Mikon reaktio oli erityisen kiinnostava – hänelle nämä ominaisuudet
tuovat mieleen jotain hyvin tuttua.

“Tämähän on kuin 2018 – mutta parempi”

– Mikon tarina Podium Datasta. Mikko on pitkän linjan #Qlik-veteraani, ja kun hän ensimmäistä kertaa näki
uudet Data Products -ominaisuudet, hän hymyili tunnistavan hymyn.

Vuonna 2018 Qlik hankki yrityksen nimeltä Podium Data, ja Mikolla on siitä
omakohtainen kokemus – hän ehti työskennellä kyseisen tuotteen kanssa
ennen kuin se integroitiin Qlikin tuoteperheeseen nimellä Qlik Catalog.

Qlik Catalogin ydinajatus oli ratkaista se ikuinen ongelma: tekniset ihmiset ja
liiketoiminta ihmiset puhuvat samoista asioista eri kielillä. Mitä tarkoittaa
“asiakas”? Entä “tuote”? Catalogin avulla sekä data-ammattilaiset että
liiketoiminta ihmiset saattoivat määritellä ja arvioida käsitteitä samassa
paikassa – yhdessä. Mikon mukaan ajatus oli oikea ja tuote toimi, mutta oli
käyttäjän näkökulmasta kenties hieman tekninen. Visio oli aikaansa edellä.

Nyt visio alkaa näyttää todelta

Kun kävimme Mikon kanssa läpi Qlikin uusimpia julkaisuja, tunnelma oli selvä:
tämä on sitä, mitä 2018 tavoiteltiin – vihdoin kypsänä muotona.

Kolme asiaa erottuu erityisesti:

• Data saadaan kaikkien näkyville – Data Marketplace toimii yhtenä
ikkunana organisaation datoihin.
• Datan laatu selviää – Trust Score kertoo selkeästi, kuinka luotettavaa
data on. Ei enää arvailua.
• Dataa voidaan helposti jakaa eteenpäin – REST- tai OData-
connectorin kautta data liikkuu sujuvasti jatkokäyttöön.

Ja parasta kaikessa? Kaikki tämä löytyy yhdestä käyttöliittymästä: olennaiset
datatuotteet, niiden laatu, missä niitä käytetään, mistä data on peräisin ja
minne se kulkee – Data Lineage kertoo koko tarinan.

Miksi tämä on tärkeää juuri nyt?

Data ei ole enää vain raportoinnin raaka-aine. Kun tekoäly ja AI-agentit
hyödyntävät dataa yhä enemmän, datan laatu, löydettävyys ja luotettavuus
nousevat aivan uuteen arvoon. Jos AI saa syötteekseen huonoa tai
väärinymmärrettyä dataa, seuraukset voivat olla vakavia.

Qlik Cloudin uudet ominaisuudet vastaavat juuri tähän tarpeeseen. Kun
datatuotteet on määritelty selkeästi, niiden laatu on arvioitu ja ne ovat helposti
saatavilla – niin ihmisille kuin koneille – ollaan oikeasti valmiita tekoälyaikaan.

Yhteenvetona voinee todeta: hyvät ideat löytävät aikansa!

Podium Datan visio oli oikeassa. Se syntyi vain hieman ennen aikojaan. Nyt
teknologia, markkinat ja tarve ovat kohdanneet – ja Qlik Cloud vie tätä
kehitystä eteenpäin tavalla, joka saa kokeneenkin Qlik-ammattilaisen
hymyilemään. Mikolle se on selvästi palkitseva hetki.
Seuraamme kehitystä innolla Mikon kanssa ja autamme asiakkaitamme
Goodinilla ottamaan nämä mahdollisuudet käyttöön.

Terkuin, Mats (von Hertzen), GOODINilta

Kiinnostuitko? Laita meille viestiä!

2024 was a defining milestone for Qlik, as highlighted in our previous review by our Business Intelligence Lead and Managing Partner, Phuoc Tran Minh, in early 2025. Strategic goals were met, and the integration of Talend solidified Qlik’s position as the market’s most robust data integration platform.

But what lies ahead? 2025 and the beginning of 2026 have marked a fundamental shift in the ecosystem: moving from passive reporting to active, “agentic” analytics. Here are the key innovations shaping the daily operations of Qlik users right now.

1. From Assistant to Agent: The Rise of Agentic AI

If 2024 was the year of experimenting with Generative AI, 2025 was the breakthrough year for Agentic AI. Qlik no longer simply answers questions; it takes action.

These new AI agents execute complex sequences of tasks autonomously. They can detect an anomaly in sales data, analyse the root cause by comparing multiple data sources, and automatically generate a proposal for next steps – all without the user needing to build a query. Qlik Answers is pivotal here, integrating unstructured data (contracts, manuals, PDFs) into the analysis to ensure a true 360-degree view of the organisation.

2. Qlik Trust Score™: AI is Only as Good as Its Data

The biggest barrier to AI adoption is a lack of confidence as we know at GOODIN. Qlik addresses this with the Qlik Trust Score for AI, which automatically scores the reliability of data. As businesses build their own custom models on top of Qlik, the Trust Score ensures that AI does not draw conclusions based on flawed or outdated information. It is the “green light” management needs for automated, defendable decision-making.

3. The February 2026 Breakthrough: The Qlik MCP Server

The most significant update in early 2026 is the general availability of the Qlik MCP (Model Context Protocol) Server. This is a game-changer for AI Interoperability.

Rather than locking your data inside a single platform, MCP acts as a universal “USB-C port” for AI. It allows third-party assistants – such as Anthropic Claude, Microsoft Copilot, or your own internal LLMs – to securely “reach into” Qlik’s engine. This means your external AI tools can use Qlik’s governed measures and logic to provide answers that are actually accurate and grounded in your business reality. Here is more info!

“Qlik has gone so far beyond visualisations and dashboards: it has become the trusted intelligence layer for your entire enterprise AI ecosystem.”

Says Phuoc Tran Minh

4. Next-Level Integration: The Open Lakehouse

The Qlik-Talend merger has matured into a seamless Open Lakehouse architecture. In 2026, there is a massive emphasis on real-time data movement across Snowflake, Databricks, and AWS. Native support for the Apache Iceberg format allows enterprises to store vast quantities of data cost-effectively while avoiding vendor lock-in. Data quality is now managed by AI-assisted tools that rectify errors automatically as data moves through your pipelines.

5. User Experience: Beyond the Dashboard

Analytics visualisation has undergone a significant makeover to drive operations, not just viewing: Write-back Capabilities: Users can now modify or input data directly from a Qlik sheet back into source systems (like CRMs or ERPs). Discovery Agents: New “always-on” agents monitor your metrics 24/7 and proactively alert you to meaningful trends or anomalies before you even open a dashboard.

Conversational Interface: Interacting with data through natural language is now the standard. The dashboard has evolved from a primary interface into a supporting visual for deeper context.

Towards Autonomous Analytics

At GOODIN, we have followed Qlik’s journey closely, and the direction is clear: analytics is shifting from the “rear-view mirror” to real-time operational guidance. The Qlik MCP capabilities added in late February 2026 represent a “safe harbour” moment – providing a standardised, governed way to connect any AI tool to your most valuable data.

“The innovations of 2025–2026 represent a new era where data is a company’s most active asset. Agentic capabilities are already delivering massive value to end-users by automating the “boring” parts of data analysis and focusing on what matters: action.”

says Mikko Kuusela.

Is your organisation ready to leverage Qlik’s latest Agentic and MCP capabilities? At GOODIN, we help you translate technology into measurable business value and can train your entire organisation to make use of data and AI.

Reach out to our CEO Jarmo Rajala or Mikko Kuusela, Petri Viljanen, or Siru Saaristo. We are happy to help you find better ways to get the most out of your data and AI!

Our Business Development Lead Mikko Kuusela has worked in analytics for nearly three decades. This is the story of what he learned – and why one question stayed with him the entire journey.

Mikko has a habit of saying that his career has become more technical than he ever imagined as a young economics student.
But perhaps that’s exactly why he has held so firmly to one core idea. The most important job of technology is not to look complex. Its job is to help people succeed.

Where it all began

The year is 1997. Mikko starts his career at BasWare, working with budgeting and forecasting systems. Oracle consulting follows, then reporting, then business. Early on, a conviction takes shape that never changes:

The best solutions do not emerge on technology’s terms. They emerge when technology genuinely serves the business – with people at the centre.
In 2005, Mikko returns to BasWare and encounters QlikView. It changes his thinking. It is no longer just about reporting, but about analytics: the opportunity to understand the business more deeply, to spot patterns, to make better decisions.

#Qlik technology has been part of his career ever since. Around 20 years in total, more than 15 of them with Qlik directly.

The question that never went away

Alongside everything he learned, one thing kept nagging at Mikko. What if data entry could live in the same interface?
If viewing, analysing, and updating information could all happen in one place, a solution like that would serve the business in an entirely different way. No separate Excel files. No system-hopping. No unnecessary intermediate steps.

It’s a question he has heard from clients over the years countless times, too.

The answer arrived six months ago.

About six months ago, Mikko came across #Inphinity. He was immediately excited.

Inphinity enables data entry directly within Qlik – in the same interface where data is also analysed. No more separate processes, no more separate systems. One environment, one whole.

The concrete impact was visible quickly. In a client project, key metrics from around 50 companies were brought together into a single Qlik environment. Data entry, review, and utilisation – all in one place. It worked.

Why this matters – from a data empathy perspective

At GOODIN, we talk about data empathy. It simply means that data and solutions are not built for systems – they are built for people. Understanding users’ day-to-day reality and understanding what stories the data tells. Understanding the genuine needs of the business. Building something people will actually use.

When the process feels natural, users trust the data. When users trust the data, the organisation makes better decisions.
That is exactly what Inphinity delivers – and exactly what Mikko’s story is about.

30 years in analytics creates a certain level of #DataEmpathy

“The job of technology is not to look complex. It’s job is to help people succeed.” — Mikko Kuusela, GOODIN

#GoodIn #DataEmpathy #Qlik #Inphinity #Analytics #PeopleOverProcesses

Business Intelligence (BI) has emerged as a cornerstone for organisations, providing tools and techniques to turn raw data into actionable insights. Something GOODIN’s Jarmo Rajala has been consulting on for two decades.

But what is the real-life impact of data and BI on decision-making, and how can AI enhance this process? This is the high-level topic of The AI MIXER GOODIN is hosting together with Nieve and Fusion Ecosystem this week.

GOODIN’s very own Atte Ailio has been on the implementation side leading processes of tech and BI investments for 20 years and has a clear idea of the issues related to actually getting people to get involved.

From a company perspective here are probably the corner stones of why leveraging BI and AI is important in the future:

1. Informed Decision-Making: The impact of data and BI on decision-making is profound. By analysing historical data and current trends, organisations can make informed choices about strategy, resource allocation, and operations at large and in detail. Real-life benefits include cost savings, improved efficiency, and better customer as well as staff experiences.
2. Predictive Analytics: AI plays a pivotal role in BI by enabling predictive analytics. Machine learning algorithms can forecast future trends and outcomes based on historical data. This empowers businesses to proactively address challenges and seize opportunities, leading to more confident decision-making. And as change is the only certain constant, having some predictive analytics to help you with your decisions is pretty invaluable.
3. Personalised Experiences: Data and BI are instrumental in understanding customer behaviour. AI-driven personalisation takes this a step further by tailoring experiences, products, and services to individual preferences. The impact is seen in increased customer satisfaction, loyalty, and revenue. And this does not always have to mean massive investments as we learned at the Google Cloud Summit.
4. Risk Management: Businesses can use data and BI to identify potential risks and vulnerabilities. AI algorithms can continuously monitor data streams and alert decision-makers to emerging threats. This proactive approach can mitigate financial losses and protect a company’s reputation.
5. Resource Optimisation: AI, when integrated with BI, can optimise resource allocation. Whether it’s managing inventory, workforce scheduling, or marketing budgets, AI-driven recommendations help organisations allocate resources efficiently and cost-effectively.
6. Real-time Insights: In a fast-paced world, real-time insights are invaluable. AI-driven BI systems can process data streams in real time, allowing businesses to respond to changing conditions instantly. This agility is vital in industries such as finance, e-commerce, and healthcare to name but a few.

And last but most definitely not the least:

Improved Quality of Life: The impact of data, BI, and AI is not limited to business alone. In healthcare, for example, these technologies facilitate early disease detection, leading to better patient outcomes. In sustainability questions data is vital.

As a concrete example of this is for instance the enhancing the quality of life on a personal level when thinking of the commute to home or work when Data and AI is utilised in urban planning. With the help of them it is possible to effectively optimise traffic flows hence reducing for instance commute times.

The available technologies empower organisations to make informed choices, optimise resources, and deliver personalised experiences. When combined with AI, the benefits are multiplied, enabling predictive analytics, real-time insights, and risk management.

The Learnings?

The synergy of data, BI, and AI is transforming industries. To remain competitive businesses must embrace this data & AI revolution BUT NEVER forget about the human in the middle.

Want to talk with us some more?