The Spirit of a Founder

Jarne, what initially inspired you to embark on the journey of entrepreneurship and create RAIN.global with your partner Henri Kivioja?

When it seemed that genuine innovation was unattainable within the confines of the corporation, with the only alternative being mundane maintenance, my inner engineer instinctively knew it was time to venture beyond the corporate firewall. The calling was to innovate and create new things in a manner that echoed my inner ethos.

In the dynamic and challenging landscape of the IT industry, what keeps you motivated to navigate through constant changes and complexities?

My motivation remains deeply idealistic; I aspire to leave behind an IT industry that doesn’t just consume nature and people but constantly strives to bring forth sustainable solutions. I believe that we can achieve this in a way that resonates with a kind of hipster idealism.

How do you personally connect with RAIN.global's mission of making the world a better place through sustainable services?

I think I already touched on this in my previous response, but to clarify: when considering IT (and telecom) equipment and software, for years we’ve been adding more and more functionality and features. These presumably consume more resources than their predecessors. Now, as we embark on automating functions with the help of RAIN, it seems likely that this will lead to savings.

As entrepreneurs, what strategies do you employ to stay resilient in the face of setbacks and challenges?

This is a tough topic. It’s been surprising to me how well I’ve managed to face adversities and challenges. Comparing myself to who I was 10 years ago, it’s clear that I wouldn’t have been able to handle today’s situations without external help. Somehow, you grow into entrepreneurship and learn to treat challenges as separate from the rest of life. Of course, if you ask my family, you might get a different answer ;).

Looking ahead, what long-term impact do you envision RAIN.global making in the field of AI deployment and real-time data analytics?

I’m beginning to love these questions! We started developing RAIN back in 2019. Even at that time, I saw huge potential in repurposing what is known as ‘old technology’. While everyone was updating their server farms and investing in cloud technology, I pondered what should be done with all those old computers. Could we perhaps manage real-time automation more efficiently with fewer data centers? Now that we’ve shifted our focus to cellular network base stations, we suddenly find ourselves exactly where we need to be – as close as possible to the sources of data. We’re starting from these base stations, but it’s evident that we will expand from there to other sectors like industry, transportation, and various other aspects of human life.