Elisa Liekkilä: Growing her career across borders with data‑driven customer work

Elisa started her Tieto career in her homeland Finland but relocated to Austria in 2022. It has turned out to be a good move, in more than one way.

With her background in business, Elisa found her natural role close to the customer and solving their business issues.

- My journey in Tieto hasn’t been built on any specific technology focus, but rather on different perspectives to how we serve our customers the best and solve their business challenges. I’ve been working as a project manager and in various sales roles with the focus always on the customer. I’m in awe of our technical experts every day, but I also know the value I bring to the table.

Also within her sales and customer management peer group she does things a bit differently.

- I like to be hands-on and be involved in the deliveries too. That’s where we create value, further develop our approaches and solutions, and learn what our customers value the most.

This approach has obviously worked, as she has been working either with strategic customers or with customers with high growth expectations.

- I find it especially cool that I as a new, non-native German speaker employee here in Austria have been given the opportunity to be responsible for exciting customers.

Currently Elisa works with customers within manufacturing and the automotive industry.

- My team and I work with a lot of strategic data projects that build the foundation for our customers’ own capability to leverage data in for example in their smart manufacturing operations and service business, which is not only about the technical approach but also a lot about the strategic and organizational aspects to data.

Other topics currently relevant for the customers in Elisa’s portfolio are for example AI, IT strategy and enterprise architecture. Earlier she also worked closely with e-commerce and digital marketing solutions.

A good move: Relocating from Finland to Austria for new opportunities

Elisa started her Tieto career in Finland, and after six years the organization was going through changes. Why not make an even bigger change, she thought to herself, and started to explore opportunities in the company. 15 000 employees in more than 20 countries means there are plenty of them. Discussions with her manager led her to a phone call with the managing director in Austria.

- I had met the Austrian country head previously, but he didn’t know that I spoke German. That sealed the deal really. I packed by bags soon afterwards.

To many people it may seem like a bold move, and it wasn’t all fun and games for Elisa either.

- I have lived abroad during my studies, in both Germany and Mexico, but relocating for work is a whole different ball game. But working abroad was a longtime dream of mine and I wanted to push my limits and challenge myself.

And it has been a good move, giving Elisa ample opportunities for personal and professional growth.

- I work with truly brilliant colleagues here in Austria, which gives great opportunities for learning. There is also a difference between working at a HQ with over 1 000 employees as I did in Espoo vs. a satellite office here in Vienna, where we in the whole of Austria are only 300 people. There is a stronger sense of togetherness.

A Nordic culture that remains strong across borders

Despite some differences, the Tieto culture is pretty much the same in Finland and Austria. The Nordic way of doing business remains intact.

- What I like is the flat hierarchy, where everyone feels like they’re part of the same team.

The trust that is shown the employees is also a typical Tieto trait.

- You are presumed competent, instead of having to build up the trust. That also means that you can mold your own path and role, follow your interest and have a real impact on your own career.

This impact is one of the key reasons why Elisa would recommend Tieto to others.;

- Some people prefer working in a start-up due to the speed, freedom and the impact a single employee can have. I have a different take on it. I find it extremely rewarding to make an impact in a big company that has been around for close to 60 years. But most importantly, the best reward is the impact we have on our customers.