Business Espoo Elinkeinofoorumi encourages businesses to explore the possibilities of AI

Over the past year, artificial intelligence has become a dominant topic of conversation among both consumers and businesses. This was also apparent at the Elinkeinofoorumi held at Dipoli, Otaniemi, on Wednesday 8 May, when the assembly hall was nearly full of curious listeners.

Naturally, the event drew plenty of attention thanks to its well-known speakers, including technology visionary and AI entrepreneur Tero Ojanperä, who is a former Nokia executive.

Ojanperä described AI as the fourth industrial revolution that will change our way of working and revolutionise the labour market. AI collects data and generates summaries, draws images and graphics, creates videos and composes music based on a few key words. It helps designers to achieve results of a higher quality, makes reviewing contracts and legal texts easier for lawyers, provides management tools, and handles many tasks generally carried out by an assistant.

“AI is constantly learning. In fact, we do not even know yet how this development will end,” Ojanperä confessed.

At the same time, he reassured the audience. Despite the hype and rapid development, it will take a couple of years to introduce any major changes in work processes.

“In the same way as the internet, AI will slowly and quietly be integrated into our daily operating environment. The technology will enable things we cannot even imagine at this point, but which will be taken for granted in 10–20 years. At the turn of the millennium, Google and Facebook were unimaginable concepts to most people,” Ojanperä said.

What should an average SME think about all of this? And even more importantly – how should one respond to AI in their own company?

According to Ojanperä, companies should explore and familiarise themselves with AI instead of hesitating and dreading the new technology. Spending only a few hours with Chat GPT or Copilot helps you see the practical potential of AI.

It is a good idea to start with themes related to your hobbies or interests. By exploring and experimenting with an AI tool, you will quickly learn to formulate questions that suit the technology’s logic, which is key to its use and training.

“The next step is to consider which routine tasks could be assigned to AI, how to change the company’s working processes and how to allocate the hours freed up by AI more efficiently. Or even better, use AI to create entirely new products and services,” Ojanperä said.

The same message was highlighted during a panel discussion moderated by Saija Äikäs, Director of the Helsinki Region Chamber of Commerce. Along with Ojanperä, Helene Auramo, Entrepreneur and CEO of Prönö Enterprises, Heikki Lehmuskoski, CEO of and Partner in BoostWith.ai, and Ghita Wallin, Partner in Mimir Fellows, participated in the discussion.

“The key is to explore and experiment without hesitation and see how it works. It is also useful to exchange views and work on ideas with other people. AI will never replace this type of interaction and teamwork,” said Auramo.

Heikki Lehmuskoski agrees with the rest and believes that it is a good idea to practise using AI first on your own, but it is also important to get other key figures on board as quickly as possible.

“Then, you can together discuss the ways AI could be useful in practice. You can also consult an expert, if necessary. For example, AI technology can be integrated into the company’s ERP, which most people find difficult to use,” Lehmuskoski advised.

Like Tero Ojanperä, Lehmuskoski emphasised that asking the right questions and the resultant successful communication with AI are essential.

Many worry that AI will make people lazier, when all arduous and boring tasks are assigned to it.  Ghita Wallin disagrees.

“Once we’ve learned to communicate with AI, we will have more time to think and innovate,” Wallin said.

The event at Dipoli also offered a concise review of the economic situation in Finland.

According to Aki Kangasharju, Managing Director at ETLA Economic Research, things will start to look brighter in the autumn.

“The number of bankruptcies has been high especially in construction, but the situation is not disastrous for employment. In addition, companies have laid off their employees only at a moderate rate at national level,” pointed out Kangasharju.

Household purchasing power has also increased moderately despite the recent spike in inflation, which hindered growth.

“The situation may seem poor right now, but things are already improving. Salaries are increasing, the employment rate is improving, inflation is low and interest rates will fall in the summer. Next year, the three-month Euribor may even fall below three per cent,” Kangasharju predicted.

In fact, Kangasharju encouraged businesses to invest instead of saving. Companies should take bold steps towards growth and abandon their fears of debt.

“The difference in attitude is obvious when compared to Swedish companies. Our Swedish counterparts do not hesitate to invest even during periods of depression,” Kangasharju said.

The Managing Director of ETLA believes the present government has a realistic idea of the low productivity and ageing population in Finland. According to Kangasharju, the government decisions have been mostly on the right track.

The best way to tackle ageing and create population growth is through immigration. Kangasharju thinks that the recent immigration rate, boosted by the war in Ukraine, has been at a good level at approximately 60,000 people annually.

“Now, the government intends to tighten up the conditions for immigration. This is a severe setback for Espoo and especially Otaniemi, which is one the crown jewels of growth in Finland,” said Kangasharju with concern.

The role of Espoo and Otaniemi as major drivers of growth in Finland was also emphasised by Mayor Jukka Mäkelä. According to Mäkelä, the seeds of this growth were already sown during his time at university in the 1980s. Mäkelä was part of the student engineer entrepreneurs’ association Tyri with, for example, Risto Siilasmaa and Mårten Mickos.

“The achievements of our Tyri team were modest, but today Espoo is a pioneer city. Thanks to VTT, Aalto University and the many research communities and businesses operating in the area, Otaniemi has become an international-level innovation hub, which is being boosted further by NATO’s DIANA accelerator programme,” Mäkelä explained.

In recent years, Espoo has grown at a rate of approximately 8,000 residents per year. This fast growth rate also brings along more responsibilities.

“A pioneer must be constantly developing its services and processes in a more efficient and sustainable direction. The best results are achieved through cooperation with local businesses,” said the Mayor.

The 2024 Espoo Entrepreneur of the Year award was given at the Elinkeinofoorumi. This year, the Federation of Espoo Enterprises selected Kuori Oy as the recipient.

Founded in 2015 by Jarkko and Maria Jokelainen, the company designs and manufactures large digital display solutions used, for example, in the care sector and at parking terminals, restaurants and ski slopes.

Kuori Oy’s turnover is around EUR 14 million and the company has 70 employees. It is based in Nihtisilta, Espoo. Kuori Oy exports its solutions to approximately 30 countries and is aiming to grow in the United States, in addition to Europe.

The family business’ journey began with large tablet displays tested by the couple’s children. The products were intended for the care sector and elderly people.

The company’s first product, the Yeti tablet, is still sold in many countries. YetiCare, which focuses on the health care sector, has operated as an independent company since 2022.

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Text: Timo Sormunen
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Business Espoo is a service network for businesses and entrepreneurs operating in Espoo and nearby municipalities, formed by seven operators. The goal is to create more jobs and dynamism in Espoo by providing client-oriented, high-quality and cost-effective services for businesses and entrepreneurs. The Business Espoo network consists of the City of Espoo, Enter Espoo, the Federation of Espoo Enterprises, the Helsinki Region Chamber of Commerce, Omnia, business services at the Uusimaa TE Office, and the Espoo Regional Enterprise Agency. More information about our services: BusinessEspoo.com