COO at SisuSemi | New Ideas Into Results | Expert in R&D, Product dev and Program mngt | High Tech Leader | ex Chief Eng. @ SCHOTT | ex Dir @ MSFT | Empower Others and be Better | Look Out More for Leadership & Growth

𝐼'𝑚 𝑎 𝐸𝑛𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑟 𝑏𝑦 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔. 
𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑚 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑏𝑦 𝑐𝑟𝑎𝑓𝑡. 
𝑃𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡.

That blend defines how I approach challenges: bringing clarity to ambiguity, guiding people toward shared direction, and turning complex ideas into progress.

Over 20 years across semiconductors, photonics, and AR/VR hardware, I have learned that great ideas only succeed when structure, discipline, and empowered teams bring them to life. 
Leadership, to me, is about balance - aligning vision with structure and innovation with execution.

I lead deep-tech innovation from draft to scale - turning complexity into clarity and ideas into impact.
I bridge structure with freedom, depth with progress, and people with purpose.

I build teams that move fast, think deeply, and deliver what others only plan.


𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐃𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫
• 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐄𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 – Built and led orgs of 36+, sustaining performance while prioritizing wellbeing.
• 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐕𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 – Developed roadmaps and multi-year investment strategies; embedded agile culture for long-term growth.
• 𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 & 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 – Brought AR display innovation from R&D to market at Microsoft and SCHOTT; achieved >35% cost reductions and 2.5x process capability improvements.
• 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐀𝐜𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐧 – Managed $10M+ budgets; secured multimillion-dollar investments to scale innovation.
• 𝐄𝐱𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐭 𝐒𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐞 – Delivered results across startups and global programs through resilient teams, robust processes, and scalable manufacturing pipelines.

𝐁𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝 & 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞
• SisuSemi – Co-founder & Board Member; strategy, investors, agile growth leadership.
• Summa Semiconductor – Board Member; governance, finance, transition planning.
• Community & Housing Boards – Leadership roles in governance, strategy, and engagement.


Today, I share insights on 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑝, 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡 𝑑𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑝𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑤𝑡ℎ - especially how to scale deep-tech innovation, build resilient teams, and drive lasting impact through leadership and board work.

𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬: 
Leadership • Strategic Planning • Program Management • Product Development • Operations • Semiconductors • Photonics • Technology Management • AR/VR Hardware • Manufacturing Scale-Up

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Note; The views expressed in my post are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, or thoughts, of my employer.

“𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝.”

I still remember one stretch goal from early in my career.

We were asked to 𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐚 𝐤𝐞𝐲 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜.
(For the tech-curious: increase max laser power from ~30 mW to 50 mW without drastically increasing drive current.)

It was hard. Really hard.
And as a team, we pulled it off. 🎯 At least I though so... 

When the results reached the market, something unexpected happened.
Yes... the max power was there.
But the 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧’𝐭.
(In laser terms, we had 𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑘𝑠... and everyone in this field knows those should be avoided.)

 I still remember our CEO looking at the data, shaking his head, and saying:
 “𝑊ℎ𝑦 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑘𝑠?”

I gave the most engineer-like answer possible: “𝐼𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠𝑛’𝑡 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑠𝑘.”

Technically correct.
Practically wrong. (Soo wrong...)

Kinks where there as we didn’t optimize those away – 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦 and would have 𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒖𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒍 𝒊𝒏 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝒐𝒃𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆.

That moment still sticks with me because it was 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐮𝐫𝐞.

Deep-tech is full of these situations:
Teams deliver exactly what’s specified... And still miss what actually matters

And here’s the key insight:
👉 You can’t fix this with more control.
👉 Better specifications alone won’t save you.
When you are doing something for the first time, 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞.

Yes - we need targets.
Yes - we need specifications.

But in deep-tech 
- Targets must evolve.
- Priorities must shift.
- Clarity must guide execution - not rigid control.
 
Engineers are trained to learn... but when execution starts, they’re often rewarded for 𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐬, not 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦.
Solving the real problem is hard – It needs learning and adaptability. It forces us to shoot at a moving target.

That’s why I’m writing a book on this topic: Why clarity - not control -  leads to better results.
If this resonates, feel free to DM me.

And in the meanwhile, I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments

Pasi Pietilä

COO & Co-Founder | Deep-Tech Scaling (Semiconductors, Photonics, AR/VR) | Strategy → Execution → Growth | MSc | eMBA Candidate ’27

𝐀𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 is one of those words that sounds reassuring.

You know...
We align in meetings.
We align on slides.
We align before moving forward.

Everyone nods.
Everyone agrees.
People are happy. 

And then… 
execution starts, 
and reality hits.

People are doing different things than expected.

Not because they ignored the decision.
That’s rarely the case.

When this happens, leaders often assume:
* People didn’t listen
* People weren’t committed
* People made the wrong call
...More often, none of that is true.
 
In reality the agreement was never the problem.
The challenge is the life - 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞.

And alignment built only around tasks doesn’t survive that moment.

𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬. 
 
As Mike Tyson put it:
 “𝐸𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑛 𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑝𝑢𝑛𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑢𝑡ℎ.”

Clarity rarely fails at the slides.
 
Sure... sometimes our message is not enough clear. 
Sometimes we just try to be too cleaver and fail to deliver the message. 
 
But mor often, clarity breaks in much smaller moments... Moments like:
* When we think others are heard... but never check.
* When we assume others think like we do.
* When people hesitate to ask questions.
* When we are not ready to slow down to ensure that we all understand things in the same way.
  
Then there is the other group where the failure often happens.
* When we don’t share our thinking...  because we are afraid that it won’t land.
* When decisions feel risky... because we might be wrong.
* When accountability is implied, but never clearly owned.
 
None of these are major issues on their own.
That’s why they are easy to ignore.

But when a few of these are stacked together - day to day, month to month - they create an illusion. 
An illusion of alignment...
 
Until reality forces decisions - and the gaps surface.
 
Now depending how things stack up, it might show up just as friction...
Often it shows up as frustration...
Sometimes as conflicts. 
 

Where does clarity most often break in your day-to-day work?
Comment below...

What’s the right answer when you don’t know the answer?

In deep-tech development, this is not a hypothetical question.
You are asked for answers you genuinely don’t have yet.

At the same time, you are expected to:
* build confidence with stakeholders 
* keep you managers happy with confidence and clarity
* give direction to teams
... And keep things moving forward

Honesty matters... but on its own, it rarely helps you achieve progress.
Saying “we don’t know yet” might be true, but it doesn’t help others navigate what comes next.

This is where leadership shifts from having answers to creating clarity.

Your role is not to remove uncertainty... it’s to help people move through it.

What many (especially the ones who haven’t lived this in practice) leaders do instead is add control:
* more reviews
* more detailed plans
* more checkpoints
* less flexibility
--> It feels responsible.... It feels safe.

But in uncertain environments, it usually does the opposite.
Progress slows.
Frustration grows.... 
... in the team, in stakeholders, and often in yourself.

Control doesn’t solve the unknown... It just makes it heavier.

A better approach is to use clarity as the navigation tool.
At this point, you might (rightfully) ask: 
“Yes, clarity is important... but what does that actually mean when no one knows the answers?”

That’s a fair question.
And it’s far more nuanced than it sounds.

Not because it’s complicated - but because there is no single answer.

Everything depends on the ground-level frictions you are dealing with.

I’m currently working on a book around this exact topic... how (deep-tech) leaders create progress in uncertainty by choosing clarity over control.

If this resonates, feel free to DM me.

In the meanwhile, share you thoughts in comments below...

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