Project Management in the Modern Era
Speaker:1 Sina Ghazi
Sina is a current board member and Director of Finance at PMI Finland Chapter.
Sina started his project management career in 2003, joined PMI in 2005, got PMP certified in 2009 and did benefit from the community PMI has brought together on a global scale. He began volunteering from 2022 with an objective to give back to the community.
He is a migrant entrepreneur who moved to Finland in 2019 and built up his company Innovategy Oy by becoming a freelancer on Upwork and selling advanced project management services to more than 20 clients all around the world (US, Switzerland, Australia, Germany, UK,...). Sina strongly believes in a human-centered approach to innovation—one that blends technology, leadership, and ethical principles that drive real, sustainable change. He is always open to discussions about AI in business, leadership, and future-forward innovation strategies.
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sinaghazi
Presentation topic:
Get started as a freelance Project Manager!
Brief description of the topic:
In a 30 minute presentation/workshop, every participant will be given a paper canvas and a pencil to identify their PM related core skill that can be offered to the world. Then we turn the paper and everyone will identify their red velvet rope policy items. At the end of the session, the journey will be shared and some tips and recommendations will be shared with the audience.
Speaker:2 Poornima Santhanam
Poornima Santhanam – Director, Talent & Organization Development
Poornima is a Talent and Organization Development leader with over 15 years of experience, spanning multiple sectors in her consulting stint and specializing in the Technology industry since 2013. In her current role at CGI, she plays a dual role leading Talent and Total Compensation for the Finland, Poland, and Baltics region.
Presentation topic
Pay Equity & Transparency – Emerging trends and the CGI journey
Brief description of the topic
The European Pay Transparency legislation has brought in a new rigor around bridging and preventing gender pay gap. In this session, you can hear about the CGI Finland journey in preparing for this new legislation and proactively building a diverse & inclusive workplace.
Speaker:3 Rupesh Gaikwad
Rupesh Gaikwad is the Senior Product Owner at OP Financial Group, Finland. With an impressive 20-year tenure in the IT industry, Rupesh is an accomplished technocrat and a recipient of the prestigious 'Next CIO Award.' His career spans leading roles in automation and innovation across renowned international IT organizations.
Rupesh's journey has seen him excel in various capacities, right from Software Developer to Global IT Manager, Senior Product Manager, Senior Business Development Manager, Global Technologies Manager, and Senior Process Owner. His professional path includes working with BMC Software, Tieto, Amdocs, and currently at OP Financial Group.
His expertise encompasses IT Service Management, Business Development, AI application in IT and business processes, and Robotic Process Automation. Rupesh is noted for his exceptional coordination skills, particularly in leading innovation and delivery within complex IT environments, transforming multi-vendor partner ecosystems, and managing large-scale digitalization and automation programs.
Beyond his regular duties, Rupesh has collaborated with MIT students to develop cutting-edge IT automation discovery methodologies and frameworks. He has also mentored Swedish MBA students, worked with the University of Israel on Capstone projects, and is an active mentor in the UnitTalent program run by the University of Helsinki.
Rupesh's thought leadership in efficient energy usage has been recognized through a publication and interview in National Geographic, highlighting his role as an innovative thinker in the field.
Rupesh holds a background in Computer Science Engineering and an MBA in Internal Business Management. He is a TOGAF certified enterprise architect, a certified machine learning professional, and a robotic process automation expert, among other qualifications such as MIT’s Disciplined Entrepreneurship.
Rupesh has been a chairperson and guest speaker in many global conferences during the past decade.
Presentation topic: Effective work model in adopting new technology with use cases.
Key topics:
- How the 70-20-10 work model can support a successful technology transformation.
- Key challenges in IT operations.
- Real-world Copilot use cases that enhance productivity and efficiency.
Speaker:4 Kimmo Kivisto
Kimmo has 25 years of background in Sales, Partner and Business Leadership in IT sector. Current role Director of Sales and Channel, priorities on Leading growth in both Software and Services business at Crayon Oy.
Presentation topic: Managing selling process of Security Services.
Brief description of the topic: In this topic we cover Crayon Oy’s Microsoft Security related Services, discover the sales process, how it’s managed and resourced with own and partner resourcing.
- Registration, Networking and Coffee : 15:45 - 16:15
- Opening Remarks: 16:15 - 16:20
- Speaker 1 Sina Ghazi (PMI) : 16:20 - 17:00
- Speaker 2 Poornima Santhanam (CGI) : 17:00 - 17:40
- Break : 10 minutes
- Speaker 3 Rupesh Gaikwad (OP) : 17:50 – 18:30
- Speaker 4 Kimmo Kivisto (Crayon) : 18:30 - 19:10
- Closing Remarks, Networking and Food 19:10 - 20:00
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