Artificial intelligence offers a great opportunity for Finland’s industrial sector to increase productivity significantly, but success hinges on effective communication. This was my key takeaway after visiting the Alihankinta Subcontracting Trade Fair in Tampere, where AI was the theme of the year.
Held annually since 1988, Alihankinta is the largest industrial trade event in Finland and the Nordic countries. Among the over 1,000 exhibitors, mid-sized metal, plastics, and electronics subcontractors dominated the floor. There were also booths for regional clusters and a few major industrial companies as main contractors.
The event's theme, "Productivity with AI," was nearly impossible for the almost 20,000 attendees to miss. The main stage buzzed with continuous discussions about AI.
The smallest hall was even entirely dedicated to the theme – though it required deliberate effort to get there. AI was not visible in any way in the rest of the exhibition halls, raising a pressing doubt: How many participants will return to work thinking AI is just yesterday’s buzzword, ready to shift focus to “real work”?
Companies can’t afford to stay behind
Many speakers expressed concerns. Fastems’ Head of Digital Business, Heikki Hallila, noted that AI often feels abstract, making it difficult to grasp its tangible benefits. He emphasized that the biggest barrier to success is insufficient dialogue, especially with senior leadership. AI must become a regular part of executive discussions.
The technology itself is not the issue – AI isn’t even new in the industry. Instead, as Zeal Sourcing consultant Oliver Kaivola pointed out, the real challenge is the massive effort required in change management to ensure employees can keep pace with the development.
In his keynote, Seppo Kuula, former Managing Director at Silo AI, currently CEO of Cloud1, warned of the risks of staying on the sidelines. According to Kuula, companies that adopt AI will inevitably oust competitors that don’t.
The fear of missing out (FOMO) is driving many businesses to act. However, Kuula criticized companies for fiddling with meaningless applications and proof-of-concept experiments. Those involve no risk and never make it into production. These activities often serve as little more than self-reassurance that AI progress is being made. Instead, Kuula urged companies to identify the most significant value-creating challenge for their business and use AI to solve it.
I had expected that AI implementations in major companies presented in the media would inspire others. Yet, several speakers suggested that these stories, combined with AI hype, evoke a sense of despair in smaller companies: They create a perception that everyone else is already miles ahead. According to surveys, up to half of large manufacturing companies in the Nordics use AI – in reality, most companies are still at the starting line described by Kuula.
Enormous benefits in productivity and quality
The speakers made it clear that Finland’s industrial sector has a chance to achieve a major leap in productivity. AI enhances efficiency, quality, machine reliability, maintenance, sales, marketing, and safety, accelerates processes, and helps identify bottlenecks.
AI has been used in industrial operations for years, albeit mainly in large companies, as machine learning. Massive datasets have been analyzed to predict maintenance needs and loss-generating production disruptions. Generative AI, which generated the current hype, brings a new dimension when people in manufacturing can interact with systems in a natural language for the first time. For instance, a plant operator can receive real-time instructions for process optimization without needing to interpret technical data.
Generative AI also improves customer understanding. The pitfall is mediocrity, which makes sales and marketing flat and boring, as Netprofile’s Insight Track report highlights. Discussions at the event pondered the value of interacting with people as AI releases from routines.
Clarify the problem, create a vision, pick the low-hanging fruit
The speakers did their best to encourage industry leaders. They tipped that not everything needs to be built from scratch, as plenty of ready-made AI services and building blocks are available.
Aki Sundell, Sales Manager at Innofactor, advised to follow this order: identify processes where improvement delivers the most value, set goals, and choose methods. Next, focus on leading change and instilling AI into the organization.
Fastems’ Heikki Hallila stressed the importance of acknowledging what you don’t know and seeking partnerships. From there, create a vision and take ownership of the AI journey.
It is extremely important that industries follow the guidance for Finland as a whole. The key is to act swiftly to capture the low-hanging fruit that raises productivity in many areas. Doing nothing guarantees defeat.
Where does your company stand on AI? What kind of stories can you tell? Have you even created an AI-powered solution but can’t craft a proper message to sell it? Does AI excite your team or feel like a daunting pressure source?
At Netprofile, we specialize in turning complex technology into compelling narratives that resonate with decision-makers and industry professionals alike.
Feel free to reach out if your company needs help on the exciting road to success — whether with AI or beyond!
