At the forefront of the AI revolution – empowering employees for the AI era

At the forefront of the AI revolution - empowering employees for the AI era

Over the past two decades, Alma Media has gone through a major transformation from a traditional newspaper publisher into an international technology company. Today about 85% of Alma Media's revenue comes from digital sources.

The company is now writing the next chapter of the transformation story with Artificial Intelligence (AI). Generative AI is expected to revolutionise the media industry as profoundly as digitalisation did in the early 2000s.

AI program to enhance internal capabilities and increase long-term competitiveness

In Alma Media the importance of investing in AI capabilities was recognised early. The company launched a company-wide AI Program to enhance internal capabilities and increase long-term competitiveness. The program is one of Alma's strategic initiatives.

"AI has been used in Alma's service and product development for years, but with the rapid development of generative AI, we recognised a need to increase the company's collective AI capabilities fast", explains Alma Media's Chief Digital Officer Tommi Raivisto.

Alma's AI strategy begins with employee training and a focus on improving productivity - including speed, quality, and the meaningfulness of work. The next phase will concentrate on enhancing the customer experience.

"Eventually we expect AI to bring us also new business models", continues Raivisto.

From curiosity to competence

Alma Media's AI Program is divided into streams, focusing on different functions and target groups.

The knowledge stream is targeted for all employees and focuses on creating opportunities for continuous learning and professional development.

"Our employees are encouraged to experiment with AI to gain understanding on how it could support their daily work. Our goal is to provide the right tools and skills to everyone and turn curiosity into competence", tells Raivisto.

Part of the knowledge stream is an AI mentor program, in which the more advanced employees give support and coach teams or individuals. The AI mentors act as sparring partners, accelerate the AI adoption and convert silent information into shared practices.

About 100 AI initiatives throughout the company

The progress of AI development in Alma is carefully monitored and measured.

"We keep track of the usage of AI tools, as well as the maturity level of employees. In addition, we monitor the amount of AI initiatives going on", says Raivisto.

Beyond AI tools, Alma is experimenting with agentic workflows - enabling teams to design and set up AI agents that become part of how they work and achieve goals.

Currently there are altogether around 100 different kinds of AI initiatives happening inside the company. Many of these are internal experimentation, but several AI-powered features and products are already in production and being used by customers.

Alma Media has also received public recognition for its AI efforts. Iltalehti was recently awarded the first prize in the Best Innovation in Newsroom Transformation category in INMA Global Media Awards.

"We have invested in developing AI features in our media and this award shows that we are on the right path", Raivisto concludes.

As Alma continues to innovate and scale its AI efforts, it sets a powerful example of how strategic investment in human capability can drive meaningful transformation.