Messages from the Future : SLUSH 2024
The slogan of SLUSH 2024 was incredibly meaningful this year:
"Great stories start with a chat, not a prompt. Welcome to a human-generated event."
Artificial intelligence was already a big topic last year, and this year, it made its presence felt even more.
Slush took place in Helsinki on November 20-21 with an impressive turnout. Throughout the city, entrepreneurship, investments, and AI were the main topics of conversation.
One of the unique aspects of this event is the side events. Great networks, organizations and companies see this as an opportunity and organize meetups, workshops, and parties.
SLUSH brought startups, investors, and the ecosystem together. Now, if you want to sustain and amplify this impact within your own community, you can easily and securely establish a mentorship center .
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The Team Sweden Tech @ Slush 2024 event brought together many organizations and also covered an important topic: "Policy."
The program started with a speech by Stina Lantz , CEO at SISP and Peter Ericson , the Swedish Ambassador to Finland.
Key highlights included: Only 10% of Deep Tech unicorns come from Europe. While access to early-stage and seed funding is relatively easier, the biggest challenge lies in accessing large funds.
Kalle Fahlvik shared that heavy EU regulations are causing Europe to fall behind in efficiency and innovation.
I was truly delighted to see all panelists like Arba Kokalari , Kati P?rn , Olivia Nestius and Salla Franzén fully recognize the competition that entrepreneurship, AI, and the EU need to embrace.
USA's AI investments are about six times that of the EU, and Europe is aware of this and is looking for ways to catch up. It was a common view that, especially in AI, the bureaucracy needs to be accelerated to avoid lagging behind the USA and China.
Marjo Ilmari , Senior Director at Business Finland, mentioned that when startups are asked about their challenges, commercializing and finding talent are the key issues that come up.
Happiness Lounge: Startup in Finland
Highlights from the event with Manager of International Startups and Permit Development, Annamari Soikkeli : How to bring your startup to Finland?
She mentioned five stages: planning (residence permit), establishing (registering and banking), early growth (team building and networking), scaling (funding and global expansion), and achieving stability (scaling operations and contributing to the community).
The presentation by Alexandra Pasternak-Jackson highlighted Finland's business culture and achievements. Key tips include using warm greetings, valuing data over assumptions, and appreciating Finland openly. Finland stands out as the most stable, happiest, and safest country, with top-quality education and clean air/food. Finnish innovations include the heart rate monitor, Linux, SMS, Angry Birds, and the "black box.
Unlocking AI’s Potential
At Google's event, the focus was on Google and AI-driven startups and how AI can contribute to the EU and global economy, quality of life, and health: The event highlighted the transformative potential of AI and its capacity to address major societal issues while opening new avenues for businesses and individuals.
The Role of AI
AI is playing an increasingly important role in enterprise solutions. A survey revealed that 61% of organizations in the EMEA region are already utilizing Generative AI for business operations.
The same survey indicates a significant return on investment for those implementing Generative AI. 82% of organizations using Generative AI in production reported an annual revenue increase exceeding 6%. Moreover, 71% of these organizations achieved a positive ROI within the first year of implementation.
Applications of AI
The event showcased several applications of AI across diverse sectors:
Economic Impact of AI
The event highlighted the potential of Generative AI to boost the EU economy by €1.2 trillion.
The event also addressed the EU's competitiveness gap relative to the US. It was noted that the EU needs to close its innovation gap to address slowing productivity growth.
The event brought together startups, investors, organizations, and corporate partners to discuss fostering the growth and scalability of AI-powered solutions developed by startups.
This year, the Dutch-based startup OASYS NOW won at SLUSH100!
They are revolutionizing healthcare by providing a privacy-first platform that helps patients securely manage their health data and get matched with clinical trials worldwide.
Their mission is to empower individuals to leverage their unique health data to prevent or heal diseases while accelerating medical advancements.
Learn more : OASYS NOW - Co-Founder & CEO : Nima Salami
These were some of my key takeaways from SLUSH 2024. What about you?
What were your experiences?
What interesting things did you see and want to share? I'd love to hear your thoughts and reflections!