Henri Yoki: When my children ask what their dad is doing, I answer that I am solving the climate crisis
Who are you? What did you study at the School of Business and when?
I am serial technology entrepreneur Henri Yoki (M.Sc. in tech, M.Sc. in business and CEMS MIM).
In 2008–2011, I completed a master's degree in international business and a CEMS MIM degree at the School of Business. During my studies, I was on a student exchange in Portugal (Nova School of Business and Economics) as part of my CEMS degree, and I did a CEMS internship in Australia with the Michael Hill diamond jewelry manufacturer.
How did you become interested in studying business? What made you apply to the School of Business?
Like many students of the 21st century, I was very attracted to the idea of obtaining both a master's degree in engineering and a master's degree in business, i.e., a strong knowledge of both technology and business. After completing my M.Sc. degree in tech and having also studied abroad for two years in England and Thailand, the international business master's program combined with the CEMS MIM degree at the School of Business seemed like the best option.
What was studying at the School of Business like? Could you share something memorable from your studies?
At the School of Business, I learned a completely new way of thinking, being and performing, especially compared to the studies of my M.Sc. degree in tech. Internationality was also strongly present in the studies right from the first day. I also admired the quality of the studies, the intelligence of my classmates and the level of the networks.
One of the most memorable experiences from my studies was when I took my classmates to a Finnish birch forest during the introductory seminar of the CEMS degree and taught them how to make a birch whisk used in sauna.
However, the most important memory of my time as a business student is the whole life cycle of my first company. I founded, built, and sold the company during the years 2007–2012, when I studied at the School of Business. It was amazing to be able to apply what I learned every day to building my own business. At the same time when I was attending business courses learning how to build a company for selling silver, I could have 10 kg of jewelry silver in my backpack!
Could you tell us a little about your career? What kind of positions have you worked in during your career?
After completing my degree in business, I first worked for four years at Accenture. I got in through the SAP finance academy, and my first project was merging Motorola Networks' SAP finance module with Nokia Siemens Networks. After that, I set out to install the EPIC electronic medical records (EMR) system in the United States. My first daughter was born at that time.
After returning to Finland, I was involved in making a customized case management system in a project of the Ministry of Justice, but before the Apotti EMR project implementation begun, I was recruited as the Chief Information Technology Officer of the Kanta-Häme hospital district. It was an interesting vantage point for the development of Finnish health care information systems and the management of IT systems.
After seeing the development possibilities of social and health care services, it was natural for me to found my next company. My career progressed as a McKinsey consultant commented during my study time – ‘adding zeros one after another’ – and the next couple of years I spent as the Founder and CEO of Flowmedik Oy, during which I was able to widely apply everything I had learned. Those years were intense, and already within two years we had acquired customers and development partnerships for all hospital districts in Finland, as well as founded a subsidiary in Sweden. All this eventually led to selling my second company.
Then – in 2021 – I founded my third company, and I am still on this path.
Henri Yoki, School of Business alumnusI admired the quality of the studies, the intelligence of my classmates and the level of the networks at the School of Business.
You have founded several companies. What has your path to entrepreneurship been like and what experiences has entrepreneurship brought you along the way?
In my career, I have been an employee of both a private small and a large company. I have seen both Finnish and international employers, and I have also worked as a leading public servant. However, the ownership, responsibility and freedom as a startup technology entrepreneur has felt like my cup of tea the most. In my most recent role as CEO of Exaum Oy, I get to widely apply everything I've learned throughout my whole career.
You are currently the Founder and CEO of Exaum, a company focusing on the green transition. Could you tell us a little more about the company and how you started it?
Exaum accelerates the green energy transition by offering power demand response to balance electricity networks. It is an archetypal technology startup which combines and develops new technology resulting in a new type of business model that can meet the critical needs of the current situation. The work is very meaningful and resonates deep in my heart.
The idea of founding the company originally came from bitcoin mining. My background as a Master of Science in electrical engineering helped me understand that in fluctuating wind production, occasional heavy power consumption is a good thing. This motivated me to dig deeper first into blockchains and then into balance and reserve electricity markets.
As is typical, the result was something different from how we started the business, and now we focus on industrial heat production in the company. But the initial spark to start the whole company came from bitcoin. I believe that I was missing something new and interesting in my career, which motivated me to go deeper into the root causes in older technology, and based on this, I started to develop something new.
What tips would you give to current business students interested in entrepreneurship?
Just do it! Founding, building, and developing my first own business, hiring the first employees, and selling the company while still studying at the university was the best thing I could have imagined doing at the time. Although in retrospect, it would have made sense to have an experienced mentor to coach me. Fortunately, today there are many good business acceleration programs that are worth taking advantage of. Furthermore, don’t be afraid to contact people. Anybody can write a sincere e-mail or make a short phone call – you just need to dare to do so.
What have been the highlights of your career for you? And what brings you meaning in your career?
I have a special memory related to the time when I was working in the United States. I was holding a kick-off event for the employees of the fourth large hospital about the EPIC EMR system implementation. There were well over two hundred doctors and nurses in the room, and to be honest, the atmosphere was quite resistant to change. However, at the end of this one-hour event, I was able to turn the atmosphere into a positive one and inspire the employees to implement the system.
Furthermore, building and selling my second company is one of the career highlights in my mind.
It is very important to me to feel that I am doing meaningful work. This is also the case now – when my children ask what their dad is doing, I answer that I am solving the climate crisis. It feels good, and I think it’s the way it should also be.
What do you like to do in your free time?
Since 2014 I have been studying and practicing Tibetan Buddhism and meditation. I've also come to understand something in this field. A great personal inspiration for me is doing a long retreat with Shamatha practice, taking it all the way to the end, in the hopefully not too far near-future.
You can learn more about Henri's career path on LinkedIn!
Strategic management in a changing world, Master of Science (Economics and Business Administration)
Strategic Management in a Changing World is a unique Master’s programme that teaches students how to develop effective strategy in a rapidly changing world. Graduates are analytical decision-makers who can identify valuable business opportunities by evaluating of complex global megatrends such as sustainability, digitalization, and globalization. To action these new opportunities, the programme teaches students how to bring an entrepreneurial mindset into their organizations.
CEMS Master in International Management (MIM) at Aalto University
Study international management in the highly regarded, world's most international MIM programme at Aalto University School of Business. CEMS is a global alliance of academic and corporate institutions and NGOs, dedicated to educating and preparing future generations of international business leaders. At Aalto, you can study CEMS MIM as an Add-on CEMS MIM programme or as an integrated part of the Global Management programme. It includes an exchange term, business project, skills seminars and exclusive and elective courses.
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