AI Speaker & Entrepreneur

28 years building
technology.
Here's what actually works.

From Nokia to Microsoft to F-Secure to A-CX — I've shipped products to tens of millions of people across five continents. I speak about AI the way it works in practice, not in demos.

Mikko Peltola on stage
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Co-Founder & COO · A-CX
Career & speaking background
Speaking topics

What I talk about on stage

Each talk is built from real experience — implementations that worked, ones that didn't, and the decisions that made the difference.

01

AI in Practice

Most AI conversations happen at 30,000 feet. This one doesn't. What does it actually take to move from pilot to production? What breaks, what holds, and what leadership decisions determine the outcome?

Generative AI Agentic AI Decision-makers
02

AI Governance & Security

When AI touches your revenue, operations, and workforce, informal governance stops working. Who decides? Who's accountable? What happens when something fails? Practical frameworks for organizations that need answers now.

AI Governance Cybersecurity EU AI Act
03

Building Products That Scale

I led 30 product managers at Nokia and helped deliver products on tens of millions of phones. Then a startup. The principles that hold across both aren't what most people expect.

Product Management Innovation Engineering
04

Entrepreneurship Without a Script

We co-founded A-CX just before a global pandemic. No script for what came next. What does building a company across three continents, two cultures, and a global crisis actually teach you?

Entrepreneurship Leadership Global
Watch me speak

On stage & on screen

All recordings on YouTube →
Cloud & Collaboration Summit · Irving, TX · 2024
Your Path to Success with AI-Enhanced Products
EACC Texas EU-Texas Forum · Dallas, TX · 2023
Future of Work with Generative AI
FutureTech · Oulu, Finland · 2023
Future Landscapes of Generative AI in Business
About Mikko

I've been building technology since before most people knew what a product manager was.

My career started in network management for European and Middle Eastern telecoms. Then Nokia — where I led a team of 30 product managers and shipped award-winning products to tens of millions of phones. Then Microsoft, building developer tools. Then F-Secure, heading corporate business across North America.

In 2020, Ilpo Niva and I co-founded A-CX — a boutique AI and software engineering company — right before a global pandemic made "boutique startup" feel like an optimistic description. We're still here. Now we help organizations move from AI experimentation to AI that actually runs in production.

I hold two master's degrees — Engineering and Economics — and I'm a second-dan black belt in judo. I've visited 76 countries across six continents, lived in five countries, and hold dual citizenship in Finland and the USA. I currently live in the DFW area, TX. These facts come up in talks more than you'd expect.

28+
Years in tech
76
Countries visited
13+
AI talks on record
  • Nokia · led 30 product managers · tens of millions of phones shipped
  • Microsoft · Developer Experience
  • F-Secure · North America corporate business
  • A-CX · Co-Founder & COO · AI-native software engineering
  • Dual citizen: Finland & USA · Based in Dallas, TX
  • MSc Engineering · MSc Economics · 2nd Dan judo · 200+ scuba dives
Mikko Peltola speaking at the EACC Texas EU-Texas Forum
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European American Chamber of Commerce Texas · Dallas · Nov 2023
Outside the office

There's more to me than product roadmaps and AI governance frameworks.

🥋
Judo for 40 years

2nd dan black belt. I've competed, instructed, and coached. Judo taught me more about resilience and reading a room than any business course I've taken.

🤿
200+ dives on six continents

Advanced open water diver. I've been underwater in places most people haven't been above ground. Scuba and judo explain my travel map better than work does.

🌍
Five countries, six cities

Helsinki, Milan, London, Beijing, Silicon Valley, Dallas — dual citizen of Finland and the USA, father of three teenagers who've heard enough travel stories for a lifetime.

Mikko Peltola — judo
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Mikko Peltola — scuba diving
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Mikko Peltola — outdoors
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Book Mikko

Let's talk about your event.

I speak at corporate conferences, industry events, and community gatherings across the US and Finland. Every talk is tailored to the audience — I don't do off-the-shelf.