Blog // United VARs

When Janina Luoto, Islet Group's CEO, has free time, she packs her tent and disappears into the Finnish Lapland Natural Parks; taking nothing but basic supplies and her love of untouched nature. She also enjoys cross-country skiing and hiking with her family and their two black Labradors.

Janina’s deep connection to Finland's natural environment is reflected in the sustainability-first philosophy that’s embedded throughout Islet Group.

The Finnish SAP consulting firm joined United VARs in August this year (2025). Janina says of their, "We are always early adopters of new technologies. We're excited to share best practices with other United VARs members, and to learn and be inspired by them too."

The company specializes in SAP business applications, data, analytics and AI, and Janina was recently recognized as one of Finland's Top Women in AI—a testament to both her technical leadership and her commitment to advancing women in technology.

From Global Experience to Family Business Leadership

After her mother founded Islet 27 years ago as one of Finland's first SAP implementation partners, Janina deliberately chose a different career path. She worked internationally in Indonesia, the UAE, and Canada in the telecom and aviation industries.

"I decided early that I wasn't going to mix family and business," she explains. But after a decade abroad, personal circumstances brought her back to Finland, where she initially joined Microsoft in a sales role before her mother and brother convinced her to consider the family business.

Ten years ago, Janina and her brother bought Islet from their mother, with Janina taking the majority ownership and CEO role. Under her leadership, the company has achieved remarkable growth, scaling five times in size during each of its two consecutive five-year strategy periods.

AI Implementation at Scale

Islet Group is a leader in moving from AI proof-of-concepts to production deployments. The company moved into AI implementation mode two years ago, deploying AI agents for customers across procurement, purchasing, data analysis, document processing, onboarding, and risk assessment.

"We found that customers who had started AI work weren't finding business value because their data wasn't of good enough quality for AI to make accurate decisions," Janina explains. "That's why we focus heavily on building robust data platforms first. The AI is only as good as the data foundation beneath it."

Sustainability as a Core Business Strategy

Janina's passion for nature inspires Islet's comprehensive sustainability strategy. The company has embedded sustainability into their core business strategy through three measurable pillars: people, planet, and profit.

"We want to leave the planet in better condition for future generations," says Janina. "We've been compensating for all our emissions from past years, and also from our entire company history. All our services are carbon neutral now."

For its midmarket customers facing increasing regulatory pressure regarding scope 3 emissions reporting, Islet's carbon-neutral services offer a significant competitive advantage.

Islet has also developed an academic framework for incorporating sustainability considerations into every technology project, examining how implementations can reduce emissions across entire value chains. The company participates in the UN Global Compact, has completed EcoVadis assessments, and has ISO environmental certifications.

Janina is keen to support sustainability practices throughout the United VARs global alliance: "We are happy to share our sustainability frameworks and best practices with other United VARs members so they can replicate them across global rollouts."

Fresh Faces Diversity Strategy

Just as Janina values diverse ecosystems in nature, she's built diversity into Islet's core business strategy. The company deliberately recruits professionals from diverse backgrounds, and over 60% of its management team are women.

"If I just recruit seniors from other partners in Finland, we're not growing the ecosystem," explains Janina. "Since SAP is focusing more on cloud technologies, we require different skills now. We look for deep industry knowledge and people who can think differently, bringing new ideas and a cloud mindset."

Islet tracks what it calls its "fresh faces ratio" to ensure that at least 25% of its employees come from other industries as career changers. This brings valuable customer-side experience and prevents the tunnel vision that can develop from working solely within the technology ecosystem.

Her perspective on competition is distinctly collaborative: "We're not in competition against other SAP partners. As an SAP ecosystem, we are in competition with other technology ecosystems. I believe we should try to win this game together."

Collaborative Global Delivery Model

Islet has extensive experience partnering on multi-country SAP implementations, regularly delivering projects spanning 10-25 countries beyond its Finnish headquarters. "We've always been super networked, constantly working with partners and freelancers on global rollouts," explains Janina. The company also has a subsidiary in Hungary for nearshoring services.

What sets United VARs apart from Islet's previous partnerships is the established alliance structure. "It's very different when there's an existing alliance where you know the people and their capabilities," Janina notes. "Previously, we had to spend considerable time identifying available partners, understanding their expertise and availability. With United VARs, we have easy access, a shared way of working collaboratively on global SAP rollouts, and better visibility into each member's strengths."