Heli Rantavuo appointed professor of practice at Hanken

Rantavuo has led research at Spotify, eBay, Microsoft and Nokia in the United Kingdom, Sweden and Finland. She currently serves as head of customer insight at OP Financial Group, where she is responsible for strategic customer insights and market measurement to support brand and strategy development.

Before stepping into the corporate world, Rantavuo worked as a researcher at Aalto University, the London School of Economics and Waseda University in Tokyo. Her research interests focus on sociocultural and interdisciplinary perspectives on business and strategy. She also co-founded the association Human Sciences in Strategy Finland.

“I look forward to discussing the lessons I have learned in industry in relation to the latest research. For example, I was involved in developing growth strategies at Spotify, where we combined data science and sociocultural research. It is experiences such as these from the technology and financial sectors that I hope to share with my new research community at Hanken,” says Rantavuo.

At Hanken, her primary responsibility will be to advance the new Markets & Growth initiative. Launched by Hanken, the initiative aims to strengthen Finland’s market capabilities by bringing together researchers, businesses, educators and policymakers. Its focus is on developing a deeper understanding of markets and customer needs, strengthening value creation capabilities, and transforming innovations into sustainable growth.

“We are delighted to welcome Heli as a colleague and look forward to having her involved in our courses and various events. Her experience and extensive network in the business community will also strengthen our research, particularly within the Markets & Growth initiative,” says Maria Holmlund-Rytkönen, professor of marketing at Hanken.