Marketing and Sales

Muurinen specialises in practical solutions that combine digital marketing and artificial intelligence tools into an effective part of everyday business. She brings to her trainings clear, expert, and easy-to-digest content that helps people understand the possibilities and limitations of AI without unnecessary technical jargon.

In addition, he lectures on managing and executing sales in an entrepreneurial business-to-business selling environment in the EPFL (École Polytechnique Fédérale à Lausanne) Executive MBA and Master of Technology program.

Previously, he ran the international expansion of WRQ, the American software company, and settled in the Netherlands to establish the European headquarters. He set up companies in the UK, France, Germany, Sweden, Dubai, and Singapore, building a business with a turnover of more than $100 million using a combination of direct key account sales and channel-based sales and fulfillment.

Gopal’s teaching focuses on the presentation and implementation of pragmatic concepts, tools, and methods rather than a purely academic approach. As a business leader and consultant, he aims to ensure that the objectives of a project or mandate are achieved – measuring action and accomplishments rather than the volume of paper generated. In his workshops, his goal is not to teach, but to help participants learn.

“My experience is that true world-class negotiators are the ones who take the time to prepare in a structured way, execute in a disciplined way, and always review their performance so that they continually improve. Because of this, they consistently create better outcomes.” - Gopal RajGuru

Kniivilä has worked as a lecturer and communications trainer in universities, companies and public administrations for more than 20 years.

Kniivilä's work with companies has focused in particular on coaching in interaction and communication, service communication and customer communication development. Kniivilä is interested in personal encounters and service quality thinking in coaching companies. Giving and receiving personal feedback are emphasised in the interaction and communication exercises guided by Kniivilä.

Kniivilä has followed the development of management and customer communication as a teacher at Aalto University for a long time. She is currently working on a doctoral thesis on dealing with challenging customer situations. In his coaching, he emphasises partnership and meeting the customer as an individual. In Kniivilä's experience, the importance of customisation and personalisation is growing, mass customisation is no longer enough.

He is actively involved in Finland’s entrepreneurial ecosystem as a startup coach and Lean Launchpad® trainer, and helps organizations understand and execute Lean Startup methodologies and customer development.

Sepúlveda has more than 20 years of experience in engineering, management consulting and investment banking at companies such as Lucent Technologies, A.T. Kearney, and J.P. Morgan.

He teaches at Aalto University Executive Education and Venture Formation and other courses at the Aalto Ventures Program. He cofounded eyescubed, a startup in automotive technology, and also cofounded Courage Ventures Advisory, which provides entrepreneurship training and development to leading private and public organizations. He is also a cofounding Partner of Courage Ventures Management, a fund investing in health & wellness, education, and environment verticals.

Sepúlveda has a PhD in International Business (Entrepreneurship) from Aalto University, an MBA in Finance and Financial Management Services from Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (Netherlands) and a BSc in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from North Carolina State University (USA).

He specializes in the measurability, impact, and accountability of marketing. This comprises advanced analytics, effective KPI frameworks, data & digital transformation, investment optimization, and the role of creative and media in marketing performance.

With over 20 years of practical experience in data-driven marketing and digital communications, Dr. Vassinen has carried out hundreds of strategy and development client cases in both technology and business roles, supplemented by extensive executive and specialist training experience.

Most recently, he’s served as Director and Head of Marketing Science at Omnicom Media Group (Helsinki), one of the world’s largest media agency networks (NYSE:OMG), and as Data & Media Director at Perfect Fools (Stockholm), an award-winning boutique creative agency. Currently, he is a partner at Zeal Sourcing, a regional consultancy specialized in sourcing external marketing and IT services for enterprise clients. He is a former startup entrepreneur and co-author of a best-selling strategic marketing textbook.

As Professor of Practice at Aalto's Department of Marketing, Dr. Vassinen’s current research topics are (1) the value for consumers and advertisers of privacy in digital services and (2) novel decision tools for managing marketing investment portfolios.

Vassinen holds a doctorate in marketing from Aalto University School of Business and a master's in industrial engineering and management from Aalto University School of Science.

Dr. Laukkanen specializes in customer experience management, service design and service business, strategic marketing, business model innovation, and innovation management.

He has an extensive background in consulting and research projects with large international firms and is a well-liked lecturer and sought-after public speaker. He has pioneered a number of experiential teaching methods in his executive and university teaching.

Mikko Laukkanen has a Doctor of Science in Economics and Business Administration from Aalto University School of Business.

Hairedin has proven track record of successful turnarounds and growing businesses exponentially, both greenfield and M&A. She has been part of founding Fonecta and worked as one of the pioneers in setting up data-driven businesses. She has held several global senior management positions at Nokia. Her last corporate position was as the Finnish CEO of marketing agency giant Dentsu before moving into board work and entrepreneurship.

Hairedin has practical knowledge of global markets. Her business experience covers services, telecom, media, retail, sales, data&analytics, and marketing. She has specialized in digital transformation, which is all about organizational culture, as well as driving marketing to be a strategic asset for growing company value.

She is currently the co-owner and CEO of a customer-friendly IT and software development startup Frumatic Ltd. She also serves as a board executive in SOK (S Group), Örum Ltd, VR Group, Delipap Ltd and HopLop Ltd. In addition, she works as a strategy advisor, keynote speaker, and investor. Hairedin holds an M.Sc. degree from Aalto University (Helsinki School of Economics and Business Administration) and has university studies also from France, Turkey, the USA, and Sweden.

In 2002-2020 she worked as Professor of International Marketing at School of Business and Management, Lappeenranta University of Technology, Finland. In the past, she has worked as a visiting scholar at Scancor, Stanford University, US, and as a visiting professor at Loughborough University, School of Business and Economics, UK.

Professor Asikainen has received many awards and honors for her research: Her article “Measuring inter-organizational trust-a critical review of the empirical research in 1990-2003” was nominated as the Top 25 Hottest Articles in Industrial Marketing Management. Her teaching has been awarded the 'Teaching achievement' of the year 2013, by the Finnish Association of Business School Graduates (SEFE).

Sanna-Katriina Asikainen holds a Doctor of Science Technology from Lappeenranta University of Technology.

She is the founder of PORTIA, a tech company providing AI-powered solutions for SME fashion brands to streamline operations and embrace circularity.

Kristiansson also leads Desinder, a creative agency specializing in sustainable fashion that offers brand strategy and circular design solutions.

With a BFA in Fashion Design from Parsons School of Design, Kristiansson has worked with top global brands and earned multiple innovation awards. She is the founder of Apparel Entrepreneurship, an educational platform empowering sustainable apparel businesses, and is a successful author and podcaster.

Known for her dynamic speaking style, Kristiansson inspires audiences with insights on circular business models, branding, AI trends, and entrepreneurship, leaving a lasting impact.

Through his Stockholm-based consultancy, Ronnestam Creative Studio, he partners with founders, boards, and executive teams to develop future-proof strategies, brand platforms, product concepts, and creative frameworks that stand the test of time.

Through the years, he has helped shape the future of some of the world’s most iconic brands — including adidas, Seve Ballesteros, Omega, BMW, H&M, Volvo Ocean Race, IKEA, and Nike — along with many of Sweden’s strongest companies, such as Svenskt Tenn, Svedbergs, Vasakronan, SJ, Lundhags, Fagerhults Lighting, Pelle Vävare, and Kinnarps. His work spans everything from brand identities and global campaigns to digital ecosystems, retail experiences, and physical product design.

Driven by relentless curiosity, Ronnestam is known for staying ahead of the curve, particularly when it comes to how emerging technologies are transforming creativity, branding, and design. He doesn’t just follow trends; he helps define what’s next. His career is built on the belief that curiosity and bold thinking, not big budgets, create lasting impact.

An awarded designer, speaker, and serial entrepreneur, Ronnestam has founded several companies — including the global design brand BAUX, trusted by clients like Google, Microsoft, and Stella McCartney, and most recently Hitpin Golf, a challenger brand rethinking the golf ball industry with a direct-to-consumer mindset and bold creative positioning.

Reunanen has extensive expertise in customer relationship management and development, including customer and value-centric key account management, managing customer relationships as part of the company's strategy, the link between sales and customer relationships, optimising resources from a company and customer perspective, customer insight as a basis for creating customer value and strategic development of customer relationships. Dialogue with the customer is also an important part of Reunanen's training and consultancy. He has been particularly interested in how to bring new ideas to life in companies and among people.

Kalle Reunanen has implemented hundreds of different development projects to improve sales content, tools, management systems, and business models. Reunanen has led numerous strategy cycles and used agile methods to develop customer insight and sales for his clients.

Prior to his career as a coach, trainer, and consultant, Reunanen has held a wide range of positions in several international and domestic companies. He has been a business leader, developer, salesperson, and consultant for companies such as Unisys, Reuters, Banque Indosuez, Feeniks Trading, OKO, Unic, and Nixdorf.

He has extensive experience in B2B software business (ERP, WMS, MES, SCM, CRM, CxM, Marketing, BI, AI, Apps) and its transformation from project sales and delivery to the creation, sale, and delivery of SaaS and continuous services to customers. Petri has served as a country manager, sales and marketing director, in various managerial roles, as a coach, and as an entrepreneur.

Petri’s areas of expertise include developing a leader’s influence and performance management:

• Achieving results under pressure in sales and sales management (Purchase Decision Psychology, creating, developing, and maintaining Customer Relationships)
• Emotional intelligence training for sales, sales management, and business management (Communication, Leadership Emotional Intelligence, and Sales Barriers)
• Influence skills in various situations and for audiences, supporting both logical and emotional decision-making processes (Answer Intelligence AQ)
• Utilizing AI to enhance your influence as part of training, exercises, coaching, and both individual and group situation simulations using a dedicated AI solution (Answer Intelligence AQ AI)

Petri has years of experience in coaching both in Finnish and English on people management skills, emotional intelligence skills, sales skills, communication and interpersonal skills, negotiation skills, decision-making skills, influence skills, and performance and results management.

“Petri’s presentation was on a very interesting and important topic for me. Petri was able to maintain interest in the presentation not only because of the topic but also due to his consideration of the audience. Petri engaged the audience well by asking questions that made them think. It is always great to watch someone who conveys passion and expertise in the subject!”

Her coaching and training themes are leadership and management practices, efficient and effective team building, as well as building trust and confidence in the organization. In recent years Lange has also coached executive board members and management teams which have faced leadership challenges in achieving common goal.

Lange is interested in human cognition, emotions, and efficiency in workplace environment and in a professional context. In addition to leadership coaching and training, Lange also trains sales and customer relationship management skills, based on her previous experience as a consultant and sales manager. Lange makes a variety of assessments and inquiries that can be connected to team building and personal development programs.

Lange is a coach, CEO and entrepreneur at Q.motion Oy. She has over 20 years of experience in sales and leadership management, e.g.,  Aspectum Consulting, Amos Partners, Bon Stockbrokers, AON Corporation. Lange works in Finland and Baltic countries.

She has Masters from the University of Helsinki. She is a certified Business Coach by ICF and team builder, TM.

In addition to his academic career, Töytäri is the owner of Efecto Oy, where he coaches and consults companies in developing customer relationship management.

Pekka Töytäri's research and coaching expertise in the area of customer relationship management is particularly related to understanding customer value, developing customer-centric value propositions, customer-centric value proposition design process and tools, customer value concretisation and calculation, and understanding, describing, and analysing customer behaviour. In his research, Töytäri has found that systematic customer insight creates the conditions for correct customer selection, effective customer encounters, communication of tangible customer value, and co-creation of value.

Töytär holds a PhD in technology from Aalto University's School of Basic Sciences and a doctorate in value-based selling, pricing, and sales management from the Department of Production Economics.

Huhtala is an expert in business models, business design, and product and service development. His research focuses on developing artificial intelligence technologies at the interfaces of marketing and sales and both managing and measuring customer experience.

Over the past ten years, Huhtala has been involved in several large-scale research projects, e.g., the B2BAI project, which aims at B2B technological artificial breakthroughs. Previously, he has studied the evolution of business models in mature industries (especially media and telecommunications), among other things.

Huhtala is currently an academic leader in the interdisciplinary B2BAI research project. In addition to academic research, Huhtala has been the CEO of NIBS think tank (https://www.nibs.fi/) since 2018. Huhtala trains and coaches managers and experts in several of Aalto EE's open and company-tailored programs. Topics include but are not limited to, business design, service design tools, business models, and productization.

In the autumn of 2017, Huhtala defended his doctoral dissertation at the Department of Marketing at Aalto University. The research topic was "Essays on Innovation Management and Organizational Effectiveness."