Today I begin a new chapter at Fellowmind Finland as Principal AI Advisor. It’s a journey that combines many things I love: helping customers navigate AI transformation, meeting new colleagues, working more closely with Finnish and European organizations, and, perhaps most unexpectedly, becoming a MacBook Pro user for the first time in my life.
Today is my first day at Fellowmind Finland. Writing that feels both exciting and a little surreal.
Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to work with incredible customers, communities, partners, and colleagues across the Microsoft ecosystem. Every chapter has taught me something new, introduced me to amazing people, and opened doors I never expected. Today, a new chapter begins!
I am joining Fellowmind Finland as Principal AI Advisor | Copilot, Agents & AI Transformation, and I couldn’t be more excited about what lies ahead.
Returning to Finnish and European Customers
One of the things that attracted me to this role is the opportunity to work closely with Finnish and European customers again and meet colleagues and customers in person more.
AI is rapidly changing how we work, collaborate, and create value. Organizations are exploring how Microsoft 365 Copilot, agents, automation, and AI-powered experiences can help their people and businesses succeed. At the same time, they’re trying to make sense of a rapidly evolving technology landscape while keeping people at the center.
Those conversations fascinate me.
I’ve always believed that technology is only meaningful when it helps people achieve something they couldn’t do before. Whether it’s improving productivity, creating entirely new ways of working, or helping organizations navigate transformation, the human side of technology has always been what motivates me.
I’m looking forward to helping customers turn curiosity into capability and innovation into measurable outcomes.
European Reach, Local Presence
Fellowmind operates across multiple European countries, combining local expertise with a broader European perspective.For me personally, one detail stands out: Fellowmind has also an office in Turku, the city where I live.
That may sound like a small thing, but after years of primarily remote work, it actually means quite a lot.
My home office will continue to be my primary workplace, just as it has been for years. Remote work has worked well for me and has enabled me to collaborate with fantastic people across different countries and time zones.
But now I’ll also have colleagues nearby.
I’m looking forward to meeting my fellow Fellowminders in Turku, getting to know new colleagues across Finland, and spending time at Fellowmind Finland’s headquarters and other offices.
Technology enables great collaboration from anywhere, but there is still something special about face-to-face conversations, customer workshops, whiteboard sessions, coffee breaks, and those spontaneous discussions that often lead to the best ideas.
I’ve missed that.
And I’m looking forward to having more of it again.
A New Job… and a New Operating System
This new journey comes with another first. For the first time in my professional career (in my life!), my primary work computer will be a MacBook Pro.
Yes, really.
Those who know me know that I’ve spent most of my career living firmly in the Microsoft world. Windows has been my trusted platform for customer engagements, conference sessions, blogging, demos, community activities, and countless late-night technology experiments. Now I’m about to become a Mac user. If someone asked me 7 years ago, would I want a Macbook as work computer I would have said a definite now. Even 3 years ago, I would have answered the same.
But today I’m looking forward to it. Despite loosing some very very cool features Microsoft Surface Laptop 8 would have with it’s NPU, this is a perfect moment to jump to Macworld and see what’s there.
As someone who spends a significant amount of time working with Microsoft 365 Copilot and modern productivity technologies, I see this as a great opportunity to experience Microsoft’s ecosystem from a different perspective. I’ll get firsthand experience with how Microsoft 365, Teams, Outlook, Copilot, and other applications work on macOS.
I have a feeling there will be a learning curve. Probably more than one. There will almost certainly be moments when I instinctively press a Windows keyboard shortcut and wonder why absolutely nothing happened. But that’s part of the adventure.
And in many ways, it feels fitting. A new role, a new company, new colleagues, new customers, and even a new operating system. It’s a reminder that learning never stops and that curiosity remains one of our most valuable skills.
But don’t worry, though, I’m not leaving Windows behind. I have Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 1 and it will continue serving as my personal device, and I’ll still be utilizing Azure-hosted virtual environments whenever needed ( and one desktop computer I bought 2020). If anything, I’ll now get to experience the best of both worlds.
Something tells me that at least a few future blog posts will be inspired by this MacBook Pro journey alone.
Looking Forward to the People
Whenever people ask what I’m most excited about in a new role, the answer is rarely the technology.
It’s the people.
Technology changes constantly. Products evolve. Features come and go. But the best experiences in my career have always come from the people I’ve worked with. The colleagues who challenged my thinking. The customers who trusted me. The community members who shared their knowledge. The friends I’ve made along the way.
I’m excited to meet new colleagues, learn from their experiences, contribute where I can, and build new relationships inside Fellowmind and with customers across Europe.
That’s what makes a new journey worthwhile.
Thank You, Sulava MEA
Before stepping fully into this new chapter, I want to thank everyone at Sulava MEA. My time there may have been relatively short, but the experiences, opportunities, lessons, and relationships will stay with me for a very long time.
I learned a tremendous amount. I worked with amazing people. I gained invaluable experience. And I had the opportunity to be part of something special. For that, I’m deeply grateful.
- Thank you for the trust.
- Thank you for the support.
- Thank you for the journey.
And let’s not forget one important thing: Smoothies will always rock. 🤘
Onward
A lot is now changing.
The company is new. The role is new, as I will have more responsibilities than just a technical consultancy role.Most colleagues are new. There are some colleagues from my previous journeys, which will be awesome as I can again work with them. Even the computer is new.
But some things remain exactly the same.
- I’m still curious.
- I’m still passionate about technology.
- I’m still fascinated by the future of work.
- And I’m still driven by helping people and organizations get meaningful value from technology.
I can’t wait to see what this new adventure brings.
Here’s to new colleagues, new customers, new perspectives, and new opportunities to learn.
And yes.
The hat stays. 🎩
See you on the journey. Let’s drive the AI transformation to rocket-speed in European organizations!
Vesa “Vesku” Nopanen
Principal AI Advisor | Copilot, Agents & AI Transformation
Fellowmind
Vesa Nopanen - Future Work today 