FutureTech Oulu
FutureTech Oulu
Event Details
Date: October 8th, 2026
Location: Tullisali Event Center, Oulu
Time: 8.00 – 13.30
FutureTech Oulu 2026 – New Era of Creativity
BusinessOulu invites you to FutureTech Oulu 2026, one of this autumn’s biggest tech events in Oulu, bringing together professionals, researchers, entrepreneurs and members of the tech ecosystem.
Future Tech Oulu 2026 explores future technologies and emerging trends, with a special focus on how technological development is shaping creativity, innovation and new ways of thinking. The event highlights the role of technology not only as a tool, but as a creative partner in the new era of creativity.
Join us for a morning of insightful keynotes, knowledge-sharing and meaningful networking. Whether you work in industry, research, startups or the public sector, FutureTech Oulu 2026 offers a platform to connect, learn and be inspired by real-world applications and future possibilities.
Rooted in Oulu’s strong technology ecosystem, the event showcases the region’s core strengths, including artificial intelligence and defence innovation. The event brings together research, business and practical applications in one shared environment.
The program will feature keynote speeches from nationally recognized experts and leading industry voices. A more detailed program will be published closer to the event.
The event is free of charge and will be held in English.
Are we shaping technology, or is technology shaping how we create, think and decide?
Event theme
The theme of FutureTech Oulu 2026 explores the evolving relationship between creativity and technology in an era where machines are no longer just tools, but active participants in the creative process.
As artificial intelligence increasingly supports and challenges human imagination, it raises an important question: are we shaping technology, or is technology shaping how we create, think and decide? FutureTech Oulu 2026 invites participants to reflect on how creativity is changing when humans and intelligent systems work side by side.
Discussions will address human-machine co-creation, the role of artificial intelligence in generating knowledge and ideas, and the ethical boundaries of creative autonomy. The program also highlights dual-use technologies and cyber security, examining how innovation can serve both civil and strategic purposes in a rapidly changing world.
Why attend?
Future Tech Oulu 2026 is for anyone who wants to understand where technology, creativity and decision-making are heading next.
The event offers inspiring perspectives on artificial intelligence and emerging technologies, practical insights from experts, and a chance to connect with people shaping the future across industry, research and the public sector. Whether you are building solutions, guiding strategy or questioning how technology influences creativity and society, FutureTech Oulu 2026 gives you the ideas and connections to move forward.
Premilinary agenda
08:00 Registration & Breakfast
08:45 Opening words, Juha Ala-Mursula
CreaTech: Where Technology Meets Imagination
08:50 VISIO: Experiencing the Future of Immersive Discovery”, Maria Gullsten (Oulu Museum and Science Centre)
09:05 Creative Intelligence: The New Engine of Future Business, Jonna Häkkilä (University of Lapland)
09:25 From Idea to Experience: The Making of OP’s Future Demo, Päivi Järvenpää (OP)
09:40 From Prompt to Premiere: Building a Music Video with AI, Jani Kaipainen (VRKiwi)
09:55 Break
10:10 Keynote: TBA
10:40 Heidi Kananen, Valve One: Commercial Clarity in the Age of AI
11:00 Panel: Co-created with Machine: Jussi Leponiemi, Panelists: Anna Suorsa (University of Oulu, Humanities), Marko Jaanu (Siili Solutions), Jesse Lumme (Smilee)
11:30 Lunch break (Self-paid)
12:30 Reidar Wasenius: AI and Creativity: What’s Real — and What Only Looks Creative?
12:50 Keynote: TBA
13:10 Keynote: TBA
13:20 Antti Tikanmäki, Probot: Day Wrap-Up
Join us and explore the new era of creativity.
Speakers
Maria Gullsten
Maria Gullsten works as a curator in the upcoming immersive VISIO space at the Tiima Museum and Science Centre in Oulu. She has a background in film, media art, advertising, and spatial audiovisual experiences. Gullsten has created several award-winning works drawing on Northern narratives — an area she considers her particular expertise. In VISIO, she curates the programme and develops a Northern immersive space where the region’s stories and phenomena are seen and heard, in close collaboration with local artists and creative professionals.
Jonna Häkkilä
Jonna Häkkilä is professor for Industrial Design, and the leader of the LUX research group and the University of Lapland’s Design & Services research community. She conducts her research at the cross-section of design and technology, where she has published over 150 peer-reviewed scientific papers. Her research applies design fictions and research through design approaches.
Päivi Järvenpää
Päivi Järvenpää is a Communications and Culture Lead at OP Pohjola, working at the intersection of innovation, technology, and human experience. With 10+ years in innovation, she is passionate about designing cultures and concepts that invite people to think, feel, and act differently. Through her work, she blends strategy, art and experience design to bring ideas to life. Päivi plays a key role in building OP Pohjola’s innovation and experimentation culture and accelerating early-stage ideas into concrete impact. She is also the driving force behind OP Future Demo, an interactive concept exploring future everyday life through immersive storytelling. Her mission is to empower people and organizations to actively create a more meaningful and human future.
Jani Kaipainen
Jani is a Creative & Technology Entrepreneur, and musician who has been playing out with the different AI models to produce music videos combining different genres. Jani is here to showcase how much can be achieved in less than 15 minutes working with the right workflows, experience and vision. If you have just 15 minutes and a dream of producing a music video during that time. Using 3 different AI’s in the process? Is this really achievable and what is the production value and the quality? Do you have any idea what to expect? Meet Jani from VRKiwi — where ideas come to life.
Anna Suorsa
Anna Suorsa from University of Oulu has focused in her research on the creation of new knowledge, ideation and collaborative practices in working life. In her approach, she pays attention to interaction processes between people and technologies, situations of working together and alone, longer knowledge processes, and the structures that promote or hinder the creation of new ideas in organizations. Her key perspective is the examination of sustainable, meaningful, and well-being-promoting work from the viewpoints of creativity and play.
Marko Jaanu
Marko Jaanu works at Siili Solutions Oyj as a Head of Technology and Advisor. He has worked with software development, architecture, test automation, quality and product management themes for over 25 years consulting various Finnish companies, in various roles.
In Siili, Marko has a responsibility on technology strategy and vision, offerings, competence development and technology community activities. He drives the AI-powered software development excellency for Siili in the areas of modernization, software factory, open source, security and architecture.
Marko has been honored with several excellence awards during his career from project and service delivery as well as consultancy excellence.
Jesse Lumme
Jesse Lumme is the CTO of Smilee Oy, where he leads the development of next-generation AI agents and RAG-based chatbots. As an expert in practical AI implementation and modern software architecture, Jesse builds the systems that make human-machine co-creation a reality in everyday business operations.
Heidi Kananen
Heidi Kananen (MSc Econ, MSc Soc Sci) is the CEO of Valve One and a doctoral researcher at the University of Oulu Business School. Her research explores how strategic management changes as decision speed, information volume, and analytical capability increase. Combining executive leadership, commercial business experience, and academic research, she helps organizations understand the strategic implications of AI, data, and organizational transformation.
Reidar Wasenius
Reidar Wasenius combines science, business and creativity in unique ways. As an AI researcher and student at Aalto University, his focus is on developing memetic AI — the next paradigm after generative AI. As a business developer, he has been part of the startup ecosystem from the very beginning. Reidar is an advisor or board member in several startups, and actively coaches founders in incubators and accelerators. He has headed the Helsinki chapter of the Founder Institute, the world’s largest early-stage startup accelerator and been the Managing Director of FiBAN, the Finnish Business Angels Network.
More speakers to be announced soon
Oulu Chamber of Commerce Oktoberfest
You can continue networking at the Chamber of Commerce’s Oktoberfest event.
Register for the event by September 24th!
Event organizer
FutureTech Oulu Event Partners
