Communication and coding
11 | 2023 Sanna Valkeejärvi & Aki Smolander, Senior Software Developer
Kipinä's Aki Smolander has been in the IT industry since 2006, spanning 17 years. Having been with Kipinä for just over a year, he is a highly experienced professional. "Working on a wide variety of projects for clients across different industries keeps things interesting," Aki says, explaining why he enjoys the field.
By his own account, Aki has done a bit of everything in the industry—a true jack-of-all-trades. But that might be a touch of modesty, considering he has spent 17 years coding, web developing, working with data, and mastering artificial intelligence and its applications. Rather, he is a seasoned expert in the digital world. Aki has worked on integrations, front-end and back-end development, data projects, cloud, and on-premises implementations. While he has mostly worked in consultancy firms, his experience is further enriched by a stint at a product company.
How has the industry changed over 17 years, according to Aki's experience?
"When I started in the industry, all projects involved software running in server rooms and desktop applications. Today, cloud platforms are integrated into almost every project in one way or another."
"It's typical for the industry to constantly hype the next big thing, whether it's cloud computing, outsourcing, data, or the current AI boom. Cloud platforms fundamentally transformed the industry. Nowadays, provisioning project infrastructure from scratch and deploying new software is significantly faster than it used to be. Cloud platforms also laid the foundation for the data boom by making highly affordable and scalable storage universally available. Meanwhile, artificial intelligence is already transforming the industry by boosting developer productivity through various assistive tools, such as Copilot and ChatGPT. Of course, these tools are not going to replace programmers, neither now nor in the future."
According to Aki, the challenges clients need to solve and the nature of client work remain fairly consistent.
"Communication with customers has to be at a really good level. It's up to us experts to make customers understand what we're doing and how we're helping the customer, when there's rarely anything concrete to touch and see when you go to create something new and improve digital services. Fluent communication is one of the cornerstones of the way Kipinä's experts operate in their senior tech leadership role."
"Communication must be of a very high standard, both with clients and with colleagues."
How is artificial intelligence used correctly?
"Communication with artificial intelligence is important, much like with clients and in all human relationships. One must remain critical of the responses received from AI; good communication helps elicit better answers."
"For us in Kipinä, AI is one tool among others. A large part of us use it, if not daily, then weekly to help us code. But even though AI does some of the coding, still, all the tacit knowledge gained through experience, and of course the communication, plays a big role in our work. When working with AI, remember that the answers it provides should not be taken as the straight truth, sometimes it provides some pretty shit too. AI helps us as developers a lot, not to mention the opportunities it opens up for what we do for customers and their business as part of other developments."
"Data is a double-edged sword"
Data is continuously collected, and both individuals and enterprises could benefit significantly from using it intelligently.
"As an individual, I would prefer that no data be collected on me," Aki says with a smile, continuing:
"However, data is constantly being gathered and stored. Storage capacity is vastly different today than it used to be, and the cost of that storage is low. Analyzing the data is what actually costs, and that is where one should invest. The key is learning to leverage data for purposes beyond mere advertising, and even then, doing so more sensibly. For instance, e-commerce purchase history is readily available, but its utilization in customer service still lags behind." In Aki's work, data is one of the established foundational tools.
Problem Solver Smolander
Aki views himself as a problem solver for clients. According to him, his work features a gratifying variety of distinct, non-repetitive challenges to tackle.
"Actually, there isn't any single preferred problem that I'm eager to solve. Any problem where solving it helps the client is rewarding work. However, my core expertise naturally lies in various integrations, data pipelines, and cloud infrastructure. I am a versatile professional capable of handling almost anything." Quite a superpower to have.
In Kipinä, decisions are made together and communication is open.
On Kipinä, Partnership, and Customer Experience
Aki has now spent more than a year in Kipinä. And he's really enjoyed it.
"We have a close-knit community. I like the fact that Kipinä is a small enough company that everyone knows each other. I also like the fact that decisions are genuinely made together, even if it can sometimes take more time."
In Aki's view, a community of experienced professionals and a robust ecosystem ultimately benefit the clients.
"Kipinä partnership model and the whole ecosystem approach is a winning choice for the sector. We have motivated experts and little if any turnover because everyone is a part owner. Well-motivated and committed people shine better for the client and work wonders."