AI does not automatically bring a competitive advantage – this is how management must act 

Artificial intelligence is part of everyday life, but its impact on companies’ competitiveness is not a given. Karoliina Partanen, director of AI Finland, and Tommi Raivisto, Chief Digital Officer of Alma Media, remind in Alma’s video podcast about sustainable growth that technology itself does not make a company a winner; rather, it is the ability to transform data and artificial intelligence into practical customer benefits. If management does not make this choice, the benefits remain fragmented and no competitive advantage is created. 

Data must be productized 

Many companies have data, but often it is scattered and does not form a business. Karoliina Partanen’s description is simple: data is an opportunity for recurring value. It is management’s task to appoint an owner for the data, select pilots, and measure how data transforms into customer experience. 

“The best companies are now succeeding in converting data into new services and even different monthly subscription models that bring continuous revenue streams,” says Partanen, giving a practical example of the Finnish company Oura, which moved from a one-time sales product to a data-driven monthly service that binds the user to the service and produces predictable revenue. 

Choose growth, not just efficiency 

Artificial intelligence can bring efficiency to companies, but real value creation arises from the customer’s productivity. Management should measure and reward exactly that. 

Raivisto and Partanen see that the metrics for action should be numbers that reflect the benefit received by the customer: time saved by the customer, the lifetime value of the service, or the conversion and retention rates of a new service. This way, investments are turned into long-term value creation, not isolated cost-saving projects. 

Raivisto reminds that artificial intelligence is not a magic trick: “Artificial intelligence has brought numerous good tools to companies. I see AI as an enhancer or multiplier.” 

This means a practical requirement list for companies: high-quality data, functional digital infrastructure, and the ability to conduct repeated, production-level experiments. Weak data management practices easily lead to errors and wrong conclusions. 

The discussion also highlights that success does not necessarily require a massive proprietary data reserve. Partanen points out: “Data does not necessarily have to be owned. Many startups, for example, utilize public data and by analyzing and interpreting it in new ways, have implemented their own solutions excellently.” 

A company can, for example, start by seeking partnerships, utilizing various ecosystems while focusing on where the company has unique industry expertise. Partners and interfaces can accelerate commercialization and reduce risks arising from initial investments. 

Management decides – strategy, resources, and culture are needed 

Generative artificial intelligence tools are widely used in Finland, but Partanen and Raivisto see that investments and strategic direction do not always align. 

The discussion emphasizes that without clear choices from management, the era of artificial intelligence easily remains just a series of individual projects. Clear priorities must be made, investments must be focused on data and infrastructure, and old operating models must be courageously abandoned. 

The era of artificial intelligence does not eliminate competition, but its logic changes. The key is not the technology itself, but whether management makes a strategic choice: to productize data, direct investments to customer productivity, build the necessary infrastructure and experimental culture, and utilize partnerships. For those companies that dare to do this, artificial intelligence acts as a multiplier. 

This article is a summary of the first episode of Alma Media’s Sustainable Growth Accelerator video podcast. The topic of how AI is changing competition and who will win in the new era is discussed in a total of three different discussions with AI Finland CEO Karoliina Partanen and Alma Media’s Chief Digital Officer Tommi Raivisto. Watch all episodes (in Finnish) 

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