Norway's sovereign wealth fund AI team comprised entirely of men as women applicants remain few

The Oil Fund’s artificial intelligence team currently consists of ten male members, prompting criticism from both internal staff and external observers. Communication director Line Aaltvedt expressed disappointment with the low proportion of women and a desire for more female applicants. Fund leader Nicolai Tangen admitted that locating skilled women for the roles has been hard, a situation mirrored by the applicant statistics: out of 119 candidates in January 2026, only 12 were women, 104 were men and three did not state gender.

Recruitment is conducted through NBIM’s regular hiring procedures, involving interviews and technical case work evaluated by the team and HR. The AI team is overseen by the head of AI and machine learning, and the fund notes that overall gender balance across the organization remains acceptable, with recent graduate cohorts showing a female majority.