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AI & Business Strategies 2026

From AI adoption to AI advantage.

Product

AI & Business Strategies 2026

Time

7.10.2026

hybridi

Hype Areena, Espoo

Product

AI & Business Strategies 2026

Time

7.10.2026

hybridi

Hype Areena, Espoo

Designing the AI-Native Enterprise

Artificial intelligence is no longer just a pilot project. In 2026, the real question is not how to adopt AI — but how to run your enterprise with it.

Join us in Helsinki for a cross-industry event for business leaders, strategists, and practitioners looking for game-changing strategic insights, business growth and actionable know-how. Across three focused 2026 themes — AI-native operating models & discipline and AI economics & competitive advantage — we examine how organizations are redesigning architecture, processes, skills and accountability to operate in an era of autonomous systems.

Expect concrete case studies, production deployments, architectural decisions and hard-earned lessons.

Insightful Themes

From AI Projects to AI-Native Operating Models

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Governance, Skills and Operating Discipline

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Economics and Competitive Advantage 

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Elin Hauge

Data & AI Strategist, Business Advisor, Board Chair & Member (NO)

Elin Hauge

Nicholas Fernholm

Senior Advisor, Author, Founder and CEO, AI Keynote Speaker (SE)

Nicholas Fernholm

Paul Dongha

Head of Responsible AI and AI Strategy

Paul Dongha

Nina Rahkola EN

Nina Rahkola EN

Documentarist, Journalist

Sini Kervinen

Sini Kervinen

Director of Tech & Innovations and Nordic AI & Innovations Lead, Bauer Media Audio Finland

Vesa Palmu

Vesa Palmu

Founder, Mearra

  • Wednesday 7.10.

    WE OPEN THE DOORS & WELCOME

    OPENING REMARKS BY OUR MODERATORS

    Nina  Rahkola
    Nina Rahkola Documentarist, Journalist
    Jesse Kamras
    Jesse Kamras Journalist, News Reporter
    OPENING KEYNOTE

    FUTURE OF LEADERSHIP – THE POWER OF DATA & AI

    Elin Hauge
    Elin Hauge Data & AI Strategist, Business Advisor, Board Chair & Member (NO)
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    Technology is reshaping how organizations compete, innovate, and make decisions. In this opening keynote, Elin explores how leaders can embed data and AI into corporate strategy and operations while safeguarding human judgment, culture, and long-term value creation.

    Cutting through the hype, the session clarifies how to align data and AI investments with real business priorities and measurable impact. As adoption accelerates, trust, accountability, and governance become decisive. Elin shows how leadership must evolve to balance innovation with responsibility and build transparent, ethical, and resilient organizations

    BUILDING DOMAIN SPECIFIC MODELS THAT CREATE STRUCTUAL ADVANTAGE

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    • Why domain intelligence will separate AI enabled from AI native organizations

    • Building AI capabilities competitors cannot easily replicate

    • Owning the model layer versus depending on external platforms

    NETWORKING & COFFEE BREAK

    EMBEDDING AI DECISION LAYERS INTO MISSION CRITICAL PROCESSES

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    • Identifying where AI should advise versus where it should decide

    • Designing decision layers that integrate with ERP, CRM and core systems

    • Managing human oversight in high impact automated workflows

    • Measuring performance and accountability in AI driven decisions

    MAKE OR BUY STRATEGIC CONTROL OVER AI CAPABILITIES

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    • Evaluating total cost of ownership across build, buy, and partner models

    • Deciding where proprietary data justifies internal model development

    • Structuring AI teams for internal capability versus external reliance

    • Avoiding over investment in rapidly commoditizing AI layers

    LUNCH & NETWORKING BREAK

    KEYNOTE

    THE COMPETITIVE DIVIDE BETWEEN AI ENABLED AND AI NATIVE ORGANIZATIONS

    Nicholas Fernholm
    Nicholas Fernholm Senior Advisor, Author, Founder and CEO, AI Keynote Speaker (SE)
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    • Why AI native organizations rethink operating models, not just tools

    • How decision speed, cost structures, and scalability diverge between the two models

    • The long term risks of remaining AI enabled in a market shifting toward autonomy

    • What structural moves are required to cross the divide

    CASE: MINIMISING PROCESS TIMES WITH AI, USING AI ERA PROJECT MODEL

    Sini  Kervinen
    Sini Kervinen Director of Tech & Innovations and Nordic AI & Innovations Lead, Bauer Media Audio Finland
    Vesa Palmu
    Vesa Palmu Founder, Mearra
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    Discover how Bauer Media and Mearra transformed a business-critical process using AI and the AI ERA Project Model, reducing process times and delivering measurable business value.

    • How Bauer Media’s Audiomator reduces process times from weeks to minutes through AI-driven workflow redesign
    • How the Mearra Method accelerates stakeholder alignment and implementation
    • The power of PoDs (Proofs of Direction) in making software solutions visible, tangible and actionable

    NETWORKING & COFFEE BREAK

    COMPETING AGAINST AI NATIVE COST BASES

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    • How automation changes fixed versus variable cost dynamics

    •  When AI investments reduce cost and when they increase complexity

    • Preparing your capital allocation strategy for AI driven operating leverage

    CLOSING KEYNOTE

    WHEN MACHINES MAKE DECISIONS – WHO HOLDS THE POWER AND WHO HOLDS THE RISK

    Paul Dongha
    Paul Dongha Head of Responsible AI & AI Strategy, NatWest Group, Ex Co-Chair of Ethics Board, C-suite advisor, Harvard Business School (UK)
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    In an era where agents execute transactions, models influence credit decisions, and algorithms shape strategic outcomes, power inside the enterprise is being redefined. Accountability, governance, and economic control must evolve at the same pace as automation.

    • How autonomous systems reshape decision rights and enterprise power structures

    • Why responsible AI is no longer a compliance layer but a strategic discipline

    • The economic consequences of unmanaged AI risk

    • What boards and executives must rethink before 2027

    END REMARKS BY OUR MODERATORS

    Nina  Rahkola
    Nina Rahkola Documentarist, Journalist
    Jesse Kamras
    Jesse Kamras Journalist, News Reporter

    MUSIC & MINGLE

    EVENT ENDS & THANK YOU!

A Shared experience, elevated.

When attending with three or more guests, enjoy an exclusive 10% group privilege — crafted to enhance your collective experience and unlock added value together.

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This is where tomorrow takes shape.

A year-round, high-value community designed exclusively for CIOs and business executives from leading Nordic companies – By Leaders, For Leaders.