Services / Defining the change path
First decide what changes in the way work is done. Then decide what to build.
We work out what has to change in how work is done, who it affects and how you will know it has changed. The result is a target, a roadmap and decision points that let leadership go ahead, change course or stop. When a programme has several suppliers, we can also take technical ownership of the whole.
What this covers
Current state and target
We map the problem and the change being sought — who does the work today, what it needs from data and AI, and how success will be recognised. The output is a documented plan for the next step, or a reasoned recommendation not to take it.
When it matters: the target has been agreed but not yet written down in a form that can be measured.
Roadmap
We phase the work so that every stage ends in something that can be assessed, and the criteria for the next stage are written before the previous one starts. Platform, data production and applications go onto the roadmap in the order the change in operations needs them.
When it matters: several parallel projects whose order and dependencies are still open.
Leadership support and decision rhythm
We agree go and stop criteria, named owners and a regular decision rhythm with leadership. In AI programmes this includes a model register showing which models are in use or in development, who owns them and what stage they have reached.
When it matters: several pilots are running, and taking them into use is nobody's job.
Integration partner
When a programme has several suppliers, the overall architecture, interfaces and quality requirements need a single owner. We take that role and read every change before it goes into the system, including changes made by other suppliers.
When it matters: a multi-supplier programme where nobody holds overall technical accountability.
When to start here
Defining the change path is the right place to start when:
- the target is agreed, but nobody has written down how you will know it has been met
- several pilots are running and none of them is on its way into production
- a tender is coming up and you have no view of your own on what to buy and in which pieces
- the programme's suppliers deliver what was agreed, and the whole still does not work
- leadership needs a basis for deciding whether to continue, change course or stop
What you keep
Written decisions that let you carry on without us.
Who does the work
Our change specialists sit in the same team as the architects and data engineers, and are involved from the moment the architecture is first drawn.
- Heli Ihamäki, Principal Consultant, Strategy & Design. Leadership roles in human-centred digital services at Nokia, Idean and Futurice.
- Paula Pennanen, advisor in Finnish health and social care. Works out what a client can realistically achieve with its data and ties the target to real operational needs.
- Ville Holopainen, 17 years in health and social care. A decade as a paramedic and EMS field chief, then seven years as a digital transformation management consultant.
What is still open
We do not know who should ultimately be responsible for taking a finished AI model from research into use — the buyer, the supplier or a national body. All three have been tried, and none has yet proved clearly better. Until that is settled, the responsibility is worth naming project by project, before a pilot starts.
“Structures can be decided. Criteria, responsibilities and ownership can be agreed before the next pilot.”
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