Sanoma built an AI roadmap for 100+ content creators

Sanoma leads the Nordic media market with 2,100+ employees at Sanoma Media Finland alone. Their Content Studio, Nelonen Creative, and News & Feature teams produce thousands of videos, images, and campaigns annually.

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Individual creators had been testing AI tools on their own. But uncoordinated experimentation held back scaling these efforts.

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"We needed someone who could see the full picture across our teams and translate AI potential into actual business impact," says Jenni Nummela, Chief Commercial Officer at Sanoma Media Finland.

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The opportunity was clear: how do you scale what individual creators had already started?

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First step: map AI opportunities and set the ambition

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OstraconAI started with 20+ individual interviews across seven teams at Sanoma Content Studio, Nelonen Creative, and the News & Feature creative team.

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The assessment mapped AI readiness across four areas: current infrastructure, team AI literacy levels, resistance points, and bottlenecks. The analysis revealed that some teams were already achieving 10x efficiency improvements with AI on tasks like versioning, translations, and routine edits. The assessment quantified the potential benefits. Millions of euros in capacity could be freed by transforming repetitive processes with AI and automation.

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AI adoption won't happen without alignment. The workshops tackled this head-on. Collectively, they defined an ambition level everyone could commit to, chose tools that integrate across the different teams, and allocated resources. Every decision got tested against one question: will this help us get "five days of work done in four days"?

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Fix the foundation before you scale

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The result was a two-year roadmap with five parallel streams. Each stream included specific metrics tied to real business outcomes. The approach balanced ambition with realism.

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Stream one tackles the groundwork. AI governance, usage guidelines, and license procurement had to be in place before other streams could progress.

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Stream two builds AI literacy through a two-year training program for all 100+ creators.

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Stream three launches a dedicated speedboat team for image, audio and video production with full access to cutting-edge AI tools, authority to select projects, and clear quarterly targets for reducing external production purchases.

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Stream four automates the repetitive tasks that slow down creative teams. Using Monday.com and integration platforms, project coordination, status updates, file handoffs and approval workflows run automatically.

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Stream five runs change management through the entire project. The change management plan focused on engaging and inspiring people while addressing their questions and concerns.

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"The roadmap gave us something we didn't have before: clarity on who does what, when, and with which tools," Nummela says.

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The roadmap is detailed but flexible

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November 2025 brings Sanoma's roadmap to life across five streams running simultaneously. The roadmap covers technology, processes, skills, and change management. It is detailed enough to execute but flexible enough to adjust as teams discover what works in everyday work. The framework spans two years with clear milestones and success metrics.

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"We're not just adopting tools. We're rebuilding how 100 people work, while keeping our clients happy and delivery schedules uninterrupted," Nummela notes.

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Looking to define your AI roadmap? Book a free strategy call.