Our team

Jukka Tapaninen is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Aiforia. Before joining the company, he held various executive positions over the past 25 years in international IT and software businesses, such as SAP and HP. His experience includes leading enterprise software sales for healthcare industries as well as overseeing global business development, building strategic partnerships, and scaling up growth companies. He holds an M.Sc. degree in Economics.

Kaisa Helminen is the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Aiforia. Kaisa joined Aiforia in 2014 and has previously worked for international companies Sartorius, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., and a Finnish biotech company Finnzymes Oy. Kaisa has a strong background in the life science sector, where she has gained almost 20 years of experience in the global business. She has a wealth of experience in global sales, marketing, and strategic product management in life science businesses. She holds an M.Sc. degree in Biochemistry.

Tuomas Ropponen is the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Aiforia. Tuomas has extensive experience developing deep learning AI and machine vision-based systems and cloud infrastructures. He has previously worked for more than 20 years in international companies Outotec and Sartorius Biohit. Tuomas was one of the founders of Delta-Enterprise, known today as Roima Intelligence Inc. He holds M.Sc. in Technology.

Veli-Matti Parkkonen is the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Aiforia and holds over 20 years of experience in the financial sector in several different managerial positions. He has been involved in ECM and DCM deals, equity listings, IPOs, deal structuring, and capital raisings. Veli-Matti has also been involved in venture capital and early-growth companies as an investor, advisor, and board member. He holds a M.Sc. in Economics and The Certified European Financial Analyst (CEFA) diploma.

Veli-Matti holds a M.Sc in Economics from University of Turku and CEFA from Hanken School of Economics.

Thomas Westerling-Bui is the Chief Commercial Officer, Americas (CCO) of Aiforia. He received his PhD in cancer biology, focusing on the cell cycle and transcription, from the University of Helsinki Medical School in Finland. Thomas then completed a post-doctoral EMBO fellowship at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, researching the genomics of breast and prostate cancer. Tom joined Aiforia to advance the new potential of cancer biology, pathology, big data, and artificial intelligence.

Tamas Regenyi is the Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) of Aiforia, playing a key role in shaping the company's business strategy and advancing its market presence. He has more than 20 years of experience in various global executive positions in sales management and business development. In addition, he has more than 10 years of experience in the field of digital pathology and the medical diagnostics market. He holds an M.Sc. in Economy and Electrical Engineering and an LL.M.

Panu Kauppila is the Chief Product Officer (CPO) of Aiforia, playing a key role in defining Aiforia's product portfolio and prioritizing product development. He has more than 25 years of experience in productization and management of innovation in the medical technology sector in international companies. Thus, Panu has a profound understanding of how, with strong technological expertise, scalable products can be built on top of a software platform for demanding preclinical and clinical use. He holds M.Sc. in Technology.

Pekka is the CEO of Desentum Oy. He holds board positions in several biotech and pharmaceutical companies. He is one of the founders of the Finnzymes Group and served as its CEO for 25 years until its acquisition by Thermo Fisher Scientific in 2010.

Dr. Mari Fe Paz de Paz holds an MD, PhD and MBA. She has over 20 years of technical, entrepreneurial and leadership experience in healthcare innovation and biotechnology, over 15 years experience in strategic advice to major global pharmaceutical, biotech and diagnostic companies, on top of more than 10 years experience in advising investors, investment Funds and Venture capital groups.

Jerry Jian Hong, MBA is currently the CEO of Ascend Capital, Managing Director Ascend Tapio/Artemis S.a.r.L, since 2020. He holds over 12 years experiences in sourcing, global project management, OEM sales and marketing and in addition he has over 10 years experience in business development focusing on overseas M&A and strategic development at the executive level.

Steven Lynum, BCMAS, BBA is currently a President of Epredia Holdings (a PHC Group company) since 2022 and also a Corporate Officer & Co-Head Diagnostics & Life Sciences Domain, PHC Holdings Corporation since 2023. 

Tuomas Tenkanen, M.Sc. in Technology, is currently the President and Managing Director of TJT Technologies Oy. He has an extensive background in life science and healthcare technologies.