“Where you feel you can make an impact”

I received my PhD from MIT. Now, having been in Finland, at Aalto University, for four years, I see the opportunity to make a mark, to really transform how artificial intelligence (AI) could impact the wider ecosystem. ELLIS Institute Finland is a step in the right direction to building this momentum.

There is a clear gap between academic publishing and research output from universities, and what is relevant for industry. There are bottlenecks in the real world that we don’t take into account in academic papers. I’m able to have a dual role and responsibility in doing cutting-edge academic research and then making it actually useful for practice, as chief scientist of my own company, YaiYai, which provides AI-powered solutions to companies and has been able to make a significant impact on the biopharma industry. There is a good mix and synergy between research and doing R&D for commercial purposes. With the ELLIS Institute, more possibilities like this will become available.

There are three promising ingredients for research in artificial intelligence and machine learning in the Finnish context, in my view. The Finnish government really views AI as a key technology. This is reflected in the Finnish Doctoral Program Network in Artificial Intelligence, which has recruited 100 students across Finland to do accelerated PhDs. The quality of applications was excellent and this means we can tap into really great talent, at both universities and companies. The government is really investing in a workforce that is proficient in AI and machine learning (ML), in growing an ecosystem; not just training students, but also reaping the benefits.

Second, credit is due to the educational system that focuses on creativity all the way from primary school. This boosts local know-how, so investments in AI can truly be taken advantage of. Even as a small country, Finland has a quality pool of people. With the infrastructure and the talent, augmented by international recruits, there is so much potential for high impact.

Third is the social perspective. Finland has a welfare society by design, and there is a tendency to include rather than grow at the expense of others. This is important when it comes to the ethical development and use of AI. A society that cares about everyone, rather than just a select few, is likely to have AI-driven solutions or products that are ethically compliant, because it’s part of the social fabric. People here ask, how could AI benefit society at large?

Two of the biggest frontiers for AI research are in healthcare, and climate and energy sustainability. The research my group does, for example in drug discovery and the design of new vaccines, requires both innovative thinking and data. Should we need more high-quality data, we can call on the amazing databases of Finnish health agencies going back to the 1970’s.

Top-notch global talents are not short of options, but they want to go where they feel they can make an impact. And the potential to push the frontiers of research, to democratize AI and work in an environment where the social and political priorities are in the right direction and contribute to a high quality of life, that is all here in Finland. And as part of the ELLIS network, there’s opportunities for mobility, research visits, and co-supervising students across countries and collaboratively with companies. All of these factors, plus the cross-disciplinary interactions with, for example, the quantum field, mean that Finland is one of the most important locations when it comes to advancing cutting-edge research.

It's been a fulfilling four years. My research gets traction, and we get visits from top institutions in the US, they are attracted by the potential here. At Aalto, I’ve been able to do top-class research in AI for climate and drugs that has been recognized at premier conferences. And then I’ve been able to leverage the fruit of that labor for the benefit of industry and the wider ecosystem. The combination has been great.