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My name is Kati Vilhelmsson. I started my studies in the Bachelor’s Programme in International Business in 2015 and later continued to the Master’s Programme in Management and International Business in 2020. Alongside my studies at Aalto, I also completed the CEMS Programme, which is a management programme with global corporate projects and a highly practical focus. Currently, I work as a Customer Program Manager in the Customer Insights / Product Strategy team at RELEX Solutions in Helsinki, Finland.

Building a Career at RELEX Solutions

RELEX is a real Finnish success story in the technology sector. The company was founded in Otaniemi in 2005 by three Aalto alumni and is today a market-leading platform for supply chain optimization for retail, manufacturing, and wholesale companies. With AI-driven insights and automation, we help companies around the world optimize their end-to-end value chain. We have over 2,000 employees and offices in over 20 countries.

My job is to stay up to date on current industry trends by engaging with our customers. Together with my team, we organize seminars and workshops where we gather insights by interacting with customers from diverse industries who operate in all corners of the world. Through this close collaboration, we ensure customer voices directly shape our strategy and solutions. My responsibility is to gather and analyze insights that we turn into action with colleagues from diverse R&D teams.

During my three years in the company, I have already had the chance to work in different Product and Engineering teams, both hands-on with the software and now at a more strategic level, working closely with customers. I have been based both at the headquarters in Helsinki, Finland and at our office in Melbourne, Australia, for a six-month international rotation.

One of my favorite things about RELEX is the company's dedication to enabling professional growth. Getting opportunities to continuously learn new things by working on new projects and discovering new roles and locations has shaped my RELEX journey and tech career into something unique. The more you know about our products, and the more you connect with the people developing our product assortment across the company, the easier it is to understand the big picture. This is something I really need in my current role!

Fun Fact 

RELEX has many International Business alumni working in different departments, and we regularly keep in touch. My first manager’s manager in the company was also from the same programme. All of our global mobility team members are programme alumni (2 people, but still, the whole team!), so it was my fellow programme alumni from the same globally oriented studies who supported me with all the practicalities relating to the work rotation in Australia. Global networks in action!

A Global Mindset That Opened Doors

One of the most important things I have taken with me from Aalto, and especially the International Business programme, is the global mindset. 

Since graduating from the International Business programme, I have always kept my eyes open to international opportunities and never let myself limit my alternatives to my home country or region. 

This is how, over the past decade, I have ended up working in Hong Kong, Poland, and Sweden, and as mentioned, in Australia with RELEX. I have also completed exchange studies in France, Peru, and Norway. I come from a very non-globally oriented family background, so I don’t think I would have understood the value of all things international without the International Baccalaureate high school and the International Business programme setting me on this path!

All in all, one cannot emphasize enough the value of the presentation, critical thinking, and research skills the programme helps you develop, to a degree well beyond what any average university programme would do.

Advice for Current and Future Aalto School of Business Students 

My advice is to keep your eyes open for international opportunities, whether that means exchange semesters, study trips or excursions abroad, internship grants, or other opportunities to work abroad even for a short while. All global experiences give you perspectives you would never get by staying at home.

Networking may sound like a cliché, but you will be surprised to discover where you will run into the people you met at student events or via a university group project. These people will be your future colleagues, customers, and hiring managers, so try to be a good team player and always be kind!

I have truly seen the positive impact of networks both in my personal and professional life. I ended up at RELEX thanks to a referral from a friend I made at my first sitsit (a traditional Nordic academic dinner party). Luckily, I have already been able to pass on the favour by referring some talented people from my own network, whom I am now lucky to have not only as friends but as colleagues as well.