Lauri Naulapää starts as CTO of Fatman Oy

Fatman Oy welcomes Lauri Naulapää to its leadership team as Chief Technology Officer (CTO), starting April 1, 2026. Lauri already knows the company well. He worked at Fatman as a consultant in 2021–2022 and played a key role in building its technical foundation. Moving into the CTO role is a natural continuation of that work.

Who is Lauri Naulapää?

Lauri is an experienced software professional with a background as a developer, architect, and consultant. He has worked with many types of organizations and technologies, giving him a broad view of software development. Through his consulting work, he has seen how companies build their technology and use new tools, including modern AI solutions. He understands the big picture and connects technical thinking with practical work. He also enjoys hands-on development and likes to try out new technologies in practice.

Why we’re excited to have Lauri at Fatman?

We’re very happy to have Lauri on the team. He brings broad experience in software development and a strong ability to turn ideas into working solutions. His role is especially important in bringing AI into our products and services and in strengthening how we think about and build technology across the company. As CTO, he works hands-on and takes part in daily development with the team.

Lauri’s thoughts on his return and future prospects

What made you return to Fatman as a permanent employee?

Lauri: After consulting, it felt good to focus on long-term work in one company, build things forward together, and grow the team’s skills. Consulting often means changing projects every 1–2 years. That brings variety, but also short-term thinking and some uncertainty. With a young family, I value predictability and flexible schedules much more. At Fatman, work-life balance is genuinely supported, which was one reason for returning. I also get to work on interesting things with great people, without the bureaucracy and strict technical limits of a larger organization. It’s nice to come back and see how the company has developed over the years.

What should Fatman focus on in the near future?

Lauri: The key is long-term development and growing our expertise. We need to use new technologies in a practical way, both as tools and by building real solutions with them. Work is also changing. It’s not just about implementation anymore. More focus is needed on understanding systems, planning, and choosing the right solutions.

Our CEO Ossi recently said in his blog that companies must be part of the AI shift now or risk falling behind. How do you see this?

Lauri: There’s truth in that. The way we work is changing. Traditional coding is decreasing, while planning, specification, and system design are becoming more important. At the same time, responsibility and quality assurance matter more. Tools help, but people still need to make sure the result works, makes sense, and is safe. Code still needs to be reviewed and tested, even more than before. The final responsibility stays with us.

What does the CTO role look like in practice for you?

Lauri: The role came from Fatman, and it felt like a natural continuation of our earlier work together. I want to be a hands-on CTO, involved in both planning and development. In practice, that means staying close to the work and keeping up with what is happening in projects.

What is most interesting in AI right now?

Lauri: One topic that is still not discussed enough is the limitations of AI. Progress has been very fast, but it cannot continue at the same pace forever. Models are getting larger and require huge amounts of computing power, energy, and investment. We already see this on the consumer side, for example in rising memory prices. If nothing changes, practical limits will appear. At some point we have to ask what is reasonable to build and where it makes sense to use AI. It will be interesting to see where these limits appear and how they are solved. Development will likely continue, but its direction and speed may change.

Pricing is closely linked to this. In recent years, startups and other users have had access to AI at very low cost, often through flat-rate services with near-unlimited use. In many cases, this has been possible because services have been sold below cost to grow user numbers. This will not last. We are already moving toward usage-based pricing, and AI will likely become more expensive. This will push both companies and users to think more carefully about where and how AI should be used. We will likely see hybrid models: some tasks handled locally with lighter models, and others using more powerful but more expensive services from large providers. It will be interesting to see how this develops.

Lauri’s appointment as CTO is an important step in Fatman’s growth and technology development. Together, we build solutions that combine strong technical skills, practical work, and the new possibilities brought by AI.

Welcome back Lauri!