Speakers for conferences and events

Anahit brings over a decade of experience in full-stack and data solutions to her roles as a Lead Cloud Software Engineer at Solita and an AWS Data Hero. Since getting into the world of cloud and serverless she has been passionately sharing her knowledge and experience with the community through various channels, including conferences and meetups, podcasts, and YouTube, as well as blogging and online courses.

The latest highlight in Anahit’s speaker journey is speaking at one of the biggest tech conferences in the world, the AWS re:Invent 2023 in Las Vegas. 

Anna Metsäranta is a strategic designer with a passion for sustainable use of data, analytics, and AI. She has over 18 years of experience in information systems development and seven years with AI and ML, driving interdisciplinary collaboration to solve complex business problems.

Anna leads Solita’s work in helping organisations to decipher what it takes to create AI solutions that maximise good and minimise harm to business, people, and the planet. She works with senior leaders in high-risk industries to increase AI literacy and promote responsible and sustainable use of AI. She is a well-known public speaker on topics related to sustainable and responsible value creation with AI.

In 2023, Anna was one of the finalists for ‘AI Ethics Professional of the Year’.

Examples of Anna’s previous public speaking engagements:

• NATO EDGE 2022: “Trustworthy AI in military operations”
• DLA Piper Responsible AI, Regulation, innovation & endless possibilities 2023: “Sustainable AI: From principles to practices”
• REAIM (Responsible AI in the Military Domain) 2023: “Assessing AI for the seven layers of impact”
• Artificial Intelligence Governance and Auditing 2022: “Industry perspectives on responsible AI”
• AI and Business Strategies 2022: “State of sustainable AI 2022 in Finland and beyond”
• ME Analytics & Data Science 2021: “Wonder why your AI investments fail? Here’s why”
• Nordic Women and Data 2019: “AI innovation, ethics, and diversity”
• Google TechBBQ 2019: “Barriers to AI innovation in Europe”

Minna is passionate about bringing humans to the front and centre of technology development. It should be technology helping people, not technology defining people!

She has over 20 years of experience working in the field of data, analytics and AI x business value, having lived through significant digitalisation transformation. Before Solita, Minna Kärhä has e.g. led the data & analytics team at Finnair.

In 2020, Minna was chosen in the Global Top 100 Innovators in Data & Analytics by Corinium Global Intelligence.

Topics:

• Embedding design thinking and service design principles to data, analytics, and AI development.
• Data literacy and data culture
• Data strategy
• Building and growing data & analytics teams in organisations

Lasse leads Solita’s Generative AI Studio and drives the company’s GenAI transformation through R&D, people upskilling and empowerment, and AI technology development. Lasse’s has a long and diverse background, starting from a marketing background, moving into data and analytics, specifically focusing on the organizational aspects of becoming data-driven. Within the world of AI, Lasse’s goal is to find smart and sustainable ways to leverage transformational technologies like Generative AI. Having worked deeply across multiple verticals, including life sciences, automotive, retail, industry and telecoms, and having a deep passion for music and other arts, Lasse always aims to connect data, AI and technology to the real world and think broadly about its impacts on our societies and on people.

2023 public talks:

• CXO Data 2023 Finland: Creating Solita’s GenAI Strategy
• Huomenta Suomi 2023: The role of AI in arts
• Lederfokus 2023, Denmark: Surfing the Generative AI wave with both feet firmly on the surfboard

In earlier years Lasse has also presented, participated in panels and ran workshops at Data Innovation Summit, tech partner events, and private events. Lasse is also a frequent visitor at the local music royalty collection societies for discussions around AI and arts, and features in press as a commentator on all things AI. 

Mikael Ruohonen is a distinguished leader in the field of data science, AI, and analytics, with a proven track record of growing highly successful AI businesses and running large AI & analytics business transformations. 

He leads Solita’s Data Science, AI & Analytics business and has experience from multiple data, analytics & AI professional service firms as well as the retail industry and SOK, where he was responsible for the overall utilisation, development, and roadmap of the data, data science & analytics solutions and capabilities of the company. In his current role, 

Mikael gets to see widely how data, analytics & AI development, and utilisation are transforming different organisations, and has a strong passion for advancing this transformation with his experience. He is a well-known public speaker on topics related to AI-driven business and transformation.

Some of Mikael’s topics and previous public speaking engagements:

• Generative AI assistants in technical customer service (Azure OpenAI Showcase Day 2023)
• Creating value with generative AI in mobility and logistics (ITS Finland – AI in Mobility and Logistics 2023)
• Succeeding with AI in circular economy & material efficiency (Business Tampere & Tampere AI 2023)
• Next Generation Recommendation Systems (Everyday AI 2022)
• Creating success stories – How to master AI adoption (AI and Business Strategies 2021)
• AI transformation journey of a retailer (Helsinki Data Science Meetup)
• Transforming marketing & eCommerce with recommendation systems at retail (Nordic Data Science and Machine Learning Summit)

Satu Korhonen is an experienced Machine Learning Engineer who stands at the forefront of machine learning innovation, driving a mission to unite developers and business minds in the creation of cutting-edge, safe, and robust machine learning solutions that deliver long-term business value.

Satu excels in navigating complex challenges, seamlessly integrating diverse perspectives to address intricate problems essential for fulfilling business needs. Simultaneously, she prioritises the end-user experience, shaping AI solutions that are both safe and secure for everyone.

Topics you can invite Satu to talk about:

• Machine learning
• MLOps
• Safe AI
• Secure AI

Niklas is passionate about turning AI & Data Science opportunities into practical impact. As AI technologies advance to become increasingly flexible, powerful, and faster, a significant number of organisations continue to encounter outcomes that fall short of their expectations. With extensive experience across diverse industries and functional domains, Niklas has participated in numerous AI and Data Science projects with impact. This background has equipped him with a solid perspective on the strategic management of this transition.

Topics:

• AI & data science
• MLOps
• Data-driven transformation 

Salla is a practising digital ethicist, helping organisations to leverage the benefits of emerging tech ethically from strategy to practice. She is a PhD researcher in the Future Ethics research group (Information Systems Science, University of Turku) and the AI Ethics and Communications Lead for Women in AI Finland. She is the Founder and AI Ethicist at Harmless. With a background in Political Science (MSSc), French linguistics (MA) and Information Systems Science (PhD-to-be), she uses multidisciplinary insight and design thinking to solve complex problems with ethical dilemmas in emerging technologies.

Examples of previous public speaking:

• Design to Thrive (keynote): Ethics of persuasive design
• AWS Workshop on Responsible AI: Sujuva Suomi: Tekoälyn vinoumista osallisuuteen
• WBS Coding School: Ready to get ahead of the AI revolution? (Next-gen skills for IT professionals in the post-GenAI world)
• Tethics 2023 conference panel (moderator): The role of ethics in AI-driven societies: developing, governing and doing business in a democratic context
• UCD Innovation Academy: Ethics of artificial intelligence: Trends, principles and practice for innovation
• Lohde AI responsible AI breakfast (panel)

Snurre is the commercial lead for the data & AI activities in Denmark. With over two decades of expertise in the realms of data, analytics, and AI/ML, he is dedicated to guiding organisations through the maze of capturing value from data.

His journey in the data and AI sphere is marked by a commitment to pioneering innovative and impactful solutions that not only harness the power of data but also pave the way for digital transformation across sectors for growth and efficiency.

Snurre’s background is a blend of technical prowess and strategic advisory and he has spearheaded teams and projects in diverse industries, tackling challenges in customer experience, fraud detection, supply chain optimisation, master data management, open data initiatives, and GDPR compliance.

Examples of recent public speaking:

• Inspari x Microsoft webinar: “Generative AI & Azure OpenAI”
• Board Company: “Introduction to (generative) AI”
• Rudersdal Kommune nytårskur: “Hvad er kunstig intelligens – potentialer, muligheder og udfordringer”

Karina is an experienced data professional and has held various roles, including Customer Success Manager, Account Manager, Partnership Manager, People Lead, Tableau consultant, and Data Engineer. Her diverse background and adaptability, having moved from Ukraine to Sweden at the age of 11, have shaped her fearlessness in trying new things and her passion for inspiring others. Before her data career, she worked as an auditor. Karina’s journey showcases her ability to excel in different roles and her commitment to inspiring others, making her an appealing speaker for any audience interested in the data industry but also for people wanting to change career paths. Both as a speaker and a coach, Karina has been described as inspiring, passionate, knowledgeable and relatable. 

Examples of previous public speaking:

• Speaker at Datatjej conference 2022
• Hosting of Solita Core 2022, Solita Mingles for women in Sweden (2021, 2022 and 2023)
• Several internal and external lectures and trainings about Tableau and the power of data

Juha-Pekka is an information management enthusiast with a combination of experience in a large variety of information management-related projects and the latest academic knowledge.

At Solita, Juha-Pekka’s role is centred on helping organisations build an information ecosystem that brings business outcomes and customers to the focus of business process improvement.

Juha-Pekka is a DAMA Finland board member and a doctoral student at LUT University on the topic of interoperability in information management. 

Sini is an IT professional with almost 10 years of experience in natural languages and large multi-lingual systems. Her background in IT, AI and general linguistics combined with living in 4 countries and studying more than 7 languages provides her with a unique view of the requirements and challenges different languages and locales pose for software development.

With over 15 years of expertise in data and integration architecture, Maarten is an expert in translating complex business requirements into seamless and scalable technical solutions. As a seasoned IT and Data consultant based in Belgium, his leadership extends to effectively guiding teams and enabling a people-centric approach in different organisations. In the last years, Maarten has focused on emerging and disruptive paradigms in the data world, such as data mesh, data products and platform engineering to find the ideal combination between people and technology making companies more data-driven.

Topics:

• Distributed vs centralised approach to data management
• How to build useful data products
• Next-generation data catalogs
• The advantage of platforms to speed up delivery and encourage self-service
• Integration and connectivity architectures (API, EDA, ESB, and more) 

Tero is leading the consulting business for creating value out of data and AI at Solita. He is a seasoned professional with extensive experience in data-driven business. He focuses on using data and analytics to deliver business benefits and customer value. He thrives at the intersection of data, business design, digital services and human insight. He gets his kicks from transforming data into concrete actions that delight the customers and boost the bottom line.

Topics:

• Creating value from data and AI
• Business-driven data + AI strategy
• Typical bottlenecks of data-driven business
• Balancing technological, organizational and human data + AI capabilities
• Data-driven customer experience (CX)
• Setting objectives and measuring progress with OKRs and KPIs 

Juho is a seasoned hands-on software architect with experience ranging from private to public sector domain. His key ambitions include the holistic process of delivering high-quality software with continuity and maintainability. Juho lives and breathes the DevOps culture and builds cultures instead of single-point automations.

As a speaker, Juho delivers developer-orientated speeches ranging from the soft aspects of developer culture to the hardcore technology of building your own programming languages and databases.

Beata is a front-end developer, digital accessibility specialist, and an IAAP member. She studied linguistics, which helped her see languages (both natural and programming ones) as systems and boosted her communication skills. After moving to Finland, she dipped her toes in many waters – from translation and language teaching through childcare to the hospitality industry, to finally finding her place in IT.

In her programming work, she combines logical thinking, searching for patterns and her passion for puzzles. She believes that accessible digital solutions bring more equality, so she educates other developers on the topic as well as ensures that the systems she co-creates are accessible to all.

Examples of previous public speaking:

• Accessibility basics for developers
• Accessibility testing in web development
• Workshop – Accessibility testing in web development

Antti is currently steering group-level security in Solita. With a solid background in software development projects in various roles and domains he has a comprehensive understanding of how to build security, both on a company and software level. In his free time, he is also a white hat hacker and part of the Finnish white hat hacker collective Team ROT.

Topics:

• Security in general
• Hacking
• Building secure software

As a speaker Antti incorporates live demos and real-world experience into his talks to engage the audience. Antti has been a speaker in a number of software development conferences and hacker events, such as ScanAgile, Geekout, Tampere Goes Agile, and Disobey.

Heikki is a Lead Cloud Architect who helps businesses design and implement cloud solutions that meet their needs and goals. He has a passion for cloud technologies and how they can enable innovation, agility, and efficiency in large-scale organisations.

He has more than 25 years of experience in the software industry, working in various roles such as software development, project and service management, system and cloud architecture, consulting, and advisor. He has worked with clients from different industries and domains, such as transportation, media, and healthcare.

One of his areas of expertise is cloud migration, where he has led and delivered several projects involving the transformation of critical systems from legacy to cloud platforms. He has a strong focus on cloud-first thinking, ensuring that the cloud solutions he creates are aligned with the business objectives and customer expectations.

Topics:

• Planning and executing cloud migration strategies
• System architecture of critical systems in the cloud
• How to scale up cloud development using the platform engineering team
• How to transform organisations to a cloud-first strategy
• How Generative AI can benefit cloud developers and continuous service

Some of Heikki’s previous speaking engagements:

• Security conference by AWS
• AWS User Group Tampere
• AWS User Group Finland
• DevOps Finland
• Solita internal events 

Massimo Prencipe is a Security Specialist with a background in software development and architecting cloud solutions. He has experience in organisational DevSecOps security transformations and leading the adoption of secure software development tools in teams. Massimo also knows the practicalities of building and securing cloud infrastructure.

Massimo has spoken at events such as AWS User Group meetups, CitySecs and Solita Crash Courses.

Topics you can invite Massimo to talk about:

• Secure software development: both the human and technical side of DevSecOps
• Cloud security and cloud security posture management
• Threat modeling
• Security testing
• Serverless 

Simon Alen is an API Management expert with over six years of industry experience. He specialises in designing, implementing, and optimizing API strategies to drive business growth and innovation.

Simon delivers Solita’s yearly API-related Crash Course, making complex topics accessible to audiences of all levels. He is also an active contributor to the API community, sharing expertise through blogs, articles and podcasts.

Topics:

• Full API lifecycle management
• Developer ecosystems
• Digital transformation

Tero is an enthusiast in business-driven cloud transformation and value creation. In his vision, cloud is not only a platform or an asset, but it is also an enabler of a new generation of digital operations and services. Ensuring that cloud will boost your business, it needs vision, leadership and management. Tero is a guide on the path of the cloud transformation journey.

Tero is a seasoned public speaker who builds ideas and implications from his vast expertise ranging from cloud architecting to business model analysis. He has spoken at various events such as cloud-related meetups and Solita Crash Course, as well as technology management conferences and universities.

Topics:

• Business-driven cloud adoption
• How to establish a cloud center of excellence that makes an impact
• Differences between cloud strategy and cloud governance
• Process for succesful cloud migrations

Ossi Lindroos, with over a decade of experience at Solita, has played pivotal roles in the company’s growth journey. As the CEO, he has led Solita to remarkable achievements, helping Solita to grow into a company with operations in 9 countries employing over 2,000 professionals. Lindroos is passionate about building international growth and fostering a dynamic, humane-centric, and adaptive company culture. His expertise extends to navigating mergers and acquisitions (M&A) situations while preserving and enhancing organizational culture.

Topics:

• Navigating growth and culture
• Reshaping industries and societies: The socioeconomic impacts of AI on companies and societies
• M&A Success Strategies – How to succeed, and what to avoid

Leading People & Culture in Solita, a fast-growing technology, data, and design company of 2,000 professionals, Outi knows the challenges of modern work life, motivation, and learning inside out. She is an advocate of a more humane working life for all, reminding us of the importance of common sense and humanity in an era of AI and fast-developing technology. Outi is a member of Solita’s Leadership team.

Outi was chosen as the Though Leader of the year 2023 in Bonfire Awards in Finland. Prior to Solita, Outi has worked in various HR and leadership roles in e.g. Finnair and Telia. Outi´s book around working cultures was published by AlmaTalent 2022, second edition came out 2023 (Yrityskulttuurit murroksessa- Inhimillinen työelämä ei rakennu pelkällä itseohjautuvuudella).

Topics:

• Building a humane work-life in the tech industry
• Why we need diversity in tech
• Leadership is a behaviour, not a position
• Building blocks of a healthy working culture
• Anatomy of competencies – and why learning is everything

Some of Outi’s previous speaking engagements:

• WorkTech 2023 event: Leadership is a behavior, not a position (2023)
• Strategy Talk HR 2022: Sense of belonging and inclusion – what is the human working culture in the future (2022)
• Guest Lecture in Aalto EE MBA Digital Strategy and Innovations -program (2022)

With over 25 years in the IT industry, Johan is an experienced leader with a 360 view of the development of IT and technology from a leadership perspective. Having worked for both EDS, HP, TPI (nowadays ISG), Ericsson and Tietoevry, his work experience spans from developing & delivering application, infrastructure and cloud services both to global and Nordic companies, to senior advisory roles on IT & Sourcing strategy, to his real passion: driving the digital transformation. His experience has given him in-depth insight on both the supplier, advisor, and customer perspectives.

Today he leads Solita’s Swedish business with the ambition to make Sweden the world leader in maximising the value out of data.

Topics:

• The future role of a successful CIO
• Ensuring the digital sovereignty of the Nordics
• Steering away from the cyber security threats: How to go from ignorance to foundational understanding on cyber security threats to your organisations

During his career, Johan has presented and participated in panels at Management Events, Radar Group, Almedalsveckan, Universities and IT/Tech partner events.

Eva Sula has wide experience in defence, national security, governments, healthcare, critical infrastructure, cybersecurity and digitalisation. Eva has been CISO in the national government cloud and Ministry of Education, part of the National Security Board, and worked in Microsoft and Cisco with the public sector and critical infrastructure. Built up, lead and consulted governments and militaries in public clouds, digitalisation, legal and governance, cyber security, modernisation, building capabilities, enabling the users and putting the user first.

Eva is about how to get things done and is passionate to empower people but also defend democracies, countries and their people.

Eva’s favourite motto: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”

Topics:

• Defence and armies national, international, EU and NATO levels
• National security including border guard, police, rescue
• Defence industry
• Critical infrastructure national and international
• Digitalisation and data-AI driven defence and national security
• People-centric defence and national security
• Autonomous systems
• Cyber security
• Public clouds, edge (hybrid) and base infrastructure
• Governance, legal and regulatory aspects of digital technologies in countries, EU and US
• Resilience and sovereignty

Peter is an accomplished growth entrepreneur, professional services executive, and scale-up specialist. Over his extensive career, he has held various roles, including M&A executive, business model innovator, CEO, Chairman of the board, and management consultant. Peter has also been a visiting scholar at the University of Connecticut where he lectured on technology innovation and entrepreneurship.

His expertise lies in guiding companies from startup to scale-up, emphasising the importance of a clear vision as the foundation for success. Peter’s engaging and entertaining speaking style combines precise insights with lively anecdotes and statistical evidence. He has a long experience as a keynote speaker and panelist both in Europe and the US. He is also an experienced and engaging event moderator and interviewer.

Topics:

• Strategies for phases of growth from start-up to scale-up
• How to succeed in M&A
• Building international teams and culture
• The role of the board in growth companies

Kati has over 15 years of experience in building and transforming talent acquisition functions and processes in the tech industry in Europe. Kati’s strengths are her deep understanding of the IT business combined with her data-driven approach to building high-performing teams, strong employer brands and well-functioning recruitment processes.

Outside of her primary role at Solita, Kati acts as a board member and serves as a business coach, offering guidance to professionals from industry veterans to emerging talent.

Examples of past talks:

• Scaling Talent Acquisition function for growth – case Solita (Vaaka Partners’ People & Culture Forum 2022, Finland)
• Leading Talent Acquisition (aTalent 2022, Finland)
• Candidate Experience with Lean Thinking, Track Leader (#HRU Tallinn Data & Technology 2018, Estonia)
• Strategic Employer Branding, Keynote speaker (Brand2TheFuture 2017, Belgium)
• Technology & Data in Hiring, Keynote speaker (Nordic Recruitment Day 2017, Denmark)
• Culture Advantage in Recruitment & Employer Branding, Keynote speaker (Employer Branding Breakfast by Dingle, 2016, Finland)
• Culture in Recruitment & Employer Branding keynote (Recruiting Breakfast, Jelpp, 2016, Finland)
• Candidate Experience, Track Leader (#HRU Finland 2016, Finland)

Kati has 30 years of experience in various roles in IT consulting business; from software development, connectivity, architecture and business consulting to project, service and customer relationship management, people leadership, competence development and sales.

In addition to the technical education and managerial background, Kati is a professional teacher, work wellbeing coach and a mentor who likes to co-think and create mutual understanding and enable learning of different teams and individuals.

Topics:

• Consultative approach in IT business
• Leadership skills enabling trust and co-operation of diverse organisations and individuals.
• Digital product lifecycle thinking
• Project and Service management  

Examples of the recent public speaking and lectures:

• Solita Growth Academy: Introduction to consultative approach course in 2021-22
• Solita Growth Academy: Leading customer work course in 2022
• Solita diversity and inclusion facilitator in 2022
• The University of Tampere Applied Sciences: Project management and manager skills course for software engineering students in 1-5/2022 and 1-4/2024
• The University of Tampere Applied Sciences: Several lectures e.g. customer relationship management, service design, specification, international projects, work-life skills, and stress management in 2017-2018

Anni is an experienced software project management and leadership professional with almost 10 years of expertise in various roles in software project management. Anni’s experience includes e.g. leading diverse kinds of teams and project management process and competence development areas. Anni’s skills in project management and leadership include change and risk management, process development, scrum mastering, translating customer insights into technical requirements, backlog creation and prioritisation, and product ownership. Whether it comes to project management development, processes, sales, or knowledge sharing, Anni is passionate about it.

Examples of previous public speaking:

• Teknologia ‘19: Working as a project manager in IT
• Tampere University of Technology 2023: Software requirements and prototyping, requirements as a part of software development
• Rails Girls Tampere 2017: Working as an IT professional
• NiceICT 2019: Life of a project management and how to develop project management processes inside company
• Etteplan MORE online seminar: Product ownership
• MORE2Learn 2020: Life of a project management and how to develop project management processes inside company
• Solita Project Lead forum: Team well-being (panel discussion)
• Various project leadership themes inside 1000+ member public listed company’s service area, e.g.
• Self-leadership, project financials, budget management and KPI’s, courageous leadership, handling demanding situations with customer and with team

Mira Isomäki is a change management professional with over 25 years of experience at the crossroads of IT and people. In her work, she makes sure that transformations can be successfully realised and helps organisations through changes in a way that unleashes the people-bound potential and value in them.

Themes:

• Change leadership
• Change management (muutosjohtaminen)
• Leading people in change and transformations
• Supporting organisations in transformation
• Benefit and value realisation through change management
• Change in organisations 

Sanna has a solid background in leadership and technology – having an M.Eng in Information Technology, Wireless technologies and a B.Sc in Hospital Technology. She has studied leadership and management, organisational leadership and leadership in networking. She’s working as a Business Director at Solita Health. In addition, she is a Co-Chair of IHE Finland (Integrating Healthcare Enterprise) and a Board Member of HL7 Finland (Health Level Seven).

Sanna has worked with healthcare technologies for over 20 years and has expertise also in customer management, sales and public sector business. Currently, she’s doing her doctoral thesis at Aalto University, to gain more understanding about healthcare data platforms and ecosystems and how they enable new services creation.

Examples of previous public speaking:

• EHealth international conference 2021
• Sinä osaat! Roolimalli tytöt ja teknologia 2020
• SOTE ATK-päivät 2018: OYS Testlab digitaalinen alusta – sensoritietojen hyödyntäminen potilastietojärjestelmäintegraatiossa

Sofia is a passionate sales manager with 7 years of experience in IT sales and over 15 years of general sales experience. Within the IT sales career, Sofia has worked within service sales, consultancy sales and has been a team lead for a team of 7. Sofia’s skills include sales experience from cold calling to closing multimillion deals, working abroad, and leading a diverse set of customers.

Examples of previous public speaking:

• Assistant lecturer in Solita Growth Academy, Introduction to consultative approach 2021-
• Diversity and inclusion facilitator 2022
• Social media and product sales 2017

Satu has a solid track record of growing happy customers via strong account leadership with account teams praising her humane leadership style. Her fingerprint can be found on many internal processes contributing to Solita’s success, including strategic account management models, customer feedback processes and service management processes to name a few. She has over 16 years of experience in ICT sector deliveries, services and partnerships both from customer and supplier perspective. Her enthusiasm for holistic lifecycle thinking has led to her current position in developing Lifecycle Services at Solita Group. She works as a mentor in the Suomen Ekonomit mentoring network as well as internally within Solita.

In addition to her M.Sc in Economics and Business Administration, she has gained a Certified Board Member Diploma, a Global Leader Diploma, and continues to pursue her personal growth with an ongoing Commercial Excellence Diploma.

Topics: 

• Customer relationship management

• Leading customer delivery teams

• Building up customer’s success and business value to create long lasting impact in B2B context

• Value-driven lifecycle management

• Productivity at scale – business value driven devops <3 cloud platform engineering  

Examples of previous public speaking:

• Building up an account management model in a product sales organisation (Private healthcare solution provider forum)
• Utilising in-depth interviews as a customer feedback tool (Multiple private organisations’ breakfast forum)
• Data-driven business: Sales Day, Tampere University of Applied Sciences
• Mothers in Business panel discussion: Varied career paths of women in tech

Outi specialises in processes and everything related to how companies organise themselves around value creation. Outi has been working with the topic for 17 years both in consulting and in-house positions. Outi is passionate about helping organisations solve their challenges and achieve their business goals by leveraging process methods and value-driven thinking.

Outi is leading the Process Excellence consulting in Solita Finland and is familiar with having strategic discussions around the topic with senior management. She’s an inspiring speaker and likes to engage her audience and make the topic relevant for them.

Topics: process excellence & management and process-driven culture, operations management, process governance, LEAN, process development, process intelligence/process mining, business architecture, foundation of digital transformation, CX & process

With vast experience in communications, marketing and the tech industry, Minna is passionate about driving growth, reputation, and engagement through communications. For the last years, she has worked for technology, data, and design company Solita, helping to drive the company’s growth from an all-Finnish company of 300 employees to an international technology powerhouse of over 2,000+ professionals in 9 countries. As the Director of Communications, she leads the company’s communications across markets and is a member of the extended leadership team. Earlier, she also led the company’s marketing operations in Finland, the company’s largest market.

In her free time, Minna is a passionate photographer, a wife and a mother of two.

Topics: 

• Driving change and growth in tech with marketing and communications
• How to become a better communicator
• Communications strategies for better employee engagement
• Why is change so difficult
• How to help it with communications
• Women in tech  

Sanna is an anthropologist turned designer, passionate about understanding human behaviour and helping people in developing new strategies, ways of working, or (digital) services. She has worked with clients in both public and private sectors to figure out the unknown unknowns. Ultimately, she thinks that responsible and ethical design and development, both for humanity and beyond, is the only way forward.

In her free time, Sanna is a board member of Human Sciences in Strategy (HUMANS) and has a long background in science communication, namely AntroBlogi, a web publication dedicated to bringing anthropology to the public. She is also a bit of a space anthropology enthusiast with a keen interest in the cultural aspects of AI, robotics, virtual worlds, and all sorts of gaming, be it D&D or PC.

Topics:

• Humans & technology
• Ethical & inclusive design
• Human insight & ethnography
• Culture & society
• Alternative futures & impact
• Organisational culture

Examples of previous panels and keynotes:

• Solita Summit 2023: “Beyond Gen AI & hype: Foundations, applications and responsibility”
• Inclusion by design: “There is no default human”
• Sujuva Suomi: “Death in the digital age – what will be left of us?”
• CGI Intelligent Automation Summit: “Trust and ethics in the era of intelligent automation”
• AntroBlogi x Tubecon: “Facts forward: Tube and Science”
• Ratkaisu 2020: “Artificial intelligence and new technologies – Insights on developing new digital services.” 

Liisa is a service design professional with 15+ years of experience in user-centric design, usability and particularly design for health and well-being. Liisa has experience from various projects in digitalising Finnish healthcare, from designing award-winning apps, medical devices and continuous human insight and usability processes. Liisa’s passion for health and well-being goes beyond design projects, and topics such as work-life wellbeing and family and work-life balance are close to her as a people lead and family mentor at Solita and as an equine facilitated learning coach. Liisa has an M.Sc. in Cognitive Science and additional background in Linguistics and Economics.

Topics: 

• Human insight & human-centric design
• Medical device usability and design for healthcare
• Combining work and family life for women in tech
• Cognitive empathy and psychological safety

Examples of courses and public speaking:

• Solita Design Masters: Human Centric design lecturer lead (2023)
• Designing for a medical device (MAISTR.se course & Aalto Pro 2022)
• Savonia seminar for service design in social services and healthcare 2020
• Digital service design process (full-day lecture, part of Tuotekehityksen erikoisammattitutkinto, Rastor, 2019)
• Service design in healthcare (Teos ry seminar 2018)
• Several Solita internal lectures in e.g. nudging and psychological safety, healthcare cases
• Before 2015, several lectures in accessible web writing and e.g. lecturing a university course in applying cognitive principles for design

Antti is a sociologist and ethnographer at Solita Design & Strategy. For the past 15 years, he has worked with applied social science in service and product design, organisational change, brands and communications. Much of Antti’s current work revolves around the social implications of new technologies, helping organisations balance and better position human and non-human agency in sociotechnical systems. He also works part-time at Aalto University’s multidisciplinary research group on Civic Agency in AI.

Topics:

• Markets as people and cultures in flux
• Applying social theory to business problems
• Design ethnography
• Sociotechnical systems and change
• The social embeddedness of technology
• Trust in algorithmic systems 

Tiina is a human insight specialist with diverse experience in co-designing services together with customers, experimenting with potential solutions, as well as helping companies develop their design capabilities. Having dived into topics ranging from elevator purchasing to secure data processing environments, Tiina can relate design thinking and doing to different types of circumstances and maturities. As a speaker and coach, she has been described as engaging, knowledgeable, and conversational – but with a healthy amount of humour and positivity.

Topics:

• Human insight & service design
• Co-design & experimentation
• Building design capabilities within organisations & organisational design maturity
• Design systems

Examples of previous keynotes:

• Solita Grand One Pre-party 2023: “Design system on asiakaslähtöistä kehittämistä”
• Solita Design Roadshow “Design on turhaa ilman muutosta” 2022: “Inhouse design ja liiketoiminta – yhteistyön lyhyt oppimäärä”
• Solita Meetup for project managers 2021: “Asiakasymmärrys projektin keskiössä”
• Several lectures and trainings regarding service design both for clients and internally

Lauri is a strategic digital designer who embraces both the big picture and the minute details of digital business. He is passionate about using technology and design to improve peoples’ lives and help organisations do the right things right.

Lauri believes that the best value for people and businesses is found at the intersection of design, technology, and sustainable business models. With over 15 years of experience, he supports organisations in finding that intersection through modern digital strategies, solutions, and ways of working.

Topics:

• Digital strategies and digitalisation opportunities
• Combining data, design and technology to create value
• Design operations
• Design systems

Maiju is a psychologist who turned to data and design over 20 years ago. She is a strategic designer who drives the innovation and design approach into technology and business. She applies a holistic and systematic perspective to get value out of data and supports organisations in their journey into a modern, digital and human-centric future. She leads the design team in Solita Germany and orchestrates the development of the skills of the whole design community (+150 people) of Solita. Her passion is to build convergency by combining multiple capabilities and perspectives of the organisation and drive business development with the iterative, experimental approach to reach value. She has expertise in diverse business contexts and cultures on a global scale. Currently, she is wholeheartedly exploring social innovation and leveraging digitalisation to address future societal challenges.

Topics: 

• Value out of data
• Data products
• Human-centric behavioural change
• Journey towards digitalisation
• Data and cloud & human-centricity in innovation

Examples of previous keynotes:

• How to design and build a valuable data product? Solita webinar
• Valuable data products: Keynote for Copenhagen Business School
• Solita Crash Course on Data mesh
• Creating value in product, Product Management Nights meetup in Berlin
• Basics of design thinking: Empathy in design, keynote for KONE
• Theory Café: What neuroscience tells us about human decision making, Solita community session
• Psychologist view for behavioural profiles, keynote for data scientists in Solita

Britta draws on many years of experience in process optimisation and software conversions in the field of warehouse logistics and supply chain management. In her former role as a CIO in a German medium-sized market leader, she approached the transformation from an inherited IT Infrastructure towards a Cloud first strategy. With her personal competencies, she acts as a link between business departments, management and IT specialists as her core competence. 

“Speaking the same language is crucial for successful projects – I can help bridge business language and IT terms”.

With her interested, structured, open-minded and proactive manner, Britta now supports customers in finding and implementing the right solutions. Thereby striving to understand the purpose of projects and the broader needs of customers to deliver meaningful solutions in a data-driven environment. She is motivated to tackle complex problems in a team, to question the status quo and to analyze existing structures and business processes as well as their data and to further develop them in a customer-centric way. 

“I truly believe the team constellation is the key to powerful and better solutions, it determines the spoken language, the behaviour of team members, the understanding of complex problems and the thrive and energy a team can bring to delivering on a problem.”

Topics:

• IT Transformations to cloud-first strategy
• Change management in projects
• Project management and customer lead from experience
• Value out of data 

Examples of previous keynotes:

• Diversity and inclusion panel talk in Solita

During her time working in the fashion industry, Marika became frustrated with the unsustainable industrial system operating on old or non-existent ICT systems. Since then, for over 10 years, she has been passionate about finding better and more sustainable ways of working supported by digitalisation. Her software engineering training gave her the how, but she is always eager to find answers to the what and why. There is no point in digitalisation if it doesn’t improve our lives. Our times demand solutions to existential and wicked problems. The solutions can only be found through holistic, systems-oriented, participatory, and multidisciplinary work. Marika enjoys translating complex phenomena into tangible problems and solving them like a puzzle. She also enjoys dancing, teaching yoga and sharing a little peace of mind.

Spoke at:

• Report release at Finnish Fashion and Textile: The impact of digitalisation in the fashion industry
• Keynote at AaltoES Series1: “Problem definition and solving”
• Muotipodi season 1
• Lecturer at Metropolia University of Applied Sciences, courses: Digital representation techniques and Digital Portfolio
• Hosting at Fashion Forward events
• CGI Webinars for Future Business: “Controlled chaos or clear visibility to fashion value chain?”

Mikko, with his extensive 15+ years of cross-industry experience, is a dynamic Business Designer and advisor dedicated to guiding companies through transformative growth and innovation. His expertise in new business model creation, innovation performance, and transformation initiatives makes him an invaluable asset to business leaders looking to navigate the complexities of modern markets.

Mikko has a rare ability to blend business strategy, hands-on guidance and technological aspects in helping organisations bridge the gap between ambitious goals and operational realities. He is adept at engaging with upper management and operational teams alike, ensuring cohesive and effective strategies for business transformation. His recent focus on the green transition in heavy industries showcases his commitment to sustainable and forward-thinking business practices.

Mikko’s presentations are known for their energising and engaging nature, combining in-depth expertise with a relaxed style that resonates with audiences of all sizes & natures. His experience includes hosting large live events and seminars, as well as presenting at global conferences, making him a versatile and captivating speaker for a broad range of events.

Example themes:

• Beyond theater: Innovation performance in large corporations
• Analyst-proven value from transformation initiatives
• Green transition: From known unknown to defined runway