Tanja E. Havstorm

About Tanja E. Havstorm

Dr. Tanja E. Havstorm is an Assistant Professor  (Senior lecturer) at the Department of Informatics at Örebro University in Örebro, Sweden. Her expertise is in Agile Methods, Project Management, Requirements Engineering, and AI in software development. She belongs to the research environment Centre for Empirical Research on Information Systems (CERIS), where she is an active member of the Software Development Management research group. 

Research

Her PhD dissertation, “Cargo Cult in Agile Software Development” (2023), examined how agile methods are sometimes applied superficially in software teams, resulting in reduced effectiveness. She continues to explore how agile practices evolve in real-world settings, with a current focus on how AI tools—particularly large language models like GPT—are reshaping workflows, roles, and team dynamics. Her research examines how the integration of AI into agile teams affects power structures, decision-making, and collaboration, as well as the emergence of new software development practices.

Havstorm is currently part of the project “Consistency of GPT Models in Classifying Natural Language Requirements,” which studies how GPT models perform in categorizing requirements using zero-shot and few-shot learning. The project contributes to the field of AI-supported requirements engineering by investigating the reliability and practical applicability of these models in real-world development environments. 

She regularly presents at international conferences (e.g., HICSS, AMCIS, XP, ISD, ICSOB), publishes in journals such as IEEE Software and IJISPM, and serves as a reviewer and program committee member for venues including EASE and AMCIS, as well as a reviewer for IJISPM, IST, ICIS, and HICSS. 

Teaching

Since 2014, Havstorm has taught a wide range of courses at Örebro University across undergraduate, master's, and doctoral levels. Her teaching focuses on systems and software development, agile project management, requirements engineering, and qualitative research methods. 

She has served as course manager for:

• IK100G – Introduction to systems development, basic level
• IK207G – Software Development Project with Scrum and Extreme Programming, intermediate level
• IK205G – Requirements Engineering, intermediate level
• IK462A – Setting Requirements in Information Security, advanced level
• IK444A – Qualitative Methods in Information Systems Research, advanced level
• 20IK047 – Literature Review in Informatics, doctoral level
• 20IK053 – Communication and Impact, doctoral level

Havstorm is also an experienced thesis supervisor, guiding numerous bachelor’s and master’s projects in topics such as project management, agile methods, DevOps, innovation in tech teams, information and cybersecurity, and requirements engineering.

Equality and Gender Mainstreaming

In addition to her research and teaching, Havstorm has contributed extensively to gender equality initiatives at Örebro University. As Gender Mainstreaming representative for Informatics (2018–2021) and Project Manager for the Project for Equal Opportunity Within Informatics (2020–2021), she promoted inclusive practices in education and research. She organized workshops, departmental seminars, and industry events in collaboration with networks such as #addher, focusing on gender equality in tech and STEM subjects in higher education.