Jani Valkonen Email & Phone Number

Helsinki, Fi

I have been involved in founding, growing, and acquiring businesses. Most recently, I exited from Ainia Solutions Oy, where I served as the CEO for the past few years (see below for Ainia & Materna). Nowadays, I'm back to working as an entrepreneur, this time on my own, focusing on my original professional expertise.For the past 20 years, I have professionally translated IT into business. This means I can translate business needs into technical requirements and technical features into customer benefits. My particular expertise lies in solutions and projects that improve service processes. I can speak volumes about them, as I have, for example, been responsible for service management in a large corporation alongside IT management. ITSM, ESM, CMDB, proper data ownership, utilization, and sharing, as well as automations, portals, etc., are among my specialties. The more complex the challenge, the more likely it is to pique my interest.Open to board positions in full and adviser roles.

Helsinki, Fi

Co-Founder / Business Strategist to my dear friend Lauri as the main founder and skill behind Blo Creative Agency.

Työelämästä -podcast is something we've done initially with Tomi Verkkoperä and later with Heidi Pitula.We delve into the topics and phenomena discussed in the modern workplace, together with a guest relevant to each respective subject area. These discussions on various topics are further segmented into separate episodes to ensure the listening experience is as seamless as possible, allowing listeners to derive the maximum benefit from them.

Helsinki, Fi

See the Materna part below for a baseline.Ainia Innovations Oy was found back in 2008, with a strong ideology about Service Management and its improvement. The first years were very educational; the company grew, and we learned a lot - often the hard way. Changes in the market required us to reflect on Ainia's direction, including its ownership. These were tough but necessary times for our growth.In 2018, our first milestone anniversary, one of the most significant steps in Ainia's history took place. We purchased the Finnish subsidiary of the Materna group to become a subsidiary of Ainia Innovations. After the purchase, Ainia was briefly a conglomerate with different operations in two companies. However, by the beginning of 2021, all business activities were centralized in the subsidiary, which was renamed Ainia Solutions Oy. Essentially, many of us former Delphi employees returned to the employer where my own career had started.The last six years (2018-2024) were been internally described as a period of transformation. We had done a lot more systematically; from clearly distinguishing different roles, to the genuine function of the board and management team. The underlying goal has been to create a sensible and correct foundation for growth. Janne Ikola joined us as an external chairman of the board. He became an important work partner for me and later one of the owners. I have had the opportunity to serve as Ainia's CEO during this transformational period and to put these different pieces into place. It had definitely been fun but at times quite challenging, especially in terms of managing my own time. In recent years, I had been essentially working two jobs, as I continued consulting work alongside my CEO responsibilities.Ainia Solutions Oy (originally Delphi Oy and after that Materna Information & Communications Oy) was sold for the fourth time. ACE Group took over Ainia's operations. Ainia Innovations was later renamed as 4xj Holdings Oy.

Board member in WeAre Solutions Oy. WeAre was just starting the actual board function with members outside the ownership/d2d leading circle. It was interesting experience altogether as the whole COVID stuff happened during this stint.

Helsinki, Fi

Board member in Arantio, planning the lifecycle and next steps for the company.

Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia, De

I started my career at the turn of the millennium at a small Espoo-based company called Delphi Oy. In the first few years, the company grew and was sold twice. In the latter transaction, it became part of the Finnish subsidiary of the German Materna group (Materna Information & Communications Oy).All these years were basically quite hectic as the Service Management and need for Service Management solutions were increasing rapidly. I had the privilege of designing and implementing a variety of different solutions to companies from private sector to government bodies. As of today (2024), I'm still working with one of them. 25 years and counting.Together with a couple of my friends, we founded Ainia Innovations Oy in 2008. The planned direction was a bit different, but the Service Management skillset and knowledge was a part of our core. In 2018, our first milestone anniversary, one of the most significant steps in Ainia's history took place. We purchased the Finnish subsidiary of the Materna group to become a subsidiary of Ainia Innovations. After the purchase, Ainia was briefly a conglomerate with different operations in two companies. However, by the beginning of 2021, all business activities were centralized in the subsidiary, which was renamed Ainia Solutions Oy. Essentially, many of us former Delphi employees returned to the employer where my own career had started.