How UPM and Keto brought strategy and execution into one view

From strategy slides to real execution

Most organisations are rich in strategy but poor in visibility. Priorities are set, plans are committed, and slides look convincing – yet, somewhere between leadership intent and day-to-day delivery, things fall apart. Projects multiply. Priorities drift. Information lives in pockets.

That gap between “what we decided” and “what we are doing” is where Strategic Portfolio Management (SPM) earns its place. It doesn’t remove complexity, but it makes it understandable and actionable.

During a fireside chat at the Gartner Symposium, Keto’s CEO Veijo Hyytti, co-founder Markus Halonen, and Philippe Brikké, AI Programme Director at UPM, discussed exactly how they tackled this gap and what they learnt along the way.

UPM’s portfolio rethink: strong practice, missing visibility

During the pandemic, UPM used the pause in activity to rethink how it managed its project portfolios. Philippe was asked to rebuild portfolio management for IT projects, and he introduced new methodologies, coaching and gate processes. Success rates climbed.

But one issue wouldn’t go away:

“We still didn’t have one place where we could see everything – projects, costs, timelines, priorities, decisions.”

To understand the problem better, Philippe even built his own tool in his spare time. That prototype helped clarify what a modern portfolio platform should do – and highlighted where traditional spreadsheets and systems were failing.

When UPM surveyed the market, Keto stood out for three reasons:

• Open data

• Simplicity of use

• Flexibility to mirror UPM’s own processes

Today, UPM uses Keto to manage four top-level portfolios: IT, Capex, R&D and AI – supported by around 20 business and functional sub-portfolios. The vision is bold and measurable:

Full visibility of every project, every change, every decision – in one place.

The real SPM challenge: connection, not capability

As Markus explained, organisations don’t struggle because their people lack skill or effort. They struggle because those efforts are not aligned.

Leaders refine priorities. Teams refine execution. But the connection between the two is often thin.

• Priorities don’t cascade cleanly

• Portfolios grow in silos

• Decisions rely on partial or outdated information

This is why flexibility matters. A useful SPM platform adapts to each function’s existing ways of working. “Many companies already have good processes,” Markus said. “The tool must support that – not force them into something new.”

Roadmapping: making plans that can keep up

One theme came up again and again: roadmaps must be alive, not static.

UPM manages a wide range of projects – industrial, digital, AI-driven, and R&D. Sequencing them, allocating budgets, and forecasting costs is complex enough. Doing it in a fast-moving environment is harder still.

Philippe highlighted the essentials:

• Knowing what starts first and why

• Seeing multi-year cost profiles

• Identifying dependencies early

• Being able to rescope and re-prioritise quickly

• Making all of this visible across the organisation

Roadmaps updated once a year are obsolete the moment priorities shift. Modern SPM requires adaptability built in.

UPM’s AI programme: value first, not technology first

In 2024, UPM’s CEO asked Philippe to accelerate AI across the company. The challenge: build a programme that is ambitious, grounded and measurable.

Philippe began by identifying the best potential use cases, validating them with stakeholders, and grouping them into 12 transformation streams across every business area – manufacturing, R&D, sales, finance and more.

But what stood out most was the portfolio discipline:

“Every €1 million invested must generate at least €1 million in value per year overall.”

And “value” is interpreted sensibly – financial outcomes, user experience and data quality all count.

The real enabler? A common data platform, UPM implemented years before. Ten businesses, different ERPs, one shared foundation.

“Data is the blood of transformation,”

Philippe said. Without integrated data, portfolio decisions are guesswork. With it, SPM becomes a strategic asset.

One lifecycle for every kind of work

Different teams often describe project phases differently. To cut through this, UPM created a universal lifecycle model for all projects:

Ideate → Study → Design/Plan → Realise

It now applies to: IT, Capex, R&D, AI and Business development. This unification simplifies communication, governance and tooling.

Markus emphasised that a clear lifecycle is a strong starting point for any SPM initiative – even in less mature environments. Decision points become clear. Governance becomes meaningful. And tools can finally serve everyone consistently.

Why usability is a leadership issue

Philippe was honest: if people don’t like a tool, they won’t use it. They’ll avoid it, rebuild their own spreadsheets, or find shortcuts.

He used a simple analogy: “When you buy a new car, you don’t go to training.” Enterprise tools should be the same – intuitive, fast and easy to use. Anything else becomes a barrier.

Keto’s design approach reflects exactly that. As Markus explained:
“If it doesn’t flow, people drop out.” And when people drop out, visibility collapses. Usability isn’t cosmetic. It’s strategic.

Towards more autonomous and confident decision-making

Throughout the discussion, a vision for the next era of SPM came into focus:

• Less searching, more deciding

• Automated insights and scenario options surfaced at the right time

• Continuous reprioritisation instead of rigid annual cycles

• Real-time visibility that brings teams into one shared view

• Human-centred design to support adoption, not hinder it

UPM’s next steps include integrating AI-driven natural-language access to portfolio information – “What’s the status?”, “Who owns this?”, “What did we spend?” – without logging into the system.

Keto’s next steps involve supporting even faster scenario building, high-quality data flows, and the seamless “consumer-grade” experience enterprise users increasingly expect.

Where organisations can start

Not every organisation is UPM. But every organisation can take a meaningful first step.

1) Acknowledge that spreadsheets aren’t enough
They’re useful – but not for leadership decisions.

2) Define a simple, shared lifecycle model
It aligns teams and creates a foundation for governance.

3) Prioritise visibility over volume
Knowing what you’re doing matters more than doing more.

4) Choose tools that support – not replace your good practices
Flexibility is a competitive advantage.

5) Make usability non-negotiable
Adoption is everything. No adoption, no visibility. No visibility, no strategy.

Conclusion

What UPM and Keto shared in Barcelona was not a technology story. It was a clarity story.

Clarity in decisions.
Clarity in priorities.
Clarity in how strategy becomes real work.

The organisations that will thrive are those that can see their portfolios clearly, adapt quickly, and lead with confidence. Strategy alone won’t do it. Execution alone won’t do it. Connected portfolio management will.

And that, in essence, is what one shared view enables.

👉 Request a Keto AI+ demo and see how real-time visibility and AI-powered insights can help your organisation deliver better projects – every time.

About UPM

UPM leads the global shift towards renewable and responsible solutions by replacing fossil-based materials with renewable alternatives. With operations in more than 10 countries and around 16,000 employees, UPM drives innovation across bio-based products, effective use of data, and sustainable manufacturing. Their portfolio spans IT, R&D, AI and major industrial investments – all aligned with the company’s commitment to long-term value and responsible growth.