Our team

We are a comprehensive mix of experienced scientists and entrepreneurs. Our team brings together expertise in medical sciences, artificial intelligence and different life sciences industries.

100+ years

Our software team together holds over a century of experience in AI development

80%

Over 80% of the Aiforia team have degrees in medical sciences or software development

4 locations

Finland, United States, the Netherlands, United Kingdom

15+ annotators

We have an in-house annotation team supporting all AI projects

Management Team

Jukka Tapaninen is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Aiforia. Before joining the company, he held various executive positions over the past 25 years in international IT and software businesses, such as SAP and HP. His experience includes leading enterprise software sales for healthcare industries as well as overseeing global business development, building strategic partnerships, and scaling up growth companies. He holds an M.Sc. degree in Economics.

Jukka Tapaninen Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

Kaisa Helminen is the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Aiforia. Kaisa joined Aiforia in 2014 and has previously worked for international companies Sartorius, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., and a Finnish biotech company Finnzymes Oy. Kaisa has a strong background in the life science sector, where she has gained almost 20 years of experience in the global business. She has a wealth of experience in global sales, marketing, and strategic product management in life science businesses. She holds an M.Sc. degree in Biochemistry.

Kaisa Helminen Chief Operating Officer (COO)

Tuomas Ropponen is the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Aiforia. Tuomas has extensive experience developing deep learning AI and machine vision-based systems and cloud infrastructures. He has previously worked for more than 20 years in international companies Outotec and Sartorius Biohit. Tuomas was one of the founders of Delta-Enterprise, known today as Roima Intelligence Inc. He holds M.Sc. in Technology.

Tuomas Ropponen Chief Technology Officer (CTO)

Veli-Matti Parkkonen is the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Aiforia and holds over 20 years of experience in the financial sector in several different managerial positions. He has been involved in ECM and DCM deals, equity listings, IPOs, deal structuring, and capital raisings. Veli-Matti has also been involved in venture capital and early-growth companies as an investor, advisor, and board member. He holds a M.Sc. in Economics and The Certified European Financial Analyst (CEFA) diploma.

Veli-Matti holds a M.Sc in Economics from University of Turku and CEFA from Hanken School of Economics.

Veli-Matti Parkkonen Chief Financial Officer (CFO)

Thomas Westerling-Bui is the Chief Commercial Officer, Americas (CCO) of Aiforia. He received his PhD in cancer biology, focusing on the cell cycle and transcription, from the University of Helsinki Medical School in Finland. Thomas then completed a post-doctoral EMBO fellowship at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, researching the genomics of breast and prostate cancer. Tom joined Aiforia to advance the new potential of cancer biology, pathology, big data, and artificial intelligence.

Thomas Westerling-Bui, PhD Chief Commercial Officer, Americas (CCO)

Panu Kauppila is the Chief Product Officer (CPO) of Aiforia, playing a key role in defining Aiforia's product portfolio and prioritizing product development. He has more than 25 years of experience in productization and management of innovation in the medical technology sector in international companies. Thus, Panu has a profound understanding of how, with strong technological expertise, scalable products can be built on top of a software platform for demanding preclinical and clinical use. He holds M.Sc. in Technology.

Panu Kauppila Chief Product Officer (CPO)

MEET THE PEOPLE WHO SUPPORT OUR CUSTOMERS

Our sales, science, and support team members

Board of Directors

Pekka is the CEO of Desentum Oy. He holds board positions in several biotech and pharmaceutical companies. He is one of the founders of the Finnzymes Group and served as its CEO for 25 years until its acquisition by Thermo Fisher Scientific in 2010.

Pekka Mattila Chairman of the Board

Johan is one of the co-founders of Aiforia as well as a Research Director at the Finnish Institute for Molecular Medicine (FIMM) at University of Helsinki and Professor of Medical Technology at Karolinska Institute.

Johan Lundin, MD, PhD Board Member

Dr. Mari Fe Paz de Paz holds an MD, PhD and MBA. She has over 20 years of technical, entrepreneurial and leadership experience in healthcare innovation and biotechnology, over 15 years experience in strategic advice to major global pharmaceutical, biotech and diagnostic companies, on top of more than 10 years experience in advising investors, investment Funds and Venture capital groups.

Dr. Mari Fe Paz de Paz, MD, PhD, MBA Board Member

Jerry Jian Hong, MBA is currently the CEO of Ascend Capital, Managing Director Ascend Tapio/Artemis S.a.r.L, since 2020. He holds over 12 years experiences in sourcing, global project management, OEM sales and marketing and in addition he has over 10 years experience in business development focusing on overseas M&A and strategic development at the executive level.

Jerry Jian Hong, MBA Board Member

Steven Lynum, BCMAS, BBA is currently a President of Epredia Holdings (a PHC Group company) since 2022 and also a Corporate Officer & Co-Head Diagnostics & Life Sciences Domain, PHC Holdings Corporation since 2023.

Steven Lynum Board Member

Tuomas Tenkanen, M.Sc. in Technology, is currently the President and Managing Director of TJT Technologies Oy. He has an extensive background in life science and healthcare technologies.

Tuomas Tenkanen Board Member

Scientific Advisory Board

Dr. Bui is a Professor of Pathology and the Scientific Director of Analytic Microscopy Core at Moffitt Cancer Center in the United States. She was the President of the Digital Pathology Association in 2019. She is recognized as an impactful leader in pathology. Dr. Bui's expertise ranges from sarcoma pathology, cytopathology, digital pathology, and cancer biomarker testing.

Marilyn Bui, MD, PhD Moffitt Cancer Center

Dr. Yagi is the Director of Pathology Digital Imaging at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) in New York in the United States. She received her PhD from Tokyo Medical University in Japan and soon after won a Nikon Fellowship for two research years in teleradiology and pathology at Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. in the United States.

Yukako Yagi, PhD Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Professor Knowles is a global opinion leader in personalized medicine. He is currently a visiting Professor in Personalized Health Care at FIMM (Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland) at the University of Helsinki and a visiting Professor at the University of Oxford, UK. He also serves on the boards of a number of biotech companies and major academic centres. Most notably he was the President of Group Research for the Roche Group for 12 years until 2010 and more recently the Chairman of the Board of both Adaptimmune Ltd and Immunocore Ltd.

Jonathan Knowles, PhD Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland and University of Oxford

Prof. Zlobec is a distinguished figure in the field of Digital Pathology, serving as Professor of Digital Pathology at the Institute of Tissue Medicine and Pathology, University of Bern in Switzerland. She leads an interdisciplinary research group focusing on improving the understanding of cancer biology and developing tools to address clinically relevant issues for patients. With a background in histopathology and biostatistics, Prof. Zlobec has collaborated closely with pathologists, clinicians, and scientists for over two decades.

Professor Inti Zlobec Institute of Tissue Medicine and Pathology, University of Bern in Switzerland

Richard is board certified in veterinary pathology (FRCPath, DipECVP) and toxicology (Diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology). He qualified in veterinary medicine from the University of Cambridge and completed a PhD at Oxford in experimental pathology and immunology. Richard has senior leadership experience in pharma at AstraZeneca and GSK, and he is the founder of RosettaPath, a science-based pathology consultancy.