SAM News
Finlands första AI-mentorsförstärkta ledarskaps-onboarding – Hetki.io och SAM Headhunting Oy inleder samarbete
Helsinki, October 1, 2025 – Hetki.io, specializing in AI mentoring for leaders, and SAM Headhunting Oy, an executive search specialist, are launching a collaboration that will revolutionize how quickly leaders can take charge of a new role and start delivering value to the organization.
Traditionally, it takes months for a new leader to get fully up to speed. Now, Hetki.io and SAM are offering companies the chance to significantly accelerate this critical phase. Through this partnership, every executive recruited via SAM can, if they wish, access AI mentoring that brings modern AI skills directly into their day-to-day leadership and accelerates their path to results.
“It’s no longer just about who is the best candidate, but also how quickly they can deliver value in their new role. AI mentoring turns onboarding into an acceleration – results and direction emerge faster, and the leader gains stronger trust within the organization,” says Teemu Takala, CEO and Founder of Hetki.io. Hetki.io brings its AI mentors to the project, while SAM’s experienced consultants support the leader throughout the process.
AI mentoring, and the accelerated AI competence it brings, enhances areas such as understanding competitive landscapes and markets, structuring information, mapping stakeholders, generating decision alternatives, and planning change management and communication. At the same time, the leader learns to apply AI in their own work – turning these skills into a lasting competitive advantage for the organization.
Aiming to become an international player, Hetki.io is Finland’s leading provider of AI mentoring for leaders: this summer, the company surpassed 1,000 AI mentoring sessions with leaders, and an average customer rating of 5.9/6 reflects the trust it has earned. The collaboration with SAM brings this proven model into executive search and helps ensure new leaders achieve a successful start.
“For us, this collaboration is a sign of pioneering leadership and a strategic move. It’s part of SAM’s ecosystem strategy, where we partner with the best in the field and focus on our core expertise – executive search, capability definition, and leadership assessment. The AI-enhanced onboarding developed with Hetki.io is the first of its kind in Finland, and with it, we set a new standard for what successful executive recruitment means. This is a breakthrough that advances the entire industry and creates unparalleled added value for our clients,” says Leena Hellfors, Managing Partner at SAM.
Why is this relevant right now?
Business environments are changing faster than ever: technology, markets, and expectations demand immediate speed and agility from leaders. Traditional slow onboarding for new leaders is no longer sufficient – results are needed right away. At the same time, recent research from Aalto University shows that many leaders hesitate to adopt AI for fear of being labeled as failures if they do it wrong. This is exactly the challenge SAM and Hetki.io are addressing: by integrating AI mentoring into the executive search process, new leaders become productive faster, gain stronger mandates, and lead their organizations into the AI era with confidence.
More information:
Leena Hellfors
Managing Partner
SAM Headhunting Oy
lhe@sam-int.com
+358 400 323 434
Teemu Takala
CEO & Founder
Hetki.io
teemu.takala@hetki.io
+358 40 808 5819