Business Model Conference 2025 highlighted research, industry perspectives, and international dialogue in Oulu

The Martti Ahtisaari Institute at the Oulu Business School was proud to host the Business Model Conference 2025, a globally recognized gathering of scholars and practitioners exploring the forefront of business model research on 11th and 12th of June.
Conference chair Professor Petri Ahokangas and Journal of Business Models' Editor-in-Chief Marco Montemari opening the conference.
Conference chair Professor Petri Ahokangas and Journal of Business Models' Editor-in-Chief Marco Montemari opened the conference on 11 June.

The conference theme this year was “Transformative Power of Technology in Shaping Sustainable Business Models.” The event opened with a warm welcome from conference chair Professor Petri Ahokangas, setting the tone for two days of engaging dialogue and academic exchange.

This was followed by an update on the Journal of Business Models from Editor-in-Chief Marco Montemari, who offered timely reflections on the journal’s evolving role in advancing business model scholarship.

Platform strategies and future business models in focus

One of the highlights of the first day was a compelling keynote by Professor Paavo Ritala from the Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT), titled “Achieving Scale and Impact via Platform-Based Business Models.” In his talk, Professor Ritala explored how digital platforms can help scale both innovation and impact by loose coupling – allowing organizational elements to remain responsive while preserving autonomy – and modularity – a systems engineering concept that promotes flexibility by enabling components to be recombined in dynamic ways.

The first day also featured a rich array of parallel sessions covering themes such as artificial intelligence, data-driven business models, ecosystems, platform strategies, sustainability, and business ethics. The variety and quality of presentations reflected the dynamism of the field and fostered lively discussions throughout the day.

The evening concluded with a reception at Oulu City Hall, where participants enjoyed informal networking in a warm and celebratory atmosphere.

New perspectives on business model research and practice

The second day of the conference began with an inspiring keynote by Professor Charles Baden-Fuller, who addressed the “State of Business Model Research and Ways Forward.” Professor Baden-Fuller emphasized the need to clarify the relationship between business models, resources and capabilities, and customers.

He highlighted how solution-oriented business models form explicit feedback loops between customers and the firm, allowing continuous adaptation. By orchestrating and analyzing behavioral customer data, these models generate new types of resources and capabilities, which in turn become sources of sustainable competitive advantage.

This was followed by the Arctic Business Model Stories session, which brought real-world perspectives from two very different industries. Daniel Fischer from Fingersoft shared insights from the mobile gaming industry, where the business model centers on individual end users – millions of players around the world – requiring scalability, speed, and constant innovation.

In contrast, Sanna Tuominen from EXFO provided a view into the homeland security sector, where the customer is typically a national government. This introduces a very different dynamic, with longer sales cycles, regulatory considerations, and the need for trust-based relationships.

The contrast between consumer-driven and government-driven markets highlighted how industry context fundamentally shapes not only how business is done, but how business models are designed and executed.

The second day continued with thematic parallel sessions ontechnology-driven transformation, advancing business model theory, and business model innovation in societal and urban contexts. These sessions further highlighted the diversity of research approaches and the growing relevance of business model thinking across sectors and disciplines.

Professor Charles Baden-Fuller giving his keynote presentation at the Business Model Conference 2025.
The second day of the conference began with an inspiring keynote by Professor Charles Baden-Fuller.

Closing remarks by the seashore

The conference concluded with a festive gala dinner at Restaurant Nallikari, beautifully located by the Oulu seashore. With sea views, good food, and great company, the evening offered a memorable close to an event that brought together ideas, people, and business model stories from different parts of the world.

The highlight of the evening programme was the best papers awards ceremony, in collaboration with the Journal of Business Models. The award for the best empirical paper went to Chathurangani Jayathilake and Fan Wang for “The Impact of Regional Incubation Services on Healthcare Entrepreneurship: An Ecosystemic Business Model View”.

The award for best theoretical paper went to Marja Matinmikko-Blue, Petri Ahokangas, Oxana Gisca, Arturo Basaure, Seppo Yrjölä, Irina Atkova and Marika Iivari for “Business Model and Sustainability Perspectives Framework for ICT – Illustrated by Joint Communications and Sensing in 6G”.

The conference also awarded some promising young researchers. This year, the Young Scholar Awards were given to Pasi Pussinen, in collaboration with Marika Iivari and Rashid Dehkordi, on a study on “Defining Data-Driven Business Models in the Context of Sustainability”, as well as Aigerim Dairabekova, in collaboration with Fan Wang, on Human-Centric Data, Ecosystem Business Models and Ethics: A Typology of Co-Emergence Under GDPR”. Martti Ahtisaari Institute congratulates all winners!

The event reaffirmed the importance of business model research in understanding and shaping the future of business and society. Next year promises another exciting chapter as the conference will be held in beautiful Ancona, Italy. “We want to extend our heartfelt thanks to all speakers, participants, and partners who contributed to the success of the Business Model Conference 2025”, says conference chair Petri Ahokangas.

Artist Eereka provided beautiful acoustic music as the sunset gently colored the sky.
Last updated: 19.6.2025