AI in Helsinki: Big Tech, Bold Ideas, and a Reminder of Our Nordic Edge

Earlier this month, we joined the buzz at the Microsoft AI Tour in Helsinki together with my colleague and co-founder Henri PeltomÀki.
Finlandia Hall was packedâthink developers, strategists, tech geeks, and curious minds. Microsoft pulled out all the stops: keynote talks, hands-on sessions, and even an AI partner showcase area that felt more like a startup fair than a suit-and-tie expo.
Hereâs the thing though: while the energy was high and the demos looked slick, most of what we saw was still in experimental territory.
1. Copilot Everywhere⊠But Mostly as a Chatbot
A lot of companies are trying out Microsoft Copilotârolling it out to their workforces, testing it in documents, emails, code. Itâs exciting, but also very surface-level. Many of the âuse casesâ presented were essentially Copilot being used as a smarter chatbot. Cool? Sure. Transformative? Not quite yet.
The big gap? Business-critical implementations. We didnât see many examples of AI deeply embedded into core workflows, decision systems, or new value-creating processes. The promise is thereâbut delivery is still early days.
2. The Nordics Are Still Behind
A recent BCG study confirms the vibe: while Nordic companies are digitally mature, weâre still lagging in actual GenAI adoption compared to the U.S., UK, and parts of Asia. Weâre cautious, risk-aware, consensus-drivenâgreat traits for long-term resilience, but theyâre slowing us down when speed matters.
If we want to lead responsibly, we first have to show up with working, scaled use casesânot just prototypes and pilot fatigue.
3. Nordic Values Could (Still) Lead
Finland showed up strong at the event. And culturally, we have what it takes to build AI rightâethics, trust, transparency, fairness. But unless we start implementing this tech meaningfully across our businesses, weâll stay in the audience instead of on the stage.
Itâs time to stop admiring the tools and start building with them.
Quick Hits from the Event
- đ€ Keynotes: Inspiring talks from Microsoft and Finnish companies, mostly focused on AI in employee productivity.
- đ§ Tracks: Business acceleration, building with AI, and diving deeper into Copilots.
- đ€ Partner Experience Area: Lots of clever demos. Most were early-stage experiments.
- â Networking: Refreshingly honest. Lots of âweâre still figuring it out tooâ conversations.
At Elexive, weâre not interested in shiny objectsâwe care about useful transformation. GenAI is powerful, but itâs only valuable if it actually makes your business better.
So hereâs the real question:
Are you just rolling out Copilotâor are you redesigning how your business works?
If youâre wrestling with that, we should talk. No hype. Just real momentum.