Last week, ExpertHub was at the Arctic15 Startup Conference in Helsinki. The event sparked many ideas and connected us with inspiring innovators from the Nordics and beyond. We gathered some insights to share with our community, so that you too can benefit from the event – on one hand, as we grow for you, but on the other – through the curiosities we share.

Arctic15 in 2025

Arctic15’s vision is to effectively match innovators with investors, but also to serve as a platform to discuss the current trends at the intersection of technology and business. Therefore, the 2025 edition offered diverse thematic paths to explore – dual use, startup exits, health tech, defense tech, founder’s ABC, as well as practices in utilizing AI and discourses on artificial intelligence applications.

What matters the most to us, besides the connections, is that we gained invaluable insights into the growing startup ecosystem in the region. Moreover, we got to engage in some captivating debates revolving around AI implementation in business.

What makes a good founder?

The event gathered many startups, at the beginning of their business journey and with relatively small teams. Therefore, it comes in handy that the great part was devoted to success strategies for early founders with limited resources.

Entrepreneurship was highlighted as a set of skills that can hardly be replaced by technology. While working with tech, founders still need to remember the importance of business development and communication tricks. Commercial angle and sales have been mentioned as pivotal to the company’s achievements at the initial stages.

Good founders are:

• Able to wear many different hats, flexible, and with all-around skillsets.

• Knowledgeable in the tech they deploy but also in the ways to sell it.

• Oriented in their industry.

• Aware of their focus.

• Fast in execution and able to cut through the noise.

• Ready with GTM (go-to-market) strategies and smart pipeline processes.

• Focused on quality but not afraid to step up while developing and not reluctant to try and push with what they have at the moment.

Challenges and opportunities of building an AI-first company

AI is prominent in building new solutions at the moment and drives entrepreneurs to build their products around it as well. This brings opportunities but also prompts challenges. Arctic15 provided us with diverse perspectives on the matter, coming from the AI-driven companies’ founders themselves, investors, but also startup community builders.

As Lasse Finderup, founder of the Good Tape said, “you need to get fast to something that is good enough and be ready to develop it on the way”. On top of that, you need “a bit of lucky charm in detecting the right product-market fit”.

Moreover, in times of things being for free online, a founder needs to be able to brand AI product’s value to earn revenue. What helps in that is ease of use, clarity, and transparency of the service or product – communicated well. “Product can be overtaken, while the brand cannot”, shares Lasse.

How to handle the GTM? Know when to say no, keep up with the industry, know how to use your tools, tailor the message instead of over-tailoring the product, and stay open to a variety of markets – “think outside of the US”.

Even though these are single founder’s pieces of advice, similar patterns of thought could be found in what investors perceived to be a successful AI-driven startup. The growing adoption of AI inside the enterprises directs the attention of financing actors towards this technology more and more. But the competition grows. So, what could make an AI startup outstanding?

During the panel, where the guest investors could express their opinions on the matter, they stated:

• AI provides opportunities for disruptive solutions. Use it.

• What is needed is the adaptability and sustainability of the proposed solutions.

• Implementing regular feedback loops is necessary to understand the transforming customers. Customers transform, just like technology does. The startups that get it are attractive.

• “We value domain knowledge and dedication. But what we value is also that the service or product answers to the real pain point and fixes it smoothly”.

• “Boring domains like accounting or real estate” become exciting when innovative tools are offered alongside.

• What counts is fast deployment and daring to take risks, while not being perfectly ready.

AI ecosystems

What we noticed when having the AI-based conversations was that AI innovators are eager to move to the US, as starting up in Europe is linked to structural obstacles and entails less interest from the large-sized clients.

The efforts to unify fragmented approaches to AI application across sectors, industries, and social levels were among the top issues taken up in relation to artificial intelligence implementation in Finland. Several keynotes, fireside chats, and presentations during the conference: all of those mentioned the necessity of building more understanding of the possibilities given by AI. This understanding should be facilitated to foster the safe use of technology, as well as the knowledge of the opportunities and threats it poses. In the end, it should be done to motivate innovative attitudes towards business and economic development, shaping the future of our societies.

Many startup communities were represented in the event, some of them directly focusing on the AI-fuelled companies. This included AI Finland – the largest organization in the country supporting the implementation of AI across sectors within the country. This points to the importance of artificial intelligence in the general trends in the market and for the national economy and security.

AI Finland holds regular meetups and one of them constituted Arctic15’s side event. The issues we tackled included: question of security and information collapse, problems in adoption of AI, the issue of ‘empty hype’, dilemmas in what talent is needed in the field, and struggles entrepreneurs face in securing funding.

Embracing AI Together

The conversations at Arctic15 made one thing clear – the adoption of AI is both an opportunity and a complex challenge. As startups race to harness its potential, they must also navigate ethical questions, funding struggles, talent gaps, and market saturation. Yet, amidst these hurdles lies the power of connections.

Whether you're a founder, investor, or ecosystem builder, the shared mission is the same: to shape responsible, impactful innovation. It’s only through collaboration, knowledge exchange, and mutual support that we can ensure AI technologies are developed and adopted in ways that serve real needs and contribute to sustainable growth.

At ExpertHub we strive to apply these values in practice when facilitating connections between AI solutions, talent, and those who need them.