A boundary-crossing, impact-driven scholar, speaker, consultant, and creative producer with over 15 years of experience in research and public engagement. Current work focuses on bridging science and practice through the development of the Open Strategy Finland community (openstrategy.fi).

Holds a PhD with honours in International Management from the University of Vaasa (2013), with an international academic career spanning five disciplines. Academic appointments have included roles as Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship at Universidad de los Andes in Colombia (2022–2023) and Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship at Pyongyang University of Science & Technology (2014–2017). Alongside a senior researcher position at CCR, current affiliations include Visiting Scholar positions at Harvard University and Stanford University, with a long-term affiliation with Aalto University (2013–2025).

Fellowship experience includes Newton International Fellowship alumni status with the Royal Society (UK) and a postdoctoral fellowship from the Academy of Finland (2017–2019).

Beyond traditional academia, work actively connects science, practice, and the arts. The Burning Stories science-art collective (founded 2018–) explores the global influence of participatory culture and art communities, including experimentation with human–AI–human creative practices. The Mietekeskus concept (2023–) brings together science lectures and professional arts in festival contexts. Consulting work has supported knowledge transfer and planetary design initiatives with organizations such as CERN IdeaSquare. Contributions have been featured widely in Finnish media (YLE, Talouselämä, Helsingin Sanomat) and internationally, including the Financial Times, alongside frequent keynote engagements at global tech, creative, and academic events. 

Published science-based expert columns in YLE, Turun Sanomat, Talouselämä, and Kissafani (Cat fan) magazine.

Current research at CCR focuses on open strategy, participatory decision-making, and self-management, with a particular emphasis on how large, heterogeneous groups can meaningfully engage in strategic and organizational processes.

Within the Wallenberg-funded Open Strategy project (2023–2025), a collaboration between Aalto University and the University of Oxford, research has examined participatory strategy practices in communities such as Burning Man. This work has contributed to the development of the AI-Delphi method as a tool for open strategy, advancing interest in collective intelligence between human experts and machines. The research explores how organizations navigate complexity through co-creative and future-oriented approaches.

Earlier fieldwork has taken place in extreme environments—including North Korea, Lebanon, and Colombia—focusing on entrepreneurship and business education. In parallel, festival communities such as Burning Man are approached as experimental laboratories for studying participatory culture, using innovative science-art methodologies to generate and share qualitative insights.

This research has been published in leading academic journals, including Organization Science, Journal of World Business, Journal of Strategic Information Systems, and Academy of Management Discoveries.

Teaching and speaking approaches integrate creative and participatory methodologies—such as theatre-based techniques, role-playing, and hands-on case work—to connect insights across disciplines and foster collective learning experiences.

The formal teaching portfolio includes courses in Entrepreneurship and Innovation (Universidad de los Andes), Venture Formation, partially Sustainable Entrepreneurship, and Venture Ideation (Aalto University), as well as Strategic Management of Information Systems (University of Vaasa). In one of the world’s most exceptional contexts, the first Leadership and Entrepreneurship courses were introduced at Pyongyang University of Science & Technology.

Beyond university settings, work focuses on designing and facilitating high-impact, community-driven educational programs. Initiatives have included Startup Circus (combining arts and startup pitching), WTSUP! Beirut (supporting entrepreneurship and equality through Nordic-inspired approaches), and the first Pyongyang Startup Week.

Across all formats, teaching emphasizes the integration of scientific knowledge, societal impact, and cross-cultural community building—supporting participants in engaging with complex challenges through collaborative and experiential learning.