From ideas to business – highlights from IoT & AI Business Development Day 2026
IoT & AI Business Development Day brought together business leaders, technology experts and digitalisation professionals at Sokos Hotel Torni in Tampere on 22 September 2026.
Throughout the day, speakers and participants explored one central question: what does tangible and profitable business around IoT and AI look like in practice? The programme combined international perspectives, real-world business cases, live demonstrations and discussions on how companies can turn data, connectivity and AI into new services and smarter operations.
Building competitiveness through new services
The day was opened by IoT-TICKET’s Kimmo Karimäki and Jukka Niemi, setting the stage for a programme focused not only on technology, but on the business transformation it can enable.
Reijo Smolander, ICT Industry Head at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, approached the topic from the perspective of international competitiveness. His keynote focused on how innovative services can help Finnish companies create more value for customers and strengthen their position in international markets.
From engineered systems to connected services
Adahm Faehn from Applied Fluid Power brought a perspective from the United States, showing how IoT and AI are becoming part of the next generation of engineered solutions.
His presentation highlighted the opportunities created when traditional machinery and systems are complemented by sensing, connectivity and intelligent use of data — opening the door to new functionality and new forms of customer value.
Innovating in the age of AI
One of the day’s broader discussions came in the panel “Innovating in the age of AI”, bringing together perspectives from Telia, Applied Fluid Power, Schaeffler and Business Tampere.
The discussion looked beyond individual technologies towards the practical realities of innovation: where AI can already create value, how organisations can move from experimentation towards implementation, and what companies need in order to keep pace with rapid technological change.
IoT-TICKET and Telia – from connectivity to actionable data
IoT-TICKET and Telia demonstrated how AI agents can assist in building IoT dashboards. The live showcase from Jaakko-Juhani Jääskö, IoT-TICKET (on the left) and Mikko Kyllönen, Telia, illustrated a more intuitive way to turn user needs and industrial data into useful visualisations — reducing the amount of manual configuration required.
Reimagining the tyre through data and connectivity
After lunch, Matthew Crocker from Nokian Tyres explored how even a highly established physical product can evolve through digitalisation.
His presentation, “Reimagining the tyre: Data, Connectivity and New Business Models”, demonstrated how IoT technologies can extend the role of the tyre beyond the physical product itself — creating new information, services and business opportunities around heavy machinery.
Christian Gummerus from SARA Center took the audience north to the demanding arctic operating environments of Finnish Lapland, asking: What’s your -35°C?
His case demonstrated how IoT and data can support autonomous and robotic systems in conditions where reliable information and operational awareness are particularly critical. SARA Center provides an environment for testing drones, robotics and autonomous technologies in genuine arctic conditions.
From connectivity to intelligent operations
Björn Hansen from Telia Sweden closed the keynote programme by looking at the next era of IoT.
As connectivity becomes increasingly embedded into industrial operations, the focus is moving towards how connected assets, data and AI can work together to enable more intelligent operations and new business value.
IoT-TICKET in action
The presentations were complemented throughout the day by live IoT-TICKET demonstrations and business showcases.
Valentina Rubio-Ruíz showcasing geofencing and reporting features of IoT-TICKET.
Participants were able to see practical examples from IoT-TICKET, Telia, Schaeffler and Epec, while live demonstrations showed how the platform can be used to work with data, dashboards, geofencing and reporting in practice.
IoT-TICKET’s Markus Mäkelä and Valentina Rubio-Ruíz showcased an extensive fleet management example.
The historic locomotive hall of the Paja Congress Center provided an impressive setting for the event.
A big thank you once again to everyone who participated in the event!
