The pace of change in marketing technology is relentless. For many teams, it’s not about chasing the newest tools — it’s about staying strategic, relevant, and focused on business impact.
In this episode of Data Driven Voices, we sat down with Samuli Tahvanainen, Head of Marketing Technology at Sanoma, to talk about what it really means to lead MarTech transformation inside a large organization. From composable architecture to customer-centricity and internal education, Samuli shares practical lessons — and a few analogies that are easy to remember.
In this blog, we summarize some highlights from the conversation.
Leadership in MarTech starts with curiosity — and restraint
Like many in MarTech leadership roles, Samuli describes himself as inherently curious. And while curiosity is a key strength, it can also be a trap — especially for those with both business and technical skills.
“It’s easy to go too deep. You start debugging an API call and suddenly you’re acting more like a developer than a strategist.”
The key, he says, is to zoom out. In a leadership role, you don’t need to know every technical detail — but you do need to understand the big picture and make sure your team has the space and structure to execute.
From data requests to business outcomes — flipping the conversation
At Sanoma, Samuli has led a shift in how the business interacts with MarTech. Instead of reacting to tool-specific requests or data asks, his team now starts with a different question: What are you trying to achieve?
“When someone says, ‘I need this data point,’ I ask them to reframe it. What is the goal? What outcome are you trying to drive?”
By reverse-engineering from business needs, the MarTech team can recommend smarter, simpler, and more strategic solutions. This mindset shift takes time — but it’s what enables real business value.
Composability = flexibility — and future-proofing
A central theme in the conversation is composable architecture. Samuli explains that for Sanoma, moving away from monolithic platforms toward modular, best-of-breed solutions has been essential.
“Think Lego, not Playmobil. In a fast-changing landscape, you need a stack that lets you swap out pieces without rebuilding everything.”
This approach lets Sanoma continuously evolve its MarTech setup based on changing goals, capabilities, and market dynamics — without being locked into rigid, all-in-one systems.
Customer-centricity isn’t a mindset — it’s a data trigger
Many organizations say they want to be customer-centric. But as Samuli points out, that often translates into high-volume batch messaging rather than relevance.
“Just scheduling messages and calling it automation isn’t really customer-centric. The key is using customer actions as triggers — not assumptions.”
By running controlled experiments and measuring impact, his team can demonstrate that lower-volume, higher-relevance messaging drives better results — and gradually shift the mindset across teams.
MarTech and data teams need to blur the lines
As MarTech becomes more data-driven, the old model of “throw a ticket over the wall to the data team” no longer works. At Sanoma, Samuli has helped build a cross-functional model that embeds data capabilities directly into MarTech operations.
“We still have centralized capabilities, but our teams are multi-talented — with analysts, developers, and domain experts all working together.”
The result? Faster iteration, better testing, and a much shorter path from insight to activation.
The MarTech landscape is a toy store — and composability is your strategy
One of the most memorable analogies from the episode is how Samuli describes the MarTech landscape as a giant toy store:
“It’s like walking into a toy store and realizing you didn’t know there were so many options. You can build a spaceship, a bike, or a house — it just depends on which pieces you pick.”
Whether it’s Duplo, Lego, or Playmobil, the key is knowing what you need to build — and making sure the pieces fit. In a composable world, that flexibility is everything.
Inspiration for marketing, sales, and data professionals
Data Driven Voices is a podcast where Avaus together with industry experts, thought leaders, and partners discuss how to harness data, technology, and strategy to drive meaningful change and business results in primarily marketing and sales. The podcast shares actionable insights, success stories, and thought-provoking challenges to help professionals with new perspectives.
