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Triple recognition for innovation expertise from the happiest country in the world

A Nordic human-centric AI transformation consultancy Hellon has received triple recognition in Fast Company’s Innovation by Design Awards 2026 for client collaborations with Metso and iLOQ.

Triple recognition for innovation expertise from the happiest country in the world
Triple recognition for innovation expertise from the happiest country in the world
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Hellon, a Nordic human-centric AI transformation consultancy, has received three recognitions on Fast Company's prestigious Innovation by Design 2026 list. Now in its 15th year, Fast Company's Innovation by Design Awards recognise work that combines originality, user insight and thoughtful design with meaningful impact for people and businesses.

This year's recognition spans two different client challenges connected by a shared theme: using AI, data and digital technology to make people, environments and critical operations safer:

The Metso Safety Performance Platform

an AI native solution developed by Hellon, was named a Finalist in two categories:

1. Enduring Impact: 15+ Years in Business

2. Small and Mighty: Fewer Than 100 Employees

iLOQ Battery-Free Smart Access

received an Honorable Mention in the Home category

From complex challenge to working solution with AI

The recognitions highlight Hellon's approach to human-centric AI transformation: bringing business strategy, human-centred design, data, AI and technology delivery together from the beginning.

"AI creates value only when it solves the right problem and becomes part of how people and organisations actually work. At Hellon, strategy, human insight, data and technology delivery are not separate phases handed from one team to another. We bring them together from the start, so the team stays focused on business impact and on building solutions people can adopt, and organisations can scale. Metso and iLOQ are strong examples of that approach. "

- Jaakko Wäänänen, Founder and Group CEO of Hellon

With Metso, a global frontrunner in sustainable technologies for the mining and metals industries, Hellon combined strategic thinking, human-centred design and engineering to create an AI-enabled safety performance platform for a complex global industrial environment.

With iLOQ, the Finnish pioneer of battery-free digital and mobile locking, Hellon built the data foundation needed to enable intelligent features and AI capabilities at scale in the future of secure access and connected living.

The 2026 results continue Hellon's track record in Fast Company's Innovation by Design Awards. In 2022, Hellon's work with Yara won the Established Excellence category and received two Honorable Mentions in the Impact and Sustainability categories.

Nordic roots, global relevance

The Small and Mighty recognition also reflects something characteristic of Hellon's Nordic roots: the ability to work with focus, combine disciplines and create impact beyond the size of the team or home market.

"Coming from Finland, we are used to solving complex problems with limited resources and close collaboration. In the AI era, the advantage is not simply doing more with less. It is making sure the right business problem, the human perspective, the data and the technology are considered together. That is how promising AI ideas become solutions with global relevance. "

- Jaakko Wäänänen, Founder and Group CEO of Hellon

Honorees were selected by a panel of leading designers and business executives together with Fast Company editors.

"The Innovation by Design Awards have always recognized the ideas that challenge convention and show what's possible when design is treated as a strategic force, not an afterthought. Congratulations to this year's honorees, who demonstrate how thoughtful design can solve meaningful problems and create new possibilities for people and businesses"

- Brendan Vaughan, Editor-in-Chief

Fast Company