Ainia Solutions acquired the business of Sailer Research & Development – the start of a new era LIES at the intersection of technology and human understanding
Read about what Ainia Solutions’ CEO Ville Lukkari thinks about the purchase:
Autumn 2025 will stand as a major milestone in Ainia’s story: we acquired the business of Sailer Research & Development and took a bold step toward a future where technology and human understanding move forward together.
This acquisition supports Ainia’s strategy. We aim to be a future-ready partner for our customers, and this felt like a natural next step in the journey we have been building at Ainia for years. As the world changes, so do customer expectations and user needs. Technical expertise alone is no longer enough; we also need a deeper understanding of people—their behavior, emotions, motivations, and what makes services work (or why they sometimes don’t).
That’s exactly what Sailer brings: the courage to ask the right questions, the ability to look beneath the surface, and the skill to design services that truly fit into users’ everyday lives.
Humanity + AI = the next level of process automation
Ainia is especially known for building AI-driven process automation—solutions that make our customers’ everyday work smoother, from customer service to finance, and from operational workflows to information management.
Our mission is to free experts from manual tasks, bring clarity to processes, and build service chains that operate efficiently, intelligently, and proactively.
To design automation that truly works, technology alone isn’t enough. You also have to understand how an organization operates day to day—and how existing processes actually function. This is where Sailer’s strengths become a natural part of Ainia’s offering: helping us embed automation seamlessly into the ways people already work.
Sailer brings deep insight into what users genuinely need, how they want to use services, and where value—or friction—shows up in a process. By combining Sailer’s research and service design expertise with Ainia’s AI and automation capabilities, we can now build solutions that:
start from real user needs
fit smoothly into everyday work
improve efficiency without trade-offs
deliver measurable impact and better user experiences
This blend of human insight and intelligent automation is the force that will help our customers succeed through the challenges of the next decade.
Deeper target group understanding – the foundation for successful automation
Sailer brings strong methods for this, including:
user interviews
shadowing and workday follow-alongs
mapping service journeys
prototype testing and iteration
Ainia, in turn, contributes:
AI-powered analysis of process data
predictive analytics
digital workflow optimization
Together, this creates a whole where automation isn’t a separate technical add-on—it becomes a natural part of users’ daily work and the business itself.
Sailer’s services will continue – now as part of Ainia’s brand family
Continuity was one of the most important priorities for us in this deal. That’s why the Sailer brand will continue as part of Ainia’s service portfolio.
Why?
Because Sailer’s identity, investigative mindset, and the trust it has built with customers are valuable as they are. Customers can continue working with the team they know—while also gaining access to Ainia’s broader technology and AI expertise.
In practice, this can mean:
larger research programs
deeper data-driven insight
AI-supported concepting and agile experimentation
strategic support across the full service lifecycle
For customers, the outcome is simple: more value, more insight, and more impact.
Leaders’ comments: a shared vision for the future
“Sailer’s acquisition is a strategically important step for us. We now have even stronger capabilities to understand our customers’ target groups and build tailored, impactful service experiences for them,”
– Ville Lukkari, CEO, Ainia Solutions
“Joining Ainia opens up new opportunities for us to serve our customers even more broadly. I’m excited about what’s ahead—and about bringing our service design expertise into Ainia’s team, while gaining a great deal of AI know-how to support our customers’ research and development initiatives,”
– Hannu Uotila, Founder & CEO, Sailer Research & Development
Who are we?
Ainia Solutions
Founded in 1992, Ainia Solutions is a technology and services company focused on AI-driven process automation, service management, and intelligent solutions. We have delivered numerous projects where AI and automation create concrete value for customers.
Sailer Research & Development
The Nordics’ most creative research agency. Sailer is known for its bold research approach, service design expertise, and its ability to uncover human insights that turn into services that work—and make a real difference.
In closing
A business acquisition is not an endpoint—it’s a beginning.
Together, Ainia and Sailer are building a future where human understanding and artificial intelligence go hand in hand, strengthening one another and creating solutions that make our customers’ services better than ever.
If you’d like to discuss what this could mean for your organization, I’d be happy to talk.
Welcome to a new era of service development.
Sailer is part of the Ainia Solutions family. Explore Ainia’s AI solutions.
