Joonas Korpela will join us on 12 January 2026 as the Head of Software Development services. Joonas, who is moving to Gofore from Futurice, is already looking forward to his new role in a service area where the current upheaval in the IT sector is perhaps most evident.
1. What’s your career been like so far?
I have been in the IT industry for about 20 years, and I actually started my career as a software developer at Creanex, which is now part of Gofore. During that time, I also took on leading Creanex’s projects and client relationships, and I took responsibility for sales and marketing.
After that, I spent about seven years in new sales at Futurice, during which we grew from around 50 people in Tampere to a team of 120, which is the same size as my new team at Gofore. Then I moved on to manage customer relationships and projects for a few years, and from there I developed the productisation of the cloud infrastructure side, which naturally led to a transition to so-called continuous services. For the last six months at Futurice, I led the Public Health and Transport business.
2. Why did you want to work at Gofore?
I have been extremely impressed by the way Gofore operates and how the company has succeeded in this turbulent market. Gofore has been well managed and has moved forward as a whole. I found a very interesting position here, which is at the center of the next renewal, namely in software development. Gofore has good opportunities in that area, and I have good experience for it. I think Gofore approaches disruptions like artificial intelligence in the right way; with the right balance of caution and boldness.
3. How do you see the change in software development?
AI is the number one disruption; it increases productivity, but the question is: who will benefit from that productivity gain? It is certain that, for example, the so-called magnificent seven companies in the USA are already gaining immense value from artificial intelligence, but in the consulting business, we are dealing with a smaller scale; the problems of companies. One of the finest opportunities is customised development, which makes more sense with AI than before.
Another interesting opportunity is the AI agent perspective. In the consulting business, it is possible to develop a swarm of agents that can significantly enhance operations and create higher quality and more secure products.
Thirdly, modernisation is something that will be increasingly possible with AI and other tools. There is a huge amount of work to be done to make monolithic, massive systems like banks or state-level core systems more efficient. The amount of legacy code in the world is still something like over 50%, and technology debt continues to accumulate.
4. How do you plan to spend your first 100 days at Gofore?
I see it as most important to get to know the people I will be working with right from the start. I want to understand my team and their thinking; what motivates them and how I can build the team so that everyone feels good. Another important aspect is to get to know the customers and understand their problems and how we can best support them.
It is also crucial to understand the current state of our work; what is good about it and what needs improvement, and to make short-term changes first. At the same time, I want to collaboratively build a three-year plan with my team on what this service area will look like in the future.
5. Tell us something about yourself!
I have a spouse and two children, and we live in the center of Tampere. I am currently renovating an old bank office into our home, so there is plenty to do. I actively go to the gym, and I also enjoy activities like running, climbing, and disc golf. I am also involved in real estate investing.