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Professor Heikki Mannila (PhD) has been appointed Associate Vice President, AI Strategy and Adoption at Aalto University. He will take up the two-year fixed-term position on 1 October 2025. Mannila will also continue as a professor at the Department of Computer Science at the Aalto University School of Science and as the director of the multidisciplinary research centre House of AI. In his future role as associate vice president, Mannila will report to President Ilkka Niemelä. 

Mannila earned a doctorate in computer science at the University of Helsinki in 1985 and has worked as professor at both the University of Helsinki and Helsinki University of Technology (one of the founding universities of Aalto University).  He has also held positions in industry. Heikki Mannila was appointed Academy Professor by the Research Council of Finland (formerly known as Academy of Finland) in 2004–2008 and served as the vice president for research and education at Aalto University in 2009–2012 and as the president of the Academy of Finland in 2012–2022. His research area includes data analysis and machine learning.

The goal of the university’s AI strategy is to enhance cooperation both within the university and in society at large

Aalto University is a trailblazer in AI research and education both in Finland and internationally: It coordinates ELLIS Institute Finland, founded in 2025 to advance the machine learning research started by the Finnish Center for Artificial Intelligence FCAI. The institute is part of the pan-European ELLIS network of AI research excellence and is led by Professor Samuel Kaski. Heikki Mannila directs the House of AI, a multidisciplinary research centre that integrates high-level AI research with other fields and collaborates actively with industry. 

Aalto University views artificial intelligence as a cross-cutting theme influencing all aspects of the university, including research, education, services, and innovation. Furthermore, the university believes that the impact of AI extends far beyond Aalto University operations, permeating collaboration among universities, collaboration between academia and industry, and society as a whole. 

‘I am delighted that we will have Heikki Mannila’s extensive experience and understanding at our disposal through this special role. In his new role, Mannila’s primary task will be to promote cooperation and collaborative thinking, thus creating an optimal setting for groundbreaking research and knowledge. The aim of the university is to promote the development of an experimental and innovative operating environment, where we can discover the true potential of AI through pilot projects implemented by the university community and research groups and be able to put it to use across the organisation’, says Ilkka Niemelä, President of Aalto University. 

Aalto University is currently developing its AI strategy in both the short and long term. Quick experiments, bringing people together and identifying and supporting pioneers create the basis for building and continually updating our long-term vision.

‘Artificial intelligence will change societies, research and education in many ways, some of which are difficult to predict. The field of artificial intelligence is broad, and in the development of methods, responsibility is a key factor. Aalto has done pioneering AI research for decades, and the establishment of ELLIS Institute Finland creates better operating opportunities in the field of AI research not only for Aalto, but for all Finnish universities. Multidisciplinary research combining AI with other fields offers a wealth of new opportunities for solving sustainability challenges’, says Heikki Mannila.