the role of the public sector, influenced by peers working in these environments. This led me to focus my dissertation on senior private sector leaders transitioning into the public sector, exploring how the environments differ, what it takes to succeed in that transition, and where private sector experience can support better outcomes. Over time, I would see a move into the public sector as a way of contributing back more broadly. More personally, I am also motivated by setting a positive example for my two daughters.
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