AI has stopped being only a technology question and has become a governance question. The companies that win the next decade will not be those with the most AI tools, but those whose boards and leadership teams understand what AI fundamentally changes: responsibility, risk, value creation, and the speed at which decisions must be made.
This invite-only morning brings together chairs, board members, and executives of Nordic listed companies for a direct, no-fluff conversation with Dell Technologies, Hannes Snellman, and Voima Ventures. Breakfast, two firesides, one legal reality check, ninety minutes, and a sharper view of what your board needs to decide next.
AGENDA
08:00 – 08:30 | Breakfast & Arrival High-value networking with peers from listed boards and leadership teams.
08:30 – 08:35 | Opening words: The shift leaders must understand now Helene Auramo, Nordic Listed Leaders
08:35 – 08:45 | Hard Talk Chat: Governance reality check: What boards must know now Jesper Nevalainen, Partner, IP & Technology, Hannes Snellman × Helene Auramo
Boards carry personal liability for decisions they may not fully understand, and AI is now at the top of that list. In this Hard Talk, Helene puts the questions to Jesper that every director should be asking: where does personal liability actually begin with AI, what is the competence gap most boards still have, and what should you change before the next board meeting? The floor is open for your questions, too.
08:45 – 09:00 | Fireside: How AI changes leadership Riikka Salminen, Managing Director, Dell Technologies Finland & Baltics × Helene Auramo
Dell used itself as the first test case for AI transformation before rolling anything out to customers and what they learned reshaped how the leadership team runs the week. Riikka shares what actually changes when AI stops being a tools question and becomes a leadership question: where value is now created, what gets delegated, and what no longer can be. If you feel AI is moving faster than your organisation, this is the conversation you came for.
09:05 – 09:25 | Fireside: From innovative startups to boardrooms — where AI creates new value Inka Mero, Founder & CEO, Voima Ventures × Riikka Salminen, Dell Technologies × Helene Auramo
Most listed companies use AI to cut costs. The most interesting startups use it to build entirely new businesses. In this fireside, those two worlds meet on one stage. Riikka brings the perspective of someone inside a global, publicly listed company leading its own AI transformation. Inka brings the view of an investor who has backed dozens of deep tech companies and has sat on boards including Betolar, Fiskars, YIT, and Nokian Renkaat. Together, they take on the question most leaders dodge: where does AI actually create new value, and where are large companies fooling themselves? For any director or executive who worries their company is optimizing yesterday while the market builds tomorrow, this conversation is the reset. The discussion also draws on the themes of Inka's new book Radikaalit ratkaisut (co-authored with Tero Ojanperä), which lays out seven bold actions for Finland. Finland has world-class tech talent but weak growth — this fireside brings that question straight to the boardroom.
09:25 – 09:30 | Key Takeaways + Close
📍 Helsinki, Unity
🗓 2 June | 08:00–09:30 (Official program starts 8:30, breakfast 08:00, possibility to stay 9:30-10:00).
🇫🇮 Language: Finnish
👥 Invite-only | Boards and leadership teams of listed companies | 20 seats
Register here:
Speakers
Riikka Salminen is the Managing Director for Dell Technologies in Finland and in the Baltic countries. She holds M.Sc. in Applied Mathematics.
Riikka is a leader with a passion for technology and leadership. Winston Churchill’s leadership thesis greatly inspires her, and she believes that optimism and continuous learning will drive business growth even in tough times.
Riikka is convinced that technology is a strong power that helps organizations to prosper, but it also gives people new tools to work more productively and at the same time resilience in their everyday life. Emerging technologies, like GenAI and Edge, together with strong cybersecurity, are essential for businesses, not to forget sustainability.
Before moving to Dell in 2022, Riikka was VISA's Country Manager for Finland, Sweden, and the Baltics. Before that, she had a long career in several international and domestic sales management positions in the technology sector. She has extensive international experience, having lived and worked in multiple countries.
Photo: Veikko Somerpuro
Inka Mero is the Founder and CEO of Voima Ventures, a venture capital firm focused on deep technology investments.
She has extensive experience across technology-driven industries as an investor, entrepreneur, and executive, with senior international leadership roles in both global corporations and startups. She has been recognized among the Top 10 most influential female business leaders in Finland.
Prior to founding Voima Ventures, she spent 10+ years as a full-time early-stage investor, following an earlier career as a technology entrepreneur and executive. She brings nearly 15 years of operational experience in roles such as CEO, founder, and Head of Sales.
Mero has worked on several boards, including Sitra, Fiskars, YIT, Betolar and Nokian Renkaat, and has been an active angel investor in over 100+ startups as well as a founding member of eight companies.
She has written a book Radikaalit ratkaisut (Radical solutions: Seven bold actions for Finland), co-authored with Tero Ojanperä.
Jesper Nevalainen, Partner, IP & Technology, Hannes Snellman Jesper heads Hannes Snellman's Technology and Data Practice. His practice focuses on commercial, technology, and data law, with particular expertise in open source licensing issues. He advises both buyers and suppliers of information technology on a wide range of business-critical matters ranging from strategic advice, project management, contract drafting, negotiations, and disputes to the re-engineering of distressed projects. His expertise also covers complex technology transactions, data protection and privacy, regulation of digitalisation, as well as non-contentious IP, software licensing, and compliance matters. He is also active in Hannes Snellman's ESG Group.