Establishing the Consortium
The two-day meeting brought together researchers from all four partner institutions to align on project goals, research approaches, and governance. A key part of this work was developing a shared understanding of AI agents — what they are, how they function, and what kinds of use cases are relevant in blue-collar work contexts. Each partner institution also presented its leading research methodologies, which opened productive discussions on where approaches converge and how collaborative cross-site studies can be designed.
The consortium introduced its industrial partners, representing a notably diverse range of workplace contexts. Use cases span from AI agents supporting large-scale port logistics operations to agents facilitating communication among multilingual workers in smaller Nordic workplaces. This breadth reflects the project’s commitment to studying agentic AI across varied real-world conditions, and provided a rich basis for discussing how academy–industry collaboration can be structured to address both shared and context-specific challenges.
Industry Visit: Valmet
A site visit to Valmet — a global leader in industrial technologies and one of the project’s Tampere-based partners — provided an important empirical grounding for the consortium’s discussions. Researchers toured Valmet’s UX lab, gaining insight into how human-centred design is applied in complex industrial contexts, and attended presentations on Valmet’s work operations and innovation practices. The visit offered a concrete reference point for the project’s research agenda on AI-supported work in industrial settings.
Looking Ahead
The kick-off established a shared conceptual foundation and working relationships across the consortium. Research activities are now underway. Further updates will be shared as the project progresses.