University Business Forum 2025 brought together 200 people!

UBF2025 — what an incredible day bringing together 200 people: researchers, business leaders, companies, organizations, and students!

As the topic of the day, AI became the lens through which we re-examined how universities, companies and individuals transform.

Petteri Alahuhta opened the forum and set the tone for the day: AI is not replacing human capability but enhancing it. AI is a tool for transformation only when guided by human values, responsibility, and collaboration.

From Professors Jukka Riekki and Sasu Tarkoma, we discovered how Finland’s AI future will be built locally, combining world-class research with regional collaboration and applied innovation. CGI’s John Bailey highlighted that AI maturity is not about technology but about people. The real pace of change is set by how fast we learn and adapt. Heidi Kananen from Valve Branding emphasized that successful workflow transformation requires addressing the human element: people’s fears, concerns, and career aspirations.

Thematic sessions turned insight into action. Advancing AI-powered infrastructure platforms for medical data and biomedical discovery session showed how Oulu Medical Data Infrastructure and BioParts are creating the foundations for next-generation health data processing and AI-driven discovery. Human–AI Interaction for Hybrid Intelligence explored how humans and AI can augment one another, merging physical and virtual realities. From Campus to Commerce: Research to Revenue highlighted that research reaches its full potential only when it extends beyond academia. From Proof-of-Concept projects to spin-offs, participants shared how university innovations are finding real-world impact through commercialization.

And beyond these examples, all the sessions inspired new ways of thinking!

A warm thank you to all speakers and participants for sharing your ideas, stories, and curiosity. We’ll share more about the event soon on our blog — stay tuned!

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