The fourth Berggren Future Forum invited business leaders, lawyers and IPR professionals to Kulttuurikasarmi on the 9th of October to get inspired, network and spark excitement for the future. The prominent list of guest speakers and panelists, whose expertice reached both deep and wide attracted a full house.
Keynote presentations were given by Leena Mörttinen from Ministry of Finance, Anne Jalkala from Vaisala and Janne Kuusela from Ministry of Defence. The vivid panel discussion with Berggren’s Arttu Ahava, Maija Hovila from Futurice, Hannu Verkasalo of Behavix Inc. and Inka Mero from Voima Ventures led the participants to the deeply disrupting impact of data and AI on innovation, intellectual property, and business potential.
The whole event was moderated by Christina Dahlblom, entrepreneur and Professor of Practice at Hanken. She rooted for positive thinking even in the uncertain era we are living in. Instead of postponing innovations and investments for the distant future we should actively search for opportunities for growth, both as businesses and as a nation.
To give a concrete example of positive thinking, two young guns, Eemeli Ervasti and Aatu Veikkola, despite being only 21 years old, can be already considered serial entrepreneurs. They as NYT ambassadores (One Year as an Entrepreneur program) wanted to highlight keeping a young mindset as their message from the young generation to us more seasoned professionals:
Mika Toikka, CEO at Berggren, embraced the message of innovation and leadership by drawing a clear parallel between the value and significance of recharge all of us require for being able to flourish as leaders at full capacity and the business-critical assets, intellectual properties as our expert field, being a critical value for every business to operate at full capacity.
Leena Mörttinen, Permanent Under-Secretary, Ministry of Finance, shook the audience by stating that the market economy did not win after all. Instead of the end of history we are facing a clash of civilizations. It’s a race where new countries challenge the old world order, in the middle of geoeconomics competition.
Energy, data, money… everything that flows fast, is politics. — Leena Mörttinen
Leena emphasized the worrying productivity gap between the EU and the US. There is an imbalance in the public debt hindering investing in innovation and the fear of regulating ourselves out of the game.
However, Leena saw hope in small countries like Finland. We can and should act as small companies. We cannot choose our environments, but we can use our agility and act as counterweights to larger players. "Know the game, do risk analysis, get well connected, pay attention to where you invest – and play the hand you were dealt", said Leena.
Anne Jalkala, the Chief Sustainability and Strategy Officer at Vaisala, didn't sugar-coat the situation but opened her presentation by stating that we are sleepwalking as a humankind. She referred to human induced climate change, the biggest existential threat of our time. The megatrends are not isolated, rather interlinked. For example, the use of AI consumes huge amounts of energy, which affects global warming. The greatest business opportunities are built at the junctions of megatrends. "How can you position your company there?" Anne asked.
The greatest business opportunities are built at the junctions of megatrends. — Anne Jalkala
Immediately after walking to the stage, Janne Kuusela, Director General, Ministry of Defence, asked an open question: "Are we on the road to hell?", inspired by his choice of entrance music. Janne painted a picture of the reality we live in. In the past there was a war with tanks, missiles and forces – and after that there was a time of peace. Now it is a constant struggle, where it may seem peaceful at first glance, but there is a full-scale war going on in the networks.
"In this business you have to be an optimist", says Janne and got a laugh from the audience. However, Janne trusts in Finland. We are a positive exception in Europe as we have maintained our capabilities in traditional warfare too. Also, our nation's willingness to defend our way of life is very high. Janne also highlighted our education system as "the first line of defence". "It's a deal to be a Finn", said Janne, as long as all the Finns feel this is my Finland, it is also Finland worth defending. Janne shared even his view about what kind of NATO nation we should be: "Active, positive and trustworthy – a country other NATO countries want to defend".
In this business you have to be an optimist. — Janne Kuusela
Sakari Värilä from Berggren joined Janne to discuss innovations in defence, especially the so-called "new defence", where civil technology companies bring agility to defence technology with innovations that have dual use, in other words, have applications both on civil and defence side. They are often related to communications, AI and biotechnology but also for preserving ciritical infrastruture. Now companies, that used to be too small to be taken seriously, have their shot in defence industry as well.
To wrap up, Janne gave his motivational points for a brighter future:
The last part of the event was the highly anticipated panel discussion, kicked off with key questions business leaders should be asking about AI.
It was stated that since everyone has access to the same tools, the data itself cannot bring competitive advantage; you need to ask what data I need and do I use it correctly.
Arttu proclaimed himself as the bad cop of the conversation and reminded everyone, that since we live in the EU, we should not get carried away with sexy ideas that are against the legislation: "You can hate the rules – but you must still obey them. The regulation has a purpose: to build trust." Since AI is at its tipping point, Christina's final request to the panelists was to give one piece of advice for businesses.
Key takeaways from the day by Berggren’s CEO, Mika Toikka:
Leena Mörttinen's keynote: "Global money and capital must flow. Global politics might be difficult, but keep the money flowing"
Anne Jalkala's keynote: "When China states something, they have the resources: they are the green energy superpower, innovating, not just replicating."
Janne Kuusela's keynote: We might be on the road to hell, but we can turn challenges into opportunities. Scenario planning is important for all of us."
The Berggren Future Forum 2024 left participants inspired and equipped with new ideas, emphasizing the importance of bold action and collaboration in a rapidly changing world. As the event concluded, one message was clear: the future isn’t something to wait for – it’s something to create together, today.