A news story by YLE↗ tells the harsh tale of Godfrey from Nigeria, who graduated as an AI engineer in Finland with excellent grades.
Instead of building Finland's digital future, he delivers food for Wolt - and is now under threat of deportation.
Godfrey couldn't even secure a mandatory internship position, despite sending what he reports as dozens of applications.
This is not an isolated case. It's a systemic problem that threatens Finland's competitiveness.
Finland's Paradox: We Educate Talent But Cannot Utilize It
At Satakunta University of Applied Sciences, up to 50-70% of international students drop out from specialized fields like AI and mechatronics. Meanwhile,
Finland cries about talent shortage and AI utilization is considered critically important for European competitiveness.
Godfrey's story perfectly illustrates the gap between university marketing and reality: "I thought that when I complete such studies, finding a job would be easy as anything."
The Core Problem: Wrong Approach
The traditional model - "students secure their own internship positions" - doesn't work in specialized fields. Companies are urged to take interns, but companies don't know how to utilize AI.
Universities assume that international students would lead AI projects in companies.
This isn't realistic even for Finnish students often. Additional challenges include:
- Onboarding is conducted in Finnish
- Work culture consists of implicit and undocumented tacit knowledge
- Companies don't know what to do with AI specialists
Solution: Internal AI Breaks the Language Barrier
The real solution starts from systematically leveraging the strengths of international expertise:
Company-internal AI model that:
- Adapts to the user's background and explains things in their native language
- Understands cultural differences and explains them in the right context
- Creates strong semantic connections when documentation is confirmed in Finnish, English, and the international employee's native language
When we combine international and Finnish students in the same team, we get not only multilingual documentation but also cultural competence that is invaluable in global business.
Companies should, in their AI anxiety, focus primarily on structural knowledge and documenting tacit knowledge.
Integrator-PM: A Model That Works
Econ has developed the Integrator-PM model based on operational expertise, which solves the problem at its root:
Instead of "selling interns," we sell value and solutions:
- Identify the company's concrete needs (e.g., structural knowledge, Peppol, GS1 standard implementation, AI applications)
- Build solutions using expert and student teams
- One project manager handles both company project management and guidance of students and professionals
- Break language and cultural barriers, Econ acts as interpreter and integrator
Divides tasks by complexity:
- Identifies what students can do and what requires professionals
- Minimizes the company's workload - no need to understand AI yourself to benefit from it
The model is proven to work and has already created jobs in companies that initially had no recruitment needs.
Funding Opportunities for Companies
Companies can significantly reduce the costs of the Integrator-PM model by utilizing available EU and national funding:
European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) program↗ (€602 million in total) offers 50-85% support for employment and skills projects. The program runs until 2027 and provides continuous application opportunities for regional projects.
AMIF funding↗ (€67.9 million) supports integration of third-country nationals with 75% coverage. The funding is targeted specifically at employing highly educated immigrants like Godfrey.
Talent Boost program↗ is a program coordinated by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment and the Ministry of Education and Culture aimed at attracting and integrating international expertise. The program is specifically aimed at employing international specialists in Finnish companies.
Business Finland generative AI funding↗ is still available for GenAI-themed projects, even though the actual campaign ended at the end of 2024. SMEs can get 40-60% support for PoC projects.
Available in June 2025:
Funding enables companies to achieve significant savings in AI and digitalization projects while creating jobs for international specialists.
Three Pillars of the Solution
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Value creation first: Don't "push the student problem to companies" but create real business value
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Minimal workload for the client: Integrator-PM handles all project management and guidance
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Cultural and linguistic bridge: International and Finnish students in teams together with professionals create unique expertise for global business
End Result: Win-Win for Everyone
- Companies get solutions to their real needs with minimal own work and significant funding support
- International students like Godfrey get relevant work experience instead of delivering food
- Finland keeps top talent here instead of them leaving elsewhere or facing deportation threats
- The region strengthens as international expertise integrates into the local economy
Econ is currently preparing funding applications to expand the Integrator-PM model. The goal is to create a systematic solution that combines available funding, business needs, and international expertise.
Which is more incomprehensible: That a graduated AI engineer like Godfrey delivers food for Wolt under threat of deportation - or that we have working solutions and billions in available funding that we don't use?
Godfrey's story is not unique. He is one of hundreds of top talents that Finland educates but cannot utilize.
Perhaps it's time to stop repeating the same non-working model and start building a system that truly connects expertise and needs.
Godfrey deserves better. Finland deserves better.
The author Ilpo Elfving is CEO of Econ Oy and has been developing the Integrator-PM model for employing international students since autumn 2024.
