Grand One AI Day 2025 speaker
Sami Niemelä
Head of Design, In Parallel
Sami is a designer and creative director working at the intersection of business strategy, futures and design.
He co-founded Nordkapp and has served as head judge for both Grand One and Vuoden Huiput. During his 27-year career he has worked with international corporations and contributed to scale-ups and startups including Oura, Supermetrics, Beddit and Umbra 3D. His work has received more than 40 design awards and several international patents.
In 2025, Sami was Head of Design at In Parallel, whose mission is to help organisations turn strategic visions into real-time situational awareness and action with AI.
0 to 1 at a new frontier: building AI-native products
Building and launching new products is different when the surrounding map is still emerging. Sami shared lessons from building a new AI-native platform from the ground up.
- Why deploying forward is essential when the goalposts move by default.
- The hidden complexity and scaffolding needed to build sustainable value in horizontal products.
- Why design and creativity are entering a new golden age, and what is different this time.