ITOMS Member Experience Series - Interview with Timo Kiiveri

I'm here now with Timo Kiiveri from Fingrid, mostly EVP of operations, and has been part of the Icons program. I guess what was the first year you actually participated?

Thank you. Welcome today, I appreciate the opportunity to chat. I was hoping that we could explore a little bit about your thinking on the Icons program – what it's meant to Fingrid and what your views are of the value of the Icons program.

Well, Fingrid has accomplished many things in the last 30 years that I've been involved. But beyond being efficient and productive, right, you've been an extraordinarily innovative company as well, leading the pack, leading the industry I would say in many technology areas. So you've clearly gone well beyond where your original owners wanted you to go, which was low cost. What contributes to that success on the creativity and innovation front?

One of the things that has always impressed me other than what you've accomplished – being a consistent low-cost company and one of the great innovators, a company that delivers both low cost and high service level – has been Fingrid's commitment to helping other companies. It's almost as if you believe as part of your core values that a rising tide floats all boats. Fingrid has the advantage of being a leader but is also very committed to helping others around the industry learn from you. So as you mentioned, one of your four core values is being transparent.

It's been delightful working with you and Mark before him and Reina before him – a long series of brilliant innovators that have brought a great deal of value to Icons and to your neighbors. As you look forward into your crystal ball and look at the challenges ahead for the transmission business globally – I'm not sure there's ever been a time of more rapid change – so what do you see as the key challenges?

Indeed. I know things cycle over time, but I didn't think we'd get this quickly to being cool again as an industry. It is quite interesting that we're now able to attract some of the brightest young talent on the technology side because we are at the epicenter of where all of this energy change happens. I mean, if we fail, nothing works. So, I guess lastly, what do you see as the value and opportunity the Icons program can provide to the industry as we wrestle with all of these challenges and develop new solutions?

I once had an executive steering group for a series of best practice presentations and conferences. I asked them – I screwed up the courage to ask them, because they say in a group you never ask a question you don't already know the answer to – I said, 'Why do you come here? Every year you give up three days and you come wherever we're going to go meet. I know the program is good, but we can't be that good. Why do you come?' And they said exactly that: they said, 'When I'm home, I am almost never exposed to a really new idea. I'm in the process of doing. But when I come here, I would go anywhere to get one really good idea. One really good idea is huge value. And when I come here and work with the other people that you've brought together from around the industry, I go home with three or four. It's an unparalleled yield rate of good ideas.' And so that's what we try to do here at Icons: deliver maximum insight and value from the innovation going on across the industry. And I appreciate everything you've done for us – Fingrid's leadership of the program and of the industry in terms of innovation. So thank you, thank you very much for being part of Icons, for agreeing to do this little interview.

All right, thank you, thank you.