In this episode of Data Driven Voices, we sat down with Karoliina Partanen, Director at AI Finland, to explore how Finland is approaching AI transformation and why customer experience should be at the center of every AI strategy.
Finland has a bold ambition: to catch up with Sweden’s productivity after 17 years of lagging behind. At the heart of this mission is AI Finland, a cross industry network led by Karoliina.
The pattern repeats: From cloud to AI
Karoliina’s experience with cloud adoption offers valuable perspective on today’s AI hesitations.
“Already in 2010, when we started discussing cloud services, we had the same worries about data security that we now discuss when companies hesitate to take AI into use, history repeats itself.“
However, she notes a critical difference:
“Previous digitalization waves involved HR much more. Now this has been entirely driven by IT.“
This shift toward IT led adoption, rather than people centered change management, creates unique challenges for embedding AI into core business strategies.
Building trust through learning
Founded one year ago with €1 million investment from Technology Industries of Finland, AI Finland has grown to nearly 300 member companies. Their secret? Creating intimate, trust based learning environments.
“We organized 60 events during our first year, most events have very small groups because we want to create an atmosphere of confidentiality.“
The network runs specialized working groups where the same 10 people meet monthly for extended periods, using Chatham House rules where participants can share learnings but never attribute insights to specific companies. This enables honest conversations about failures and uncertainties that companies desperately need.
The leadership gap: Boards in the dark
One of AI Finland’s most critical challenges addresses a fundamental problem: board members often know less about AI than other employees, yet they should be directing major investments. This led to AI 1000, a training program for board members and top management with an ambitious value proposition: participants will gain “one or two huge ideas that will entirely transform the business or get the business on a growth path instead of just increasing productivity.” The training combines hands on experimentation with discovery of AI startups already reinventing participants’ industries.
Customer experience as the North Star
Karoliina’s most compelling vision focuses on customer experience transformation, even in B2B industries like manufacturing. She talks about the big potential Finnish companies have to promote offerings globally with algorithmic efficiency.
“Even in manufacturing, typical processes involve months of manual iteration before you get a contract. AI will enable personalization and automation in many parts of this process that is now entirely human driven.“
This extends beyond sales to encompass automated production, enabled by AI algorithms and advancing robotization that can handle single piece manufacturing without manual factory adjustments.
Practical steps for leaders
For overwhelmed leaders, Karoliina offers a structured approach:
- Build foundational understanding of both generative AI and traditional machine learning
- Analyze customer needs and map company processes
- Apply impact effort analysis to identify high value, feasible opportunities
- Focus on growth: “Figure out where growth would come to your company, because if you don’t, your competitors will”
Staying ahead in an accelerating field
Managing AI’s relentless pace requires disciplined learning habits. Karoliina reserves three sacred hours every Friday afternoon for reading, podcasts, and reflection. Her recommended resources include the Rundown AI newsletter, Benedict’s newsletter, and Google’s Notebook LM for converting research papers into digestible podcasts.
The imperative for action
The conversation reveals a stark reality: while AI accelerates at unprecedented pace, many organizations remain stuck in planning or superficial applications. Companies that thrive will move beyond treating AI as an IT project and embrace it as fundamental business transformation.
For Finland, after 17 years trailing Sweden in productivity, AI represents both an opportunity to leapfrog competitors and a risk of falling further behind.
As Karoliina concludes:
“AI is not just about efficiency, it’s about rethinking business models and creating entirely new opportunities.”