Survey: Industry leaders see risk avoidance as a threat to Finland's competitiveness

In Finnish companies, industrial leaders believe that too little is invested in new ideas and too much in dividend distribution. More than half (57%) of the industrial decision-makers participating in a study commissioned by technology company Gofore see that avoiding risk in innovation and technology choices is a significant challenge for Finland's competitiveness.

"In Finland, we play it safe, we don't take risks, and therefore we don't grow. This largely depends on the owners. Many are focused on dividends and short-term market movements. If we distribute 60% as dividends, it indicates that there is no money left for the development and innovation of the company," says one decision-maker who participated in the study.

The results are derived from a study on the competitiveness of Finnish industry, commissioned by Gofore during the summer and early autumn of 2025, conducted by the research company Verian. The study includes insights from over 30 leaders of industrial companies on the subject.

Caution backfires: Foundations of digitalisation should have been built years ago

Industry decision-makers criticise cautious owners in the study, as companies have favored profit distribution over investments. When money is distributed as dividends instead of being invested in digitalisation and product development, this directly detracts from the company's competitiveness.

"Now we need the courage to make investments. Finnish industry has dug into trenches and has pinched costs. Uncertain future prospects have led companies to turn off the money taps, even though now is the time to innovate," says another interviewed decision-maker in the study.

According to Outi Määttä, heading the Intelligent Industry business at Gofore, the problem is that if industrial companies are only now waking up to digitalisation investments, competitors have been ahead for years.

"The digital lifecycle thinking of a product should have been established long ago. If one always plays it safe and the foundations of digitalisation have not been created, we lag hopelessly behind," Määttä states. 

The digital lifecycle thinking of a product is an approach that enables data-driven and AI-accelerated business that creates new types of value, rapid product and service innovations, and their quality and safe delivery to users, as well as secure autonomous devices. 

Without systematic innovation, industrial companies cannot keep up

Customer expectations impact industrial companies and force them to constantly change. Manufacturers of machines, equipment, and vehicles are required to deliver new features at a rapid pace and with high quality.

It is no longer sufficient for the physical product to be of high quality. Customers now demand the same level of user interface and digital service quality and security as the best consumer-oriented solutions provide.

"This means continuous technological development and increasingly complex machines and equipment. They contain more code and increasingly demanding technical combinations. Without systematic innovation and fast, agile product and service development, companies will not have the conditions to stay in the game in the long run," Määttä emphasises.

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The respondents of the study are key people from Finnish industrial companies 

Verian conducted a study on behalf of Gofore during the summer and autumn of 2025. All participants were key personnel from industrial organizations operating in the Finnish market, such as leaders and managers.

A total of 30 organisations participated in the survey, of which 14 had a turnover exceeding 150 million euros, 14 had a turnover below that amount, and data was missing for two. Eight organisations took part in the interviews, with five having a turnover exceeding 150 million euros and three below that amount.

The study commissioned by Gofore focused on areas that companies can influence themselves, although external factors such as regulation, industrial and export policy, and publicly funded research and development also affect competitiveness.

More information:

Executive summary

Outi Määttä

Director, Intelligent Industry business at Gofore
Tel. +358 40 756 2991
outi.maatta@gofore.com