Humans of Eficode - Ilari Nurmi, Eficode’s CEO

What does it feel like to join Eficode?

“Joining Eficode is such an exciting opportunity for me. Eficode has made fantastic strides in the past years in building its position as the early leader in DevOps in Northern Europe. I see a massive opportunity for Eficode in building its presence in the market further. Eficode can be a truly recognized pan-European DevOps leader! Personally, I feel it is truly exciting to be part of that journey, building the next wave of growth for Eficode.”

“The thing I’m looking forward to over the next year is, for me personally: Learning. That means getting to know all the people at Eficode, getting to know the customers. As I have just joined Eficode, there is a lot for me to learn about the company’s offering, about the business and the processes. I am eager to hear people’s thoughts on how we can be even better at what we do, serve the customers better and conquer the world together!”

What inspires and motivates you?

“I am passionate and somewhat competitive person who gets a huge amount of energy from bigger and smaller wins that show that the work is paying off. This includes seeing happy customers. Seeing that we as a team are making progress in the path that has been set, seeing that we are conquering the market.”

“It is also really rewarding to work with talented people. I really enjoy work and people play a most important part of it. As I said, I really look forward to getting to know the Eficode people and our new friends at Praqma over the coming days and weeks.”

What are your hobbies and passions?

“Now during the summer time, or particularly during the summer holidays, I spend time sailing. You get to enjoy the beautiful Finnish archipelago, feel the wind and hear the small sounds of waves. It is also a fantastic way to get away from emails and the internet as you cannot really read emails all the time when one hand is on the helm and the other one is on the ropes. I’ve just come back from Åland islands where we took the boat this summer.”

“When it comes to sports, the thing that I am currently most excited about is indoor cycling. Last winter I bought a proper road bike and an interactive, internet connected trainer and subscription to a cycling service that allows me to train and compete against cyclists from all around the world, virtually, by cycling in the comfort of your own basement. You get an absolutely fantastic work out and a lot more results than just by trying to train alone.”

“Most of my free time is spent with my family. I have a wife and two children, Kaisla and Kuutti, who are turning 8 and 6. I love them dearly. Evenings and weekends are spent by taking the kids to their hobbies, playing with them, or just by reading some bedtime stories to them.”

What were you doing before joining Eficode?

“I’ve spent 20 years in international software and high-tech businesses in various roles. Heading businesses and running sizable product management, product development and marketing organizations.”

“For the last 6 years I have been part of the executive team of Basware, a stock-listed software company building SaaS-based procurement and accounts payable automation solutions for multinational companies. Initially, I joined Basware to head its product offering, but later on I was running its core enterprise software business and running Basware's global business development, building its partner ecosystem across the globe.”

“Prior to Basware, I spent almost 15 years at Nokia, starting originally fresh out of university as a business analyst in Nokia's strategy department. I did a long tenure in different software product management roles and finally spent several years running different marketing and go-to-market operations, being responsible for marketing of Nokia's smartphone business.”

Tell us one surprising thing about you?

“When I was young, basketball was my number one hobby. Being born at the end of the year and having very much an average height even as an adult, I don't have the height of the basketball player, but it was a fun team sport.”

“That being said, I have been part of probably one of the weakest basketball teams in Finland. I came from a tiny village in Southwestern part in Finland and we barely were able to get the team together. I can only remember a handful of games that we would have actually won during my junior career. And at the worst game, we lost by well over 150 points. At least we learned lots of humility when we lost consistently to the teams from larger cities!”

“I still love basketball. I don't play anymore, but nowadays my kids play in Tapiolan Honka and I spend time on the courtside. What I have to say is that my kids are however much better at their age than I was!”