Ville Virtanen appointed DNA’s SVP, Strategy and AI, and member of Executive Management Team

Virtanen has served since autumn 2024 as Chief Operating Officer at Telenor Nordics, which oversees the Nordic operations of DNA’s parent company Telenor. He is now returning to DNA. Virtanen has previously held the role of Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and served on DNA’s Executive Management Team, and he has a career spanning more than 20 years at DNA in various roles.

DNA’s current Chief Strategy Officer, Bjørn Taale Sandberg, will return to other assignments in the Telenor Group as originally planned. He will continue in his current role until the end of September and will support Virtanen’s onboarding into the new position.

“Bjørn Taale was set to return to Telenor as originally planned, and this gave us an excellent opportunity to once again benefit from Ville’s expertise here in Finland. He has strong strategic capabilities, so his appointment to this role was a natural choice. The role also includes responsibility for the utilization and development of AI at the company level, which is a perfect fit for Ville’s solid technology background,” says DNA CEO Jussi Tolvanen.

“It’s great to return to DNA, a company whose growth and development I’ve had the privilege to guide before in various technology and leadership roles. I know the DNA staff and culture from decades of experience, and I’m convinced that by relying on these strengths and the opportunities brought by new technologies, we can serve our customers even better going forward. Strategic choices and artificial intelligence are now at the heart of how we build an even more customer-centric and efficient DNA. We already have strong expertise in utilizing AI, so this is a great foundation to continue boldly in the spirit of experimentation,” says Ville Virtanen.

Virtanen will begin in his new role as SVP, Strategy and AI, on 1 October 2025.

Experimentation and strong customer-centricity are at the heart of DNA’s AI strategy. The company applies AI broadly across infrastructure, cybersecurity, portfolio and everyday operational efficiency. AI is used, for example, to optimize energy consumption at base stations and to detect and prevent fraud attempts. In customer service, AI helps staff offer more tailored solutions to individual customers, reducing the time needed to assess customer needs and situations. DNA has also published its ethical principles for AI.

“Bjørn Taale, who is returning to other assignments in the Telenor Group, has done an excellent job in developing and maintaining DNA’s strategy. I warmly thank him for his contributions and wish him all the best in his future endeavours,” says Tolvanen.

Additional information for media:

Jussi Tolvanen, CEO, DNA Plc, tel. +358 44 044 1000, jussi.tolvanen@dna.fi

DNA Corporate Communications, tel. +358 44 044 8000, communications@dna.fi