Nordic Business Forum 2025: 4 lessons for the future
09 | 2025 Olli Laine, Nora Lindahl, Jari Huilla
Last week, nearly 7,500 business representatives gathered in Helsinki for the Nordic Business Forum centered around a shared theme: Moving Forward. How do companies thrive amidst continuous technological transformation and an unpredictable world and market? The sub-themes foresight, growth, and culture guided the keynote presentations from multiple perspectives.
Kipinä team was on the ground again this year, each gathering new ideas and insights to bring to cutting-edge software development. We picked three perspectives from NBF 2025 that offer new ideas for technology development from different directions.
The great wave of change is here
Megatrends such as grand societal challenges, demographic shifts, artificial intelligence, societal polarization, and the accelerating pace of disruption are permanently reshaping the business environment every day. Often, these turning points develop gradually until major disruptions finally occur. Technology makes these changes even faster and more impactful.
Competitive advantage does not stem merely from reaction, but from the ability to look ahead and build a culture where people grow alongside the business. We need the courage to stop doing yesterday's work (yesterwork) so that we can embrace the future today. Innovation strategist Peter Hinssen highlighted the great wave of change, which Risto Siilasmaa complemented through mathematical models.
“If you’re cleaning the shit of yesterday, you’ll never focus on the day after tomorrow.” – Peter Hinssen
Trust us, tomorrow the environment will change faster than today, and we are stepping ever more firmly into the never normal era. – Olli Laine, Kipinä CEO
Culture thrives in alignment with the company's purpose
Leadership was strongly present in almost all the presentations, and the emphasis on human leadership in Kipinä's values resonated with the programme. From a cultural perspective, the most compelling content was provided by Sukhinder Singh Cassidy, CEO of Xero.
Cassidy emphasized how often people mistakenly think that culture, values, and purpose are one and the same. This is not the case; rather, purpose is constant, whereas the surrounding culture must evolve to support the company's core mission. As celebrated as a “strong culture” is in many companies, it can also cast a shadow over change if it prevents forward movement toward the big-picture objective. Cassidy urges us to seek out where things are happening and to value diverse individuals – especially those who dare to challenge and shake up the culture.
Catalysts, much like the approach inherent in Kipinä's Senior Tech Leadership. Generating momentum and innovation by questioning the current culture and entrenched ways of operating.
- Nora Lindahl, Kipinä Head of Operations
Uncertainty is constant – and an opportunity for courage
A strong theme emerging from the NBF discussions was that uncertainty is not a temporary state but a permanent part of business. Fighting against it is futile – instead, what is needed is courage, empathy, and the ability to view uncertainty as an opportunity.
In leadership, a critical question is how people are treated and, in the big picture, how to get everyone pulling in the same direction. When trust is broken due to haste, cost-cutting, or actions contrary to values, a long downward spiral begins. A strong backbone is built solely on people feeling heard and treated fairly. That backbone is a mandatory foundation for collaboration and, through it, success. Too often, companies lack a clearly differentiating vision and strategy, or an understanding of the importance of collaboration in an increasingly fierce operating environment, because building them is difficult or hard to grasp. Yet, right in the middle of uncertainty, such direction is vital and demands courage. It calls for actions and examples, not just words.
At NBF, innovation strategist Peter Hinssen brought up Voltaire's insight: “Uncertainty is an uncomfortable position. Certainty is an absurd one.” When you accept uncertainty, you can approach it with curiosity – and that is when courage, reinvention, and opportunities begin to grow.
– Kari Kellokoski, Kipinä COO (edited)
At the core of development lie freedom and a sense of belonging
At Kipinä, developing our expertise is essential so that we can fulfill our client promise of senior-level professionals who act as both team coaches and top performers. Therefore, it was great to see how many of this year's speakers addressed the theme of learning. The common thread I recognized in almost all presentations was the idea that the core of humanity involves learning and growing together. Gianpiero Petriglieri encouraged us to build home-like learning cultures that combine, above all, freedom and a sense of belonging.
The question is not always “How do I make it better” but above all “How do I make it matter”.
At the same time, we must remember that we do not learn alone. As Diana Kander stated: “Never goal alone.” We need each other – new perspectives, challengers, and partners. Competence development is not merely an individual project, but a cultural process that continuously requires new people, ideas, and the courage to question the status quo.
- Jari Huilla, Kipinä CTO
Moving forward – together toward tomorrow's solutions, not yesterday's problems
As the theme for Moving Forward 2025, this felt fitting for us at Kipinä. Deep purpose, values, and mutual learning have been part of the foundation upon which Kipinä was built from the very beginning. We have always believed in transparency and in the ability to discuss even difficult topics directly and constructively. We proudly embrace the role of the 'catalyst' and the bold challenger – a stance Diana Kander also spoke about – to bring tomorrow's solutions to software development, rather than merely focusing on yesterday's problems.
Most importantly, we move toward the great wave of change together, cherishing openness, courage, and the common good. Our culture, both internally and among all our partners, is never a static structure; rather, it is living, breathing, and constantly evolving – much like us.
If you are interested in future solutions and artificial intelligence in technology development, check out our other Insights articles, for example: