Inside the CFO Office: Juuso Pajunen, Terveystalo

We continue our Inside the CFO Office series by meeting Juuso Pajunen, who leads finance at Finland’s largest private healthcare provider, Terveystalo. His journey into the world of finance and eventually the role of CFO began unusually early – at eleven years old, when he started working in the family business. By eighteen, he was sitting in board meetings, learning to read the world through numbers.

“I come from an entrepreneurial family,” Juuso explains. “Finance was always self-evident. When I was choosing between law and economics, I went with economics because it’s the most useful skill you can have, no matter what you end up doing.”

That pragmatic approach has defined Juuso’s career trajectory. Rather than following a rigid plan, he’s built his expertise by saying ‘yes’ to opportunities before having all the answers – a strategy that took him from Pöyry through the 2008 financial crisis, to AFRY in Stockholm, and finally to his current role leading finance at Finland’s largest private healthcare provider.

The human business equation

Three years into his tenure at Terveystalo, Juuso shares his insights into how leading finance in the healthcare sector requires a different approach than traditional industries.

“This doesn’t differ much from engineering consulting – both are people businesses,” he notes. “Seventy percent of our income statement is people-related costs, and the rest is essentially fixed costs: real estate and IT.”

It’s a reality that shapes every financial decision. “There’s no lever you can pull to get more output, no way to outsmart the market when buying raw materials. Everything – all production and value creation – happens between people’s ears.”

This human-centric model demands a specific leadership approach. For Juuso, it comes down to three non-negotiables: transparency, trust, and clear expectations.

“When you ask someone, ‘Do you know what you’re expected to achieve today and why?’ 90% of people should always answer ‘yes’”, he explains. “People need to know what’s expected of them, and we need to actively monitor whether what was agreed upon gets delivered.”

Juuso Pajunen, Terveystalo — *Juuso Pajunen, CFO of Terveystalo*

Building trust through clarity

Juuso’s leadership philosophy centers on creating psychological safety while maintaining high performance standards. “Trust and a safe environment are most important, and they’re created through words and delivered through actions,” he says. “First, you tell people how you operate, then follow through and execute accordingly.”

This approach becomes critical in healthcare, where one poor performer can undermine an entire team. “In other businesses, you might be able to tolerate bad behavior to some extent, if the overall performance is good. But when all production and value creation happens through people, even one bad apple can quickly spoil the bunch.”

The finance team at Terveystalo tracks performance through seven key metrics that must align simultaneously: growth, efficiency (measured through margin percentages), profitability, cash flow, customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction, and medical quality. “When all seven numbers are in line at the same time, you know the operation is efficient, functional, and sustainable,” Juuso notes.

Healthcare’s unique financial landscape

Leading finance in healthcare brings distinct challenges. Beyond the typical financial metrics, Juuso must navigate strict data protection regulations and ensure the highest standards of medical quality – factors that directly impact financial performance.

“We handle people’s most personal health information in our systems – information that doctors use to make the best possible treatment decisions,” he explains.

“We have an emphasized responsibility to keep everything secure. It’s not merely about managing risks; it’s actually a prerequisite for our existence.”

This responsibility shapes the company’s approach to technology adoption. While Juuso embraces AI and digitalization, he’s measured about implementation. “AI improves forecasting capabilities and gives controllers better tools for decision-making,” he says. “But we need to clearly articulate the risks and how we prepare for them before moving forward with any implementation.”

The paradox of data abundance

As Terveystalo, like companies across industries, becomes increasingly digitized, Juuso faces a modern CFO reality: exponential data growth requiring sharper judgment about what truly matters. “Data volume grows exponentially when you can measure everything, but the real challenge becomes understanding what’s actually relevant,” he reflects.

“The critical skill is distinguishing correlation from causation. Just because things move in the same direction doesn’t mean there’s a cause-and-effect relationship. You need a certain kind of business acumen.”

This insight extends to AI implementation. “While automation reduces manual work per transaction, it also enables higher transaction volumes and better data integration capabilities – creating new types of work even as it eliminates others,” he adds.

This or That? CFOs Quick-Fires

Reporting or forecasting?
Forecasting

Cash flow optimization or customer experience improvement?
Customer experience improvement.

Data accuracy or decision-making speed?
Neither is a value in itself. You can’t choose.

Short-term profit improvement or long-term investments?
Investments.

Crisis as catalyst

Juuso’s career was originally shaped by fortunate timing and his willingness to embrace uncertainty. He joined Pöyry during a period of rapid growth and acquisitions, gaining substantial responsibility quickly. Then came the 2008 financial crisis.

“When the crisis hit and companies needed to cut costs, they were willing to try young and upcoming people in demanding roles,” he recalls. “I was in the right place at the right time, as the financial crisis brought intense learning experiences in a very short period – that opportunity accelerated my professional growth.”

Juuso’s journey into the corporate world was guided by experienced leaders who became valuable mentors along the way. One piece of advice from those early days has particularly stuck with him: “When working in a group role, every question you ask from operations costs at least 50,000 euros. Think carefully about what you ask!”, he remembers with a smile. “And it’s true – when you send even a seemingly minor question through a large organization, people start searching for answers with dedication. This takes significant time and resources.”

Advice for aspiring CFOs

For those building their own finance careers, Juuso offers simple but powerful guidance: “Be curious. I’ve never really said ‘no’ to anything in the early stages of my career. But I’ve also had really good managers that I could trust.”

His second piece of advice connects directly to this point: “Choose your managers well. Working with good people is not only more enjoyable, but they won’t put you in a position where you can’t succeed or where they don’t believe you’ll thrive.” He speaks with clear appreciation for the mentors who shaped his journey.

The third essential, he adds, is maintaining that curiosity throughout your career: “I’ve always read everything I can get my hands on and talked with all kinds of people. Keep your eyes and ears open and ask questions – whether it’s from people or AI. Ask, ask, ask. That’s how you keep learning.”

Looking toward the future, Juuso sees the CFO role continuing to evolve beyond traditional number-crunching. “The finance function must help translate data into insight and support smart, timely decisions across the business,” he says. “In healthcare especially, this means ensuring that good real-life actions lead to good numbers – not the other way around.”

Juuso Pajunen

Born: 1981
Current position: CFO of Terveystalo
Education: MSc (Economics)
CFO Experience: 10+ years in public companies

Terveystalo is Finland’s largest private healthcare service provider by revenue and one of the leading occupational healthcare providers in Finland and Sweden. The company serves approximately 1.2 million individual customers in Finland with around 7.6 million customer appointments annually. Terveystalo employs approximately 15,000 healthcare and other professionals. In 2024, the company’s revenue was EUR 1.340 million. Terveystalo.com

Terveystalo has been Ropo’s client since 2016.

This article is part of Ropo’s CFO Insights and Trends series, featuring expert perspectives, key trends, inspiring financial leaders, and more.

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