TRANSFORM-AI: Leveraging Leadership, Innovation, and Intangible Capital for Sustainable Growth in the Age of AI

​The TRANSFORM-AI project addresses Finland’s persistent “innovation paradox”: despite a leader in education and digital skills, the country struggles to translate these strengths into long-term economic growth. The project investigates how leadership, intangible capital, and responsible AI deployment can be aligned to drive sustainable productivity and renewal. Rather than viewing AI as a stand-alone solution, the project explores its dual role—both mediating and moderating innovation—through its interaction with leadership practices, institutional routines, and workforce capabilities. Organized into seven interconnected work packages, TRANSFORM-AI brings together expertise from economics, behavioral science, educational science, business research, human-computer interaction, and futures studies. It employs a multidisciplinary methodology that includes behavioral experiments, econometric analysis, qualitative case studies, and strategic foresight. Key data sources include international firm-level and labor datasets (e.g. Orbis, Amadeus, PIAAC), with insights and data co-created with over 30 stakeholders including ministries, regulators, companies, and civic actors.

Expected outcomes include scalable tools and policy recommendations to support bias-aware leadership, market-shaping strategies, activation of intangible assets, and inclusive AI upskilling. The project benefits actors from SMEs to large corporations, as well as public authorities, by providing validated models for responsible AI use and innovation governance. By embedding research into real-world co-creation, TRANSFORM-AI ensures relevance, ethical foresight, and long-term societal impact.