Petri Kokko at Hanken Insights: “Learning is the true superpower in the AI era”
AI expert and Hanken alum Petri Kokko, with extensive leadership experience from Google, spoke about how boards can explore strategic horizons with AI. He emphasised that since AI brings radical uncertainty, it must be on the board’s agenda and cannot be delegated.
“You’ve heard it before: AI is transformative, it’s strategic and you must invest in AI. Yes, but advice like that is about as helpful as telling someone lost at sea to just swim harder. The real question is, how do we lead differently because of AI?”
According to Kokko, the leadership challenge is not about preparing for sentient robots, but about leveraging powerful narrow AI systems to accelerate learning, decision-making and competitive advantage.
“When people hear about AI today, many imagine a human-like consciousness. What we have today is mostly artificial narrow intelligence (ANI) - systems that excel at specific tasks: analysing medical images, summarising legal contracts, predicting supply chain delays or steering autonomous vehicles. Artificial general intelligence (AGI) - machines that think and reason like humans - is still far away.”
Encourage experimentation
Kokko notes that learning is the true superpower in the AI era.
“Today employees are quietly running micro-experiments with AI: automating workflows, using ChatGPT to write better emails, analysing customer data faster. This underground innovation is what I call the shadow dividend. Most boards don’t even see it, sometimes even tries to shut it down. That’s a big mistake. If you want to lead well today start by harnessing the shadow dividend.”
Kokko calls on leaders to systematically map how AI is already being used across your organisation, to protect security and ethics - but encourage safe experimentation, to let employees showcase what they’re discovering, and to invest in the best grassroots ideas and professionalise them.
Kokko says that Google runs approximately 15,000 to 20,000 experiments each year.
“Most people think that Google’s power comes from its data or algorithms. Wrong. Google’s true moat is its experimental infrastructure. Only a fraction of these experiments succeed, but every single one teaches them something. They don’t guess better - they learn faster, and that compounds, just like interest.”
Managing data is a leadership responsibility
Kokko points out that without the right data AI is useless, and he says that managing data today is a leadership responsibility, not an IT one.
“AI is the rocket engine, data is the fuel. The companies that succeed tomorrow are building data balance sheets today. They are tracking data assets, managing data debts, controlling critical insights. Boards must now oversee data with the same rigor they oversee finances. Govern your data like the asset it truly is.”
Kokko concludes that AI is about learning faster than the world is changing, and that leadership in the AI era requires bravery, curiosity, and empowerment.
“The future won’t be won by those who know the most. It will be won by those who learn the fastest.”
The Hanken Insights event How is AI impacting work-life and organisations today? was arranged at Hanken School of Economics on 15 May 2025. Also speaking at the event was Hanken’s Senior Research Fellow Thommie Burström, Professor Janne Tienari and Associate Professor Mikko Vesa. A panel discussion on the challenges and opportunities of AI featured Susanna Takkunen, CEO of Accenture Finland, Amy Chen, SVP & Chief Innovation Officer at KONE, Tiina Rolig, HR Director at Microsoft Finland and Sippo Rossi, Assistant Professor at Hanken School of Economics. The host of the event was Hertta Vuorenmaa, university lecturer at Hanken.
Read more about Mikko Vesa's research:
The power of algorithms: Risks of AI-driven recommendations
Text: Jessica Gustafsson
Photo: Matilda Saarinen