GPT-Lab is a generative AI research group at Tampere University in Finland, founded in June 2023 by Professor Pekka Abrahamsson. It researches generative AI and software engineering across eight pillars, from the technical core of AI to its societal impact.

GPT-Lab was founded by Prof. Pekka Abrahamsson and is headed by Dr. Kai-Kristian Kemell, with campus leads Dr. Mika Saari in Pori, Dr. Muhammad Waseem in Tampere, and Dr. Jussi Rasku in Seinäjoki.

Where is GPT-Lab located?

GPT-Lab operates across three campuses in Finland: the University Consortium of Pori, Tampere University's Hervanta campus, and the University Consortium of Seinäjoki, with international operations extending to GPT-Lab Nordics and GPT-Lab Africa.

How can a company work with GPT-Lab?

Companies can start with a free discovery meeting with a GPT-Lab researcher, then progress through a 90-minute consultation, a half-day workshop, a 4-week pilot solution, or the 6-week Adopt an AI Researcher programme.

What is GPT-Lab's Demo Showroom?

The Demo Showroom, hosted at demo.gpt-lab.eu, is GPT-Lab's public gallery of generative AI prototypes and demos built by its researchers and students.

Meet the Speakers

View All Speakers ↗ ← Back to GAISE 2026

Alex PolyakovCEO, ProjectSimple.ai Prof. Tommi MikkonenUniversity of Jyväskylä Dr. Markus BorgKeynote Tomas HerdaPost Business Solutions Veli-Pekka ElorantaCurious Agnes LipovitsPost Business Solutions Sami LahtiKoivu Solutions Mika TorholaAtostek Janne KuivalainenDanfoss Drives Tapio PitkärantaSiili Dr. Markus KoskelaCSC / LUMI Juha ViitanenExertus Salla WesterstrandGoFore Juha SavolainenUniv. of Jyväskylä Dr. Mika SaariTampere University Dr. Jussi RaskuTampere University Dr. Muhammad WaseemTampere University Dr. Kai-Kristian KemellHead of GPT-Lab François Christophe & Konsta KalliokoskiUniv. of Jyväskylä Prof. Xiaofeng WangLUT University Prof. Jari StenvallTampere University Prof. Atte OksanenTampere University Meeri HaatajaSaidot.ai Henna HurttalaTyötehoseura Karoliina KettukariOP / Microsoft MVP Sanni PöntinenExecutive Track Prof. Pekka AbrahamssonExecutive Track

GAISE 2026 Program

GAISE 2026 — Program Schedule

1–3 June 2026 · Tampere, Finland · GPT-Lab, Tampere University

Autonomous AI Systems

All tracks · Common Room (Henrika 5–6)

Academic · Common Room (Henrika 5–6)

Industry · Henrika 2

Time	Length	Academic track	Industry track
09:00–09:15	15 min	Opening — All tracks Welcome & Program Overview Prof. Pekka Abrahamsson, GPT-Lab / Tampere University Common Room · Henrika 5–6
09:15–10:00	45 min	Keynote 1 — All tracks When Software Stops Waiting: Life in Autonomous AI Systems Alex Polyakov Common Room · Henrika 5–6
10:00–10:30	30 min	Coffee break — All tracks
10:30–11:30	60 min	State of the Art — Academic GenAI in Software Engineering: Progress & Open Questions Dr. M. Waseem, GPT-Lab / Tampere University Common Room · Henrika 5–6	Workshop — Industry 10:30–12:30 Vibing Ideas: Knowing What to Build When AI Does the Rest Prof. Xiaofeng Wang & team, LUT University 120 min Break-out Room · Henrika 2
11:30–12:30	60 min	Workshop — Academic Agent-first IDEs Tomas Herda & Agnes Lipovits, Austrian Post Business Solutions Common Room · Henrika 5–6
12:30–13:30	60 min	Lunch — All tracks
13:30–14:15	45 min	Talk — Academic AI Won't Save Your Research — Things Researchers Should Never Do Dr. Kai-Kristian Kemell, GPT-Lab / Tampere University Common Room · Henrika 5–6	Tech Talk — Industry Measuring Agentic AI Value Janne Kuivalainen, Danfoss Drives Break-out Room · Henrika 2
14:15–15:00	45 min	Tech Talk — Academic Fundamental Changes in Industrial Software Engineering Through GenAI Adoption Juha Savolainen, University of Jyväskylä Common Room · Henrika 5–6	Tech Talk — Industry Practical Experiences Implementing Agent AI in the Industry Tapio Pitkäranta, Siili Solutions Break-out Room · Henrika 2
15:00–15:15	15 min	Coffee break — All tracks
15:15–16:00	45 min	PhD Session I — Academic 15:15–16:45 Doctoral Research Presentations Dr. Kai-Kristian Kemell & Dr. Mika Saari, GPT-Lab / Tampere University 90 min Ia · Henrika 5 Ib · Henrika 6	Show & Tell — Industry From Task to Action: Why Agent Harnesses Matter Malik Abdul Sami & Zeeshan Rasheed, GPT-Lab / Tampere University Break-out Room · Henrika 2
16:00–16:45	45 min		Industry Talk — Industry Vibes from Herding Agents: My Coworkers Are Bots Now Veli-Pekka Eloranta, Curious Break-out Room · Henrika 2
16:45–17:00	15 min	Day 1 Wrap-Up Announcements & Day 2 Preview Organising Team Common Room · Henrika 5–6
17:45–19:45	2 hrs	Evening event Networking — City of Tampere Reception Old City Hall, Keskustori 10, Tampere

All tracks (joint)

Academic

Industry

AI-Native World

All tracks · Common Room (Henrika 5–6)

Academic · Common Room (Henrika 5–6)

Industry · Henrika 2

Time	Length	Academic track	Industry track
09:00–09:15	15 min	Opening — All tracks Welcome & Program Overview Prof. Pekka Abrahamsson, GPT-Lab / Tampere University & Kristian Valkama, Business Tampere Common Room · Henrika 5–6
09:15–10:00	45 min	Keynote 2 — All tracks Agents Code. Teams Erode. Dr. Markus Borg, CodeScene / Lund University Common Room · Henrika 5–6
10:00–10:30	30 min	Coffee break — All tracks
10:30–11:15	45 min	Panel — All tracks The Rise of Agentic Organizations: Leadership in the Age of Physical and Synthetic AI Opening remarks: Timo Savolainen · Panel: Dr. Markus Borg, Alex Polyakov, Karoliina Kettukari, Timo Savolainen · Facilitator: Sanni Pöntinen Common Room · Henrika 5–6
11:30–12:30	60 min	Live Demonstrations — All tracks Can AI Make Us Better Problem Solvers? GOD-model — Prof. Pekka Abrahamsson · Sovereign AI – Jiri Härmä · World Models — Kalle Kulonen · EU AI Act — Dr. Chalisa Sillberg & KK Kemell · AI & Automation in media (TARMO) — Johannes Määttä · Workflows with n8n — Sadia Bibi · Management simulation — Mikko Auranen & Dua Sultan · AI agents in problem solving — Sanni Pöntinen Common Room · Henrika 5–6
12:30–13:30	60 min	Lunch — All tracks
13:30–14:00	30 min	PhD Session II — Academic 13:30–15:00 Doctoral Research Presentations Dr. Kai-Kristian Kemell & Dr. Mika Saari, GPT-Lab / Tampere University 90 min IIa · Henrika 5 IIb · Henrika 6	Lab — Industry 13:30–15:00 Tools That Use Tools to Build Tools Dr. Jussi Rasku, GPT-Lab / Tampere University 90 min Break-out Room · Henrika 2
14:00–14:30	30 min
14:30–15:00	30 min
15:00–15:15	15 min	Coffee break — All tracks
15:15–15:45	30 min	Hands-on — Academic How to Jailbreak LLMs Esa Karjalainen, GPT-Lab / Tampere University Common Room · Henrika 5–6	Show & Tell — Industry Stop Comparing Language Models. Start Building the Agentic OS. Tiina Karhukivi & Mika Suominen, GPT-Lab / Tampere University Break-out Room · Henrika 2
15:45–16:45	60 min	Hands-on — Academic Architecting on AI Era Dr. Muhammad Waseem, GPT-Lab / Tampere University Common Room · Henrika 5–6	Workshop — Industry Think Small, Build Smart: A Practical Guide to Selecting Small Language Models Mahade Hasan, GPT-Lab / Tampere University Break-out Room · Henrika 2
16:45–17:00	15 min	Day 2 Wrap-Up Summary & Announcements Common Room · Henrika 5–6
18:30–22:00	3.5 hrs	Gala Dinner GAISE Summer School Banquet — Gala Dinner @ Harald Viking Viking Restaurant Harald, Hämeenkatu 23, 33200 Tampere

All tracks (joint)

Academic

Industry

Responsible AI Era

All tracks · Common Room (Henrika 5–6)

Academic . Henrika 6

Industry . Henrika 5

Time	Length	Academic track	Industry track
09:00–09:15	15 min	Opening — All tracks Program Overview Prof. Pekka Abrahamsson & GPT-Lab, Tampere University Team Common Room · Henrika 5–6
09:15–10:00	45 min	Keynote 3 — All tracks From Vibes to Engineering Prof. Tommi Mikkonen, University of Jyväskylä Common Room · Henrika 5–6
10:00–10:30	30 min	Coffee break — All tracks
10:30–11:15	45 min	Talk — All tracks LUMI AI Factory for Companies Dr. Markus Koskela, CSC Henrika 6	Hands-on — Industry Agentic Workflows and Artifact Representation Workshop François Christophe & Konsta Kalliokoski, University of Jyväskylä Henrika 5
11:15–11:50	35 min	Workshop — Academic 11:15–12:30 Orchestrating and Building Agentic Workflows Aidul Islam & Nasir Shuvo, GPT-Lab / Tampere University 80 min Henrika 6	Industrial Demo Session — Industry 11:15–12:30 Specification Driven and AI Powered Software Engineering in Regulated Environments and Beyond Mika Torhola, Atostek Oy How to Generate Production-Ready AI Code from Day 1: The Secret Is in the Skills Sami Lahti, Koivu Solutions Oy 80 min Henrika 5
11:50–12:30	40 min
12:30–13:30	60 min	Lunch — All tracks
13:30–14:15	45 min	Hands-on Lab — Academic 13:30–15:00 Agentic RAG: AI that Decides — Retrieval to Autonomy Toufique Hasan & Ayman Khan, GPT-Lab / Tampere University 90 min Henrika 6	Industry Talk — Industry Self-hosted LLM for Pull Requests in Embedded SWE Workflows Juha Viitanen, Exertus Henrika 5
14:15–15:00	45 min		Industry Talk — Industry Preserving Organisational Memory in the Era of AI Agents Navneet Arora, GPT-Lab / Tampere University Henrika 5
15:00–15:15	15 min	Coffee break — All tracks
15:15–16:15	60 min	Spotlight Talk — Academic Engineering Trustworthy AI in Europe: Compliance & Responsibility Salla Westerstrand, GoFore Henrika 6	Hands-on — Industry Using CSC Services for Research (Practical Workshop) Dr. Markus Koskela, CSC Henrika 5
16:15–16:45	30 min	Fishbowl — All tracks Where Do We Go From Here? Reflections & Future Visions Common Room · Henrika 5–6
16:45–17:00	15 min	Closing Ceremony — All tracks Certificate Distribution & Final Reflections GPT-Lab, Tampere University Team Common Room · Henrika 5–6

All tracks (joint)

Academic

Industry

AI-Native World — Tuesday 2 June

Executive · Break-out Room Emilia

Joint sessions · Common Room (Henrika 5–6)

Time	Length	Session
09:00–09:10	10 min	Opening Program Overview Sanni Pöntinen, GPT-Lab / Tampere University Break-out Room · Emilia
09:10–09:45	35 min	Keynote AI as a Boardroom Imperative: What We Lead When We Lead AI Karoliina Kettukari, OP Pohjola · Commentary: Prof. Jari Stenvall, Tampere University Break-out Room · Emilia
09:50–10:15	25 min	Expert Talk Productivity, Please — Efficiency in Finnish Workplaces and Organizations Through AI Henna Hurttala, Työtehoseura (TTS Work Efficiency Institute) Break-out Room · Emilia
10:15–10:30	15 min	Coffee break
10:30–11:30	60 min	Panel — All tracks The Rise of Agentic Organizations: Leadership in the Age of Physical and Synthetic AI Opening remarks: Timo Savolainen, AI Strategist · Panel: Dr. Markus Borg, Alex Polyakov, Karoliina Kettukari, Timo Savolainen · Facilitator: Sanni Pöntinen Common Room · Henrika 5–6
11:30–12:30	60 min	Live Demonstrations — All tracks Can AI Make Us Better Problem Solvers? GOD-model — Prof. Pekka Abrahamsson · Sovereign AI – Jiri Härmä · World Models — Kalle Kulonen · EU AI Act — Dr. Chalisa Sillberg & KK Kemell · AI & Automation in media (TARMO) — Johannes Määttä · Workflows with n8n — Sadia Bibi · Management simulation — Mikko Auranen & Dua Sultan · AI agents in problem solving — Sanni Pöntinen Common Room · Henrika 5–6
12:30–13:30	60 min	Lunch
13:30–14:00	30 min	Afternoon Keynote Where AI Creates Competitive Advantage — Managing Risk Environments Meeri Haataja, CEO & CPO, Saidot Break-out Room · Emilia
14:00–14:30	30 min	Expert Talk The Essentials of AI — What AI Can Already Do Prof. Pekka Abrahamsson, GPT-Lab / Tampere University Break-out Room · Emilia
14:30–15:00	30 min	Expert Talk AI Came To Work — But Who Is Leading It? Sebastian Sonntag, GPT-Lab / Tampere University Break-out Room · Emilia
15:00–15:15	15 min	Coffee break
15:15–15:45	30 min	Let's Talk About the Hardware Building AI Readiness: Data, Capabilities & Infrastructure Dr. Kai-Kristian Kemell, GPT-Lab / Tampere University Break-out Room · Emilia
15:45–16:45	60 min	See Human AI & the Redesign of Work / WorkAI Project Results Prof. Atte Oksanen, Tampere University Break-out Room · Emilia
16:15–17:00	45 min	From Insights to Action — Closing Conversation Reflections & Next Steps Meeri Haataja, Pekka Abrahamsson, Henna Hurttala, Sebastian Sonntag, Atte Oksanen, Sanni Pöntinen, Kai-Kristian Kemell Break-out Room · Emilia
18:30–22:00	3.5 hrs	Gala Dinner GAISE Summer School Banquet — Gala Dinner @ Harald Viking Viking Restaurant Harald, Hämeenkatu 23, 33200 Tampere Bus transport available for GAISE 2026 participants

Executive track — Tuesday 2 June

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**Program is subject for changes.