FAIR customers outpace national growth as digital capability surges
Companies using FAIR’s services grew their collective revenue by 76% and headcount by 30% between 2020 and 2025, outpacing both the national economy and the ICT sector. A recent survey finds the strongest gains in digital capability and AI adoption, with demand for deeper support growing across the customer base.
Text by Martti Asikainen, 28.5.2026 | Photo by Adobe Stock Photos
Finnish companies using the Finnish AI Region’s (FAIR) services grew their collective revenue by 76%, or €113 million in absolute terms, between 2020 and 2025, according to a survey and statistical analysis of the organisation’s customer base. Headcount across FAIR customers rose 30% over the same period, from approximately 1,154 to 1,501 employees. Both figures outpaced the national economy and the ICT sector as a whole.
The customer base is heavily weighted towards very small businesses: approximately 70% of registered companies employ between zero and five people. Software development, management consulting, and technical services form the dominant sectors, and roughly three-quarters of FAIR customers are based in the Helsinki metropolitan area — the capital region spanning Helsinki, Espoo, and Vantaa.
The group spans a wide range of development stages, from early-stage ventures to long-established operators. Around 46% had received a Business Finland grant by the time of the survey, and 11% a Business Finland loan, reflecting strong integration with Finland’s wider business support ecosystem.
Strong impact and AI adoption
Growth over the five-year period was driven primarily by productivity gains rather than rapid hiring. Between 2020 and 2022, revenue rose faster than employment, sharply boosting output per employee. Strong hiring since 2022 has moderated that ratio, though it remains well above the national baseline.
Microenterprises — companies with one employee or fewer — grew the most in relative terms, more than doubling their headcount over the period. Scale-up dynamics were strongest at the bottom of the size ladder, the analysis found.
Among respondents using FAIR for up to three years, 88% reported improvements in digital skills and capability, and 73% reported productivity gains. Some 76% said they had developed new AI-related services during this period, evidence that FAIR is reaching companies at a pivotal moment in their digital development.
The most widely used FAIR service was expert consulting, cited by approximately 60% of respondents. Those who used consulting and piloting environments rated FAIR’s overall value higher than those who did not, pointing to hands-on, practical support as the clearest driver of impact.
What customers need next
Demand for FAIR’s services is deepening. The most commonly cited priorities for the next three years were AI adoption support, particularly financing and investment assistance, alongside skills development and access to piloting and testing environments, especially in collaboration with public-sector and municipal partners.
Around 55% of respondents considered FAIR’s current service portfolio adequate, while feedback points to three clear development areas: lowering the cost barrier for early-stage pilots, opening more testing environments with public-sector partners, and tailoring services more precisely to different profiles and stages of AI readiness.
The results position FAIR’s customer base as one of Finland’s fastest-growing clusters of knowledge-intensive, digitally capable companies. Translating strong capability gains into measurable revenue and investment impact remains the challenge ahead, and it reflects a broader question facing AI adoption across Europe.
The question on every business leader’s mind right now is how to move from digital readiness to tangible outcomes. That is precisely the bridge FAIR is built to help companies cross.
