Seppo RonkainenLEADERSHIP · GROWTH · PEOPLE
FI
SEPPO RONKAINENCEO & BUSINESS LEADER

Clear direction.
Strong team.
Lasting results.

Seppo Ronkainen

I help industrial businesses grow by creating value for customers, helping people succeed in their work and improving business performance.

Explore my approach
  • Outotec
  • Kopar
  • Wärtsilä
  • Sarlin
  • Alligo

Good strategy
deserves strong
execution.

For me, leadership means setting a clear direction, giving people what they need to succeed and keeping my word.

I have led businesses within listed groups, private equity-owned companies and family businesses. In each, the task has been to bring people, commercial priorities and ways of working together around a clear direction.

I listen first. I work out where the business creates value and what is getting in the way. Together, we then agree clear goals, define who is responsible for what and establish a management cadence that puts strategy into practice.

Seppo and the Alligo team at Alligo Competence Days
Alligo Competence Days 2024 - Together we are unbeatable
01

A direction everyone understands.

Shared priorities. Clear choices. Enough freedom to do your job well.

02

Trust and accountability go hand in hand.

A strong management team takes responsibility for the whole business. The leader’s job is to help it succeed.

03

Results need to last.

Growth and profitability depend on good leadership, especially when conditions change.

Group photo at Sarlin’s 90th anniversary celebration
Sarlin’s 90th anniversary celebration, 2022

The results
speak for themselves.

Three examples of what clear priorities and working together can achieve.

ALLIGO FINLAND 2022-2026
+10%

Growth through a consistent approach to sales.

Revenue grew by 10% in 2025 despite difficult market conditions across the industry. A consistent approach to sales, stronger key account management and a clear management cadence helped the teams deliver.

Approx. €160M business · approx. 450 employees
SARLIN 2018–2022
0.5 → 1.2€MSales per salesperson

Returning a loss-making business to profit.

We turned the business around by developing the management team, changing how the business was organised and introducing commercial discipline and shared goals. We improved delivery reliability and project execution, and made particular progress in building a stronger safety culture.

Approx. €29M business · approx. 100 employees
OUTOTEC EMEA SERVICES 2010–2015
80 → 245€M

Growing the service business.

Revenue in EMEA services grew from €80M to €245M. We developed customer relationships, established a common approach to service delivery and expanded into several countries by setting up country subsidiaries and building local teams and operations.

Services · key accounts · international growth

Broad perspective.
Hands-on approach.

I have worked across technology, services and industrial distribution, with roles in Finland, China and international organisations.

Seppo wearing protective equipment during an industrial site visitSeppo in conversation at Sarlin’s 90th anniversary celebration
2022–2026

Alligo

Country Director Finland / Managing Director

Led a multichannel B2B business with teams across multiple locations and established a consistent approach to sales.

2018–2022

Sarlin

CEO

Returned the business to profit, developed the management team and changed how the business was organised. Improved delivery reliability and project execution, with a particular focus on safety culture.

OTHER LEADERSHIP ROLES

Leading change in different settings

Kopar · Wärtsilä · Rowize Consulting

Interim CEO roles, developing innovation processes and running my own business.

2000–2015

Outotec / Metso

Technology, China and EMEA services

Roles spanning product development and commercialisation, setting up country subsidiaries, building local teams and operations, and growing the international service business.

MY APPROACH TO LEADERSHIP

Listen more.
Speak less.

Understanding starts with listening.
Trust comes from what you do next.
Seppo making a heart shape with his handsSeppo

Time for
a change of scenery.

Long rides, good company and the northern wilderness. They help me switch off and give me space to think.

Seppo taking a cycling break outside a log buildingROAD CYCLING

One pedal stroke
at a time.

I enjoy long rides and the company of fellow cyclists. I have completed a 600-kilometre ride and am the founding chair of the Masterc CC cycling club.

600 km
Taking the long view
Seppo celebrating his finish with raised arms at IRONMAN KalmarTRIATHLON

Resilience.
And self-awareness.

I have completed two IRONMAN events. They have taught me to prepare well, pace myself and adapt as conditions change. And to stay positive when I’m being pushed to my limits.

2 × IRONMAN
From preparation to the finish line
A fell landscape with a lake and northern forests in the valleyROOTS IN LAPLAND

Rooted
in the north.

My roots are in Lapland and reindeer farming. The northern landscape and my family’s history are an important part of who I am.

The north.
Space to breathe and think
05 / CONTACT

It starts with
a conversation.

Whether it’s leadership, growth or what comes next for your business,
I’d be glad to talk.

Connect on LinkedIn