The courage to renew, experiment and innovate is needed more than ever
Opinion piece
AI
Artificial intelligence must be made into the new competitive edge for Pirkanmaa's industry, writes Juha Huttunen, CEO of Rakettitiede, in an opinion piece in Aamulehti.
Pirkanmaa is one of Finland's most significant technology hubs. The region has strong and traditional industry, defence sector expertise, and top-tier software professionals. However, with the rapid development of artificial intelligence, we are facing a turning point that challenges and brings opportunities to the region's success.
We recently organised an event where around twenty business representatives from Pirkanmaa gathered to contemplate the opportunities of AI in the region. The consensus was clear: companies in the region cannot just watch the development of AI from the sidelines; instead, AI must be turned into a regional competitive edge.
AI brings new opportunities to bring products to market faster. With its help, innovations can be tested and refined even before they are ready for production.
At the same time, the transformation of software development causes concern as AI writes an increasingly large portion of the code. However, expertise will not disappear at the crest of development. Code writing will decrease, but the need to understand complex systems and guide AI will grow. High-level professionals are still needed for these tasks.
It is clear that AI itself does not solve everything. For example, Pirkanmaa has plenty of heavy industry and work machine manufacturers. These devices are constantly "consuming" more intelligence and automation. In production machinery and their critical systems, safety and reliability are everything. A massive factory machine or a mobile work machine cannot be left solely at the mercy of AI in the future either. Our new trump card may indeed be how software expertise and industry are combined with the opportunities created by AI in a reliable and safe manner.
As the region's companies are still at very different stages in utilising AI, breaking down silos is vital. Continuous dialogue and sharing concrete experiences across industry boundaries are the best ways to ensure that we are not left alone in this development. Therefore, the courage to reform, experiment, and innovate is needed more than ever.
Juha Huttunen, CEO, Rakettitiede
This article was published in Aamulehti in July 2026.