Program 2027
Homecoming Day 2027 program
Below you can see the preliminary program and schedule. The program is updated during autumn.
13:00 onwards: Registration desk open at the Undergraduate Center
Otakaari 1, M door
The registration and information desk is open during the whole day program, 13–18:30. You will receive a name tag upon arrival. Please keep the name tag visible at all times, also during the evening program.
14:00–15:15 Main seminar
U2 lecture hall, Undergraduate Center
The main seminar will be held in Finnish, but we will provide simultaneous interpretation into English for those who need it.
Speakers:
Jussi Herlin, Executive Vice Chair of the Board, KONE Corporation
Kristiina Mäkelä, Provost, Aalto University
Satu Rämö, Author
You can read the bios of the speakers in the main seminar by clicking the navigation panel on the left side of this page.
15:15 Coffee and moving to the first parallel session
U lobby, Undergraduate Center
16:00–16:45 Parallel sessions 1
See the parallel sessions listed below. Registration for the parallel sessions is done as part of the event registration.
There are parallel sessions available in both Finnish and English, and therefore no interpretation will be provided for them.
Description:
If competitors can access the same AI tools, what skills and expertise will help a company put those tools to better use?
Does the AI age call for specialists or generalists?
Will AI reduce junior hiring by automating entry-level tasks or will it help those junior employees take on greater responsibility sooner?
What must still be learned through experience, and how can that learning be supported?
We will discuss how universities and employers can rethink education, hiring, early-career work and rewards so that gains in productivity also help develop the next generation of experts.
Speakers:
Roope Keloharju, Assistant Professor, Aalto University School of Business
Emma Willems, Assistant Professor, Aalto University School of Business
Department: Accounting & Business Law
Language: English
Description:
Trust, equality, autonomy, low hierarchy and consensus are often portrayed as defining strengths of Finnish leadership. But were they ever quite as Finnish - or universally beneficial - as we like to think? And are they still fit for an era of AI, geopolitical uncertainty, global competition and accelerating change?
Bringing together research and executive experience, this session asks what Finnish leadership should preserve, abandon and reinvent when writing its next chapter. Essentially, the session will explore one central question: What if some of the things we celebrate as strengths of Finnish leadership are also becoming its weaknesses?
Speakers:
Alexei Koveshnikov, Professor, Aalto University School of Business
Mark Hayton, Focus Tiger
Anneli Karlstedt, Wärtsilä
Department: Management
Language: English
Description:
Suomi ja Eurooppa tarvitsevat kasvua, investointeja ja uudistumista. Samalla pääomaan kohdistuu yhä enemmän odotuksia: sen pitäisi tuottaa, rahoittaa kasvua ja vihreää siirtymää sekä vahvistaa kilpailukykyä, turvallisuutta ja strategista autonomiaa.
Mitä eläkevaroilta, valtiolta ja yksityisiltä sijoittajilta voidaan perustellusti odottaa? Kenen tehtävä on rahoittaa kasvu – ja millä ehdoilla?
Speakers:
Salla Pöyry, rahoituksen työelämäprofessori, Aalto-yliopiston kauppakorkeakoulu
Timo Löyttyniemi, rahoituksen työelämäprofessori, Aalto-yliopiston kauppakorkeakoulu
Kaisa Hietala, Greencode Venturesin perustaja sekä ExxonMobilin ja Smurfit Westrockin hallitusten jäsen
Ville Voipio, Vaisalan ja Teknologiateollisuuden hallitusten puheenjohtaja sekä Perheyritysten liiton varapuheenjohtaja
Markus Aho, sijoitusjohtaja, varatoimitusjohtaja, Varma
Department: Finance
Language: Finnish
Speakers:
Jaakko Aspara
Johanna Frösén
Mikko Laukkanen
Department: Marketing
Language: Finnish
Description:
Sähkön kysyntä kasvaa nopeasti teollisuuden sähköistyessä ja datakeskusinvestointien lisääntyessä. Mitä tämä merkitsee sähkön hinnalle, kantaverkolle, talouskasvulle ja työllisyydelle? Entä miten energiapolitiikan tulisi vastata muutokseen ja samalla turvata kohtuuhintainen sähkö kotitalouksille?
Keskustelussa yhdistyvät sähköjärjestelmän, talouden ja ympäristöpolitiikan näkökulmat.
Speakers:
Matti Liski, Professor, Aalto University School of Business
Asta Sihvonen-Punkka, CEO, Fingrid
Lassi Ahlvik, Professor, Aalto University
Department: Economics
Language: Finnish
Description:
“The greatest failure of leadership in modern organisations is not strategic, operational or financial. It is moral – the failure to care”
– Professor Alison Pullen, Macquarie University, Australia
In this parallel session, we explore the following pressing questions: Can we place care at the center of leadership? How would this challenge dominant assumptions about leadership? What does it mean to create organisations where care is valued and made visible, and where people can genuinely thrive? We also ask when care can become harmful or paternalistic, and how such forms of care can be prevented. The session will include two research-based lightning talks and a moderated discussion with invited guests on the intersection of leadership and care. The purpose of the session is to showcase insights from recent research and to give participants the opportunity to reflect on how caring leadership can support wellbeing and flourishing in business and society.
Speakers:
Astrid Huopalainen, Assistant Professor, Aalto University School of Business
Saija Katila, Senior University Lecturer, Aalto University School of Business
Alice Wickström, Assistant Professor, Aalto University School of Business
Joachim Thibblin, Artistic Director, Swedish National Theatre
Julius Hurri, Talent & Growth, Netlight Consulting
Hannakaisa Länsisalmi, Chief People and Culture Officer, OP Pohjola
Department: Management
Language: English
16:45 Break between the parallel sessions, moving to the second session
U lobby, Undergraduate Center
17:00–17:45 Parallel sessions 2
See the parallel sessions listed below. Registration for the parallel sessions is done as part of the event registration.
There are parallel sessions available in both Finnish and English, and therefore no interpretation will be provided for them.
Description:
How can Finland turn world-class research and deep-tech innovation into global growth? This engaging seminar and panel brings together leading voices from academia, startups, venture capital, and industry to explore how commercialization can fuel Finland’s next wave of prosperity.
Speakers:
Apurva Ganoo, Lecturer, Aalto University
Monika Liikamaa, Executive in Residence, Aalto University
Department: Management
Language: English
Description:
Verohallinto on uudistanut maineensa Harald Hirmuinen -sarjakuvan voudista moderniksi organisaatioksi näkemään verovelvolliset asiakkaina, joita voi myös tukea. Verohallintoa on silti ajoittain arvosteltu tulkintojen tiukkuudesta ja myös Veronsaajien oikeudenvalvonnan VOVAn roolia on kyseenalaistettu. Valtion budjettisäästöt voivat puolestaan heikentää joitakin palveluita.
Paneelissa keskustellaan siitä, missä Verohallinnon ja yritysten suhteissa ja yhteyksissä mennään ja mitä on näköpiirissä.
Speakers:
Timo Viherkenttä, Senior Fellow, Aalto-yliopisto
Salla Luomanmäki, Manager, Verohallinto
Jouni Weckström, Lawyer, Weckström Attorneys
Department: Accounting & Business Law
Language: Finnish
Description:
Perseverance against adversity, inner strength, and determination are key elements of the master narrative of SISU: the boundless resilience that has served as the modern national myth or cultural ideal.
In this session, we ask a simple question: are we at a time and a place where this national myth holds us back rather than helping unleash our animal spirits? Do we need to move beyond the idea of SISU or resilience to unlock the next phase of Finnish well-being and prosperity? Do we need to go beyond the story of a modest, resilient people striving to overcome adversity?
We explore some ways of moving from a master narrative of resilience to a master narrative of confidence.
Speakers:
Kushagra Bhatnagar, Aalto University School of Business
Antti Rannisto, Aalto University School of Science
Chris Ryles, Cultural strategist. Co-chair of HUMANS
Philipp von dem Knesebeck, Lead AI Strategist, SOLITA
Rauha Bato-Liukkonen, Scaling Partner and CEO, Holistic Customer Experience Consulting Ltd, Entrepreneur, Ex-HELEN
Department: Marketing
Language: English
Description:
Toivo muovaa sitä, miten yhteiskunnat vastaavat murroksiin: millaiset tulevaisuudet näyttävät mahdollisilta, mitkä ratkaisut saavat resursseja ja mihin toiminta suuntautuu. Mutta mikä näitä toiveita kannattelee?
Sessiossa tarkastelemme ”toivon infrastruktuuria”: instituutioita, asiantuntijuutta, kertomuksia, investointeja ja käytäntöjä, joiden kautta jotkin toiveet vahvistuvat ja toiset jäävät sivuun. Tukeeko tämä toivon infrastruktuuri tarvitsemaamme kestävyysmurrosta – ja miten sitä muovaavat eri sukupolvien tulevaisuuskuvat, lupaukset ja uhat?
Speakers:
Johanna Ahola-Launonen, Academy Research Fellow
Olli Tiikkainen, postdoctoral researcher, Aalto University School of Business
Johanna Haapala, Co-founder, Senior Consultant, Luontoa Oy
Saara Böök, Climate Communications Specialist and UN Youth Climate Delegate of Finland
Paavo Järvensivu, Co-founder, BIOS Research Uni
Department: Management
Language: Finnish
Description:
Miten rakennetaan verkkokauppa, johon asiakas palaa ja joka kasvaa kannattavasti?
Paneelikeskustelussa tarkastellaan asiakaskokemusta ja sen taustalla olevia ratkaisuja. Keskustelussa pohditaan muun muassa, miten logistiikkaa ja päivittäistä toimintaa kehitetään, miten dataa ja tekoälyä hyödynnetään sekä mitä kansainvälistyminen vaatii ja milloin se kannattaa.
Speakers:
Heikki Peura, Associate Professor, Aalto University
Nina Anttila, toimitusketjujohtaja, Tokmanni
Panu Porkka, toimitusjohtaja, Verkkokauppa.com
Noora Tirkkonen, toimitusjohtaja, Finnish Design Shop
Department: Information and Service Management
Language: Finnish
17:45 Break + moving to the closing session of the day program
U lobby, Undergraduate Center
18:00 Greetings from the School of Business and the announcement of the Alum of the Year
U2 hall, Undergraduate Center
This session will be held in Finnish, but we will provide simultaneous interpretation into English for those who need it.
18:30 Day program ends, moving to the evening program at Ekonominaukio
Evening program is organized in the School of Busines building, address Ekonominaukio 1.
18:45 onwards: Buffet dinner, music and mingling
Ground floor lobby, Ekonominaukio 1
Buffet dinner is served in the ground floor lobby in the School of Business building. Later in the evening, Boston Promenade Big Band takes the stage!
Table reservations for an additional fee
The event includes a standing buffet dinner. If you wish, you can reserve a table for your group for dinner at the School of Business restaurant Arvo for an additional fee. The number of tables is limited and reservations are confirmed on a first-come, first-served basis. You can reserve a table via the link in the invitation or inquire about available tables at: homecomingday-biz@aalto.fi
- Table for 6: €90 (incl. 1 bottle of sparkling wine)
- Table for 12: €160 (incl. 2 bottles of sparkling wine)
23:00 Event ends
Homecoming Day 2027
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