Valmet’s Janne Puustinen selected as the CIO of the Year

In their statement the jury said that “Janne Puustinen has worked in a systematic manner and reached results that have earned him the appreciation and trust of both his own team members as well as Valmet’s business professionals. Successful CIOs of the future can in many ways learn from Janne’s activities and ways of working, especially in how he has combined the ability to renew with solid professionalism”.

According to Puustinen, he didn’t see this acknowledgement coming when he started his Valmet career in 1995 as a thesis student, and not even during his years in Research & Development. 

“My education is from mechanical engineering, but I made this strange career jump from R&D to IT in 2003 and it’s been quite a ride ever since. I have always set my targets high, and I take this as a recognition for a long career, but also for the work done in Valmet and as Valmet. Only impressive results are awarded with this kind of awards, but this also tells me that we are on the right track going forward”.

Although very happy about the personal recognition, Puustinen wants to emphasize the role of the entire team.

“Being one of the two finalists, out of more than 150 candidates is a very nice recognition. But even if this award was for the CIO and thus to one person only, it’s clear that a CIO always needs a superior team to deliver results that were judged in this race. The ratings were done in eight categories and most of them, if not all, are something that nobody can do alone. It’s so easy to be proud of my team, and every single person in Valmet IT should claim their part of this honor”.

Criteria: The CIO of the Year 2019 is capable in…

1. Leading the development of strategy, business models and ways to operate
2. Leading the aligning and integration of business and IT
3. Leading innovations
4. Leading IT management and control
5. Leading business architecture and IT infrastructure
6. Leading programs, projects and change
7. Leading continuity of operations, information security and privacy
8. His/her role as a superior and people manager