AWS - Smart Business Podcast

In this episode, we sit down with Niilo Säämänen, CTO at Wolt.com, and Kirsi Louhelainen from AWS to discuss how Wolt has scaled from a mobile innovation idea to a global delivery giant operating in 31 countries. Niilo shares how Wolt’s focus on building "Wolt grade" products drives their success, emphasizing technical excellence, customer obsession, and engineering craftsmanship. The conversation covers the importance of configurability to support rapid expansion, the challenges of rebuilding their logistics stack, and balancing global standardization with local adaptation. They also explore how Wolt leverages AWS technology, including Kubernetes and Bedrock, to support innovation and scalability. Niilo shares leadership insights, such as fostering high ownership teams, learning from failures, and balancing quantitative data with team feedback. Looking ahead, they discuss the impact of Generative AI on logistics and customer interaction, highlighting Wolt's experimental approach to integrating new technologies.

In this episode, we welcome Rasmus Hauch, CTO at Boost.AI, and Ragnar Harper, Head of Technology at AWS Norway, to explore how Boost.AI delivers cutting-edge conversational AI solutions tailored for regulated industries. Rasmus explains how their platform drives tangible business outcomes, including improved user experiences and high automation rates, often reaching 70-80%. He shares how Boost.AI enables secure, seamless customer interactions via voice and chat, integrating backend services to handle tasks like booking meetings or retrieving lab results. To manage risks, Boost.AI employs a hybrid model combining rule-based responses with generative AI, reinforced by multi-channel authentication and safeguards against data leaks or hallucinations. Rasmus also highlights their AI Test Studio for validating conversations and how AWS supports secure and compliant deployments. Looking ahead, he envisions conversational AI playing a central role in digital interactions, with agentic systems enhancing enterprise service integration.

In this episode, we welcome Luke Buckley, CTO and founder of ConnectMyApps, and Erik Haugen, CEO, to discuss their new AI assistant, Inira. Built on the Canvas integration platform, Inira automates HR workflows by seamlessly connecting applications and databases, enabling users to compile data, generate reports, and answer complex questions through simple queries. Luke shares insights into the technical challenges of building Inira, focusing on fostering user trust through transparent AI explanations. Erik highlights practical applications, such as automated management reporting and correcting HR data errors. They also discuss how Inira securely integrates diverse data sources to create a "single source of truth" while maintaining data security with AWS and Bedrock. Looking to the future, they explore the rise of AI agents, the role of "citizen developers" in creating no-code integrations, and the potential of voice-based interfaces.

In this episode, we welcome Stig Elsfjordstrand, Chairman at AlreadyON, and Ragnar Harper, Head of Technology at AWS Norway, to discuss the transformative role of AI in HR tech. Stig explains how AlreadyON aligns employee development with strategic goals through their innovative solution, Alon Skills. This AI-driven platform uses competence mapping to create personalized learning paths, connecting skills to real business needs. Unlike traditional learning management systems, Alon Skills adapts to changing strategies and industry data, making learning relevant and dynamic. Stig also highlights the importance of secure AI integration, leveraging AWS Bedrock for content creation, and emphasizes that while AI won't replace humans, those who ignore it risk falling behind. The conversation explores the future of learning as personalized, conversational, and AI-driven, empowering organizations to keep their workforce aligned and skilled.

In this episode, we welcome Jon Bratseth, CEO of Vespa.ai, and Ragnar Harper, Head of Technology at AWS Norway. Jon shares Vespa's innovative approach to enterprise-scale AI, focusing on Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) to enable models to access up-to-date, company-specific data. He explains how Vespa's platform combines textual search, vectors, and machine learning signals to achieve accuracy and scalability, while also handling the complexity of multimodal retrieval. Jon discusses how Vespa’s open-source nature and partnership with AWS leverage advanced hardware like Graviton 4 for efficient scaling. The conversation also covers Vespa's leadership in secure data handling, particularly for enterprises dealing with sensitive information. Jon shares insights from his leadership journey, transitioning from Yahoo to startup CTO, and emphasizes the crucial role of delegation. Finally, they explore the future of Vespa, including two-layer ranking to optimize content chunk retrieval and the impact of RAG on AI-driven decision-making.

In this episode, Victor Forsfaelt Ljungberg from AWS speaks with Mikk Lemberg, CPO at 1oT, a cellular connectivity provider for IoT companies. Mikk explains how 1oT simplifies global deployments by aggregating telecom networks and offering customers a single platform, eSIM, invoice, and support channel. He highlights their eSIM solution’s ability to improve logistics, manufacturing, and connectivity optimization after deployment. Mikk shares real-world use cases, from tracking endangered birds to monitoring solar panels in remote areas. He also discusses 1oT’s position as an external connectivity team and their partnership with AWS for speed, scalability, and security. As CPO, Mikk emphasizes customer-driven development, internal prioritization, and managing both hardware and software challenges. The conversation also explores how 1oT is experimenting with GenAI for predictive analytics and anomaly detection—alerting customers to unusual device behavior—and optimizing telecom costs by analyzing usage patterns. He sees AI as a tool to enhance the value of IoT through smarter, proactive infrastructure management.

In this episode, Victor Forsfaelt Ljungberg from AWS speaks with Andrei Gornostajev, CTO at Wallester. Andrei explains how Wallester was created to build a modern, real-time platform for card issuing, solving the challenges companies faced with outdated systems. He outlines their growth into a full-service provider with customer onboarding, AML checks, and integrations with personalization centers and 3DS providers. Wallester enables white-label partners to issue branded physical and virtual cards instantly via API and has expanded into expense management and payroll features. Andrei discusses the technical journey, including Visa integration, scalability under heavy load, and PCI DSS compliance, supported by AWS managed services. He shares his leadership approach—balancing long-term vision with short-term agility—and fostering innovation through strong hiring and learning days. They also explore how Wallester applies GenAI internally to boost engineer productivity and externally to improve fraud detection and onboarding by reducing false positives. AI is seen as a major driver of future disruption in areas like customer onboarding and financial decision support.

In this episode, Victor Forsfaelt Ljungberg from AWS speaks with Laas Toom, CTO at LHV Paytech. Laas shares how LHV Paytech evolved into a modern, local digital payments gateway, offering innovations like next-day and next-hour settlements and the Request Money 2.0 feature for easier bill splitting via QR or link. He explains their cloud-native approach with AWS for PCI DSS compliance, scalability, and reduced maintenance. Laas also reflects on leadership—letting go of the specialist role, building strong teams, and embracing feedback. A large part of the conversation focuses on GenAI: from observability automation and fraud pattern detection to more personalized experiences. While customers mainly want payments to “just work,” GenAI helps streamline internal systems and may enable smarter financial advice in the future.

In today’s episode, we explore the forefront of financial technology with Jan-Lamber Voortman, COO at Ohpen, and Marcela Cazacu Alotleh from AWS. They discuss Ohpen's pioneering role as the first company to bring a bank to the cloud, highlighting their cloud-native core banking platform. Jan-Lamber shares his leadership philosophy, emphasizing freedom and accountability over rigid rules. The conversation delves into Ohpen's early adoption and current exploration of AI, starting with risk and fraud detection. They discuss the importance of a balanced approach to AI adoption, focusing on value creation for end customers rather than just embracing hype. Jan-Lamber outlines Ohpen's approach to responsible AI implementation through a cross-functional AI collective and shares his vision for the future role of AI in operations, customer service, and product development within the banking industry.

On the mic today are Matvey Teplov, Director and architectural lead at Nomios, and Paul Muller from AWS, providing deep insights into the cyber security and network infrastructure landscape. Matvey outlines the types of clients Nomios serves and their approach to staying ahead in a rapidly evolving industry, emphasizing a thoughtful adoption of technology rather than chasing the "bleeding edge". He shares his perspective on what non-technical business leaders should understand about technology, focusing on value, trustworthiness, and the potential pitfalls of cost-cutting. The conversation delves into the realities and potential of AI, highlighting its current role as a knowledge base and the future of interconnected AI agents. Matvey also discusses the challenges and risks associated with AI in security, including impersonation, and reflects on the long-term implications of rapidly advancing technology on human understanding and control.