New Innovation Cluster Aims to Make Finland a World Leader in AI Adoption

Global competition in AI adoption is intensifying at a rapid pace. RAIDE's ambition is for Finland to become a world leader in applied AI by 2030, through real-world deployment, cross-sector collaboration and rapid scaling.

The founding partners of the innovation cluster are Wärtsilä, Danfoss, Kempower, Bittium, and the wellbeing services counties of Pirkanmaa and Ostrobothnia. RAIDE serves as a platform for collaboration between companies and public organisations that invest heavily in research and development.

Business Finland has granted €500,000 in funding to support the cluster's early-stage operations.

"Finland's AI research and infrastructure are at a strong international level, and the field is developing at a good pace. But this momentum must also translate into business. AI is reshaping industry dynamics in ways that require ambition to scale — from individual experts to entire ecosystems. Finland's competitiveness won't improve through efficiency gains alone or simply adopting new tools. It's about the ability to renew ourselves in a consistent way," said Lassi Noponen, Director General of Business Finland.

Demola Global will act as the builder of the RAIDE cluster, drawing on facilitation expertise developed through its international network.

"Our goal is to build a new operating model that connects AI quickly to value — in services, products, and the transformation of workflows. The involvement of some of Finland's largest export companies signals a genuine willingness to actively invest in discovering new things and building the solutions of the future," said Janne Eskola, VP and RAIDE Lead, Demola Global.

The core idea behind RAIDE is to make innovation development systematic. Needs identified by companies across different sectors — along with the opportunities they have at their disposal — are rapidly shaped into concrete project briefs and problem statements. These are then developed collaboratively and tested through university project courses, master's thesis projects, and opened up to startups for piloting. The result: data-driven services, improved productivity, and new product and service concepts across both the private and public sectors.

"RAIDE complements Wärtsilä's own RDI work. We make progress when new ideas without boundaries collide with established knowledge and experience in an open, collaborative and solution oriented atmosphere. The results of co-creation benefit everyone involved," said Håkan Agnevall, CEO of Wärtsilä.

RAIDE aims to drive three main shifts in Finland's culture of co-creation:

• Stronger cross-sector collaboration: high-quality input into product development — new concepts, building blocks for solutions, and joint R&D initiatives.
• A new generation of top talent: university talent is challenged with ambitious projects and close collaboration with leading companies.
• Growth of the startup ecosystem: high-growth companies gain development resources, market access and opportunities to scale.

The innovation cluster will be officially launched on 26 May at Business Finland's GenAI Forum event in Helsinki.