Old tricks for new times: how to create the next generation of AI innovations

Artificial intelligence offers a vast amount of opportunities, but ideas do not arise by themselves, and prototypes do not yet mean business. In the third episode of Alma Media’s sustainable growth video podcast, Alma Media’s Chief Digital Officer Tommi Raivisto and AI Finland’s director Karoliina Partanen discuss how companies can generate AI innovations and who directs the development. The core message is simple: management can create the framework in which ideas turn into marketable products and services.

Dig up innovation workshops for reuse

Partanen urges a return to old, effective innovation management practices.

“Now is the time to dig out those old innovation management processes and practices from the mothballs. Artificial intelligence again opens a wide field of new product and service ideas that should be systematically collected from employees, customers, and the supply chain.”

Raivisto also highlights the diversity of technology: alongside generative AI, there is machine vision, predictive analytics, and natural language processing in use. This requires multi-skilled professionals and processes capable of assessing which ideas are technically and commercially feasible.

Raivisto emphasizes that artificial intelligence is not only an end product but can be used in the innovation process itself.

“We can utilize AI to generate ideas, enrich and analyze them, map market needs, and implement them. With AI, we can very agilely create various first versions, fully functional PoC experiments (proof of concept), and minimum viable products,” he summarizes. This allows ideas to be tested quickly and cost-effectively before scaling.

Intrapreneurship and external collaborations as opportunities

The discussion in the episode brings up intrapreneurship: a large company should enable its own internal startups or separate experimental units that can develop entirely new businesses more cheaply and quickly. Raivisto reminds that an established company often has exactly the resources – money, data, and market understanding – needed to build new scalable business.

Partanen underlines the importance of collaboration: not all ideas need to be developed internally, and for example, startup cooperation can be an effective way to bring new solutions to the market. AI Finland actively seeks good match partners for companies to accelerate commercialization without large initial investments.

The importance of data and infrastructure

Both discussants emphasize that AI innovations require a functioning data infrastructure: if data is scattered or of poor quality, ideas will not turn into reliable services. Raivisto sums up the role of infrastructure: when digital infrastructure is in place and data is high-quality and available, taking an idea into production and to the market is much easier.

Innovations are not created solely by technical expertise but by management that builds processes for ideation, refinement, and commercialization. Management can influence concretely: by appointing responsible persons, allocating resources to pilot programs, enabling intrapreneurship, and collaborating with the startup ecosystem. Without this systematic approach, many potential AI ideas remain unused – and competitive advantage is gained by those who know how to turn ideas into functioning business.

This article is a summary of the third 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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