Metsä Group has announced a strategic collaboration with Finnish AI company Qutwo to accelerate the next phase of its industrial artificial intelligence (AI) transformation. The partnership aims to integrate next-generation AI into key business processes, enabling more advanced system-level optimisation across the company’s forest-to-mill value chain.
The collaboration builds on Metsä Group’s long-standing use of AI in its operations. Over the years, the forest industry company has deployed AI to support forest damage prediction, optimise wood pricing, assess biodiversity values, and improve production environments at its mills. By combining these existing capabilities with Qutwo’s AI platform and expertise, Metsä aims to address increasingly complex optimisation challenges involving multiple interconnected variables across its operations.
The first projects under the partnership will focus on optimising wood procurement to maximise the value obtained from wood raw materials and improving production efficiency in tissue converting lines. According to the company, these initiatives are expected to support better utilisation of renewable forest resources, strengthen operational decision-making, and enhance competitiveness in markets where quality, efficiency, and delivery reliability are key differentiators.
Unlike conventional AI applications that optimise individual tasks, the collaboration seeks to expand AI’s role in coordinating decisions across the entire production ecosystem—from forest management and raw material sourcing to manufacturing and logistics. Such system-level optimisation can help improve resource efficiency while reducing operational complexity.
The partnership also reflects a broader trend within the global forest products industry, where companies are increasingly investing in artificial intelligence, advanced analytics, and automation to improve productivity, reduce waste, strengthen supply chain resilience, and support sustainability objectives. As demand grows for renewable, bio-based products and efficient manufacturing processes, digital technologies are becoming a strategic enabler of long-term competitiveness.
Qutwo, founded by Finnish AI entrepreneur Peter Sarlin and a team of AI and quantum computing specialists, develops AI technologies designed to solve complex industrial optimization challenges. The company focuses on enterprise AI solutions that can coordinate multiple business processes simultaneously while preparing organisations for future hybrid AI and quantum computing environments. Qutwo has rapidly emerged as one of Finland’s leading AI startups, attracting significant industry attention for its enterprise-focused AI platform.
For Metsä Group, the collaboration represents a natural continuation of its digital transformation strategy, reinforcing its commitment to scaling AI where it can deliver measurable business value. By combining deep industrial expertise with advanced AI capabilities, the two companies aim to develop solutions that improve operational performance while supporting the sustainable use of renewable forest resources.
The companies believe the partnership demonstrates how close collaboration between industrial manufacturers and AI specialists can unlock capabilities that neither organization could achieve independently. As AI adoption accelerates across heavy industry, initiatives such as this are expected to play an increasingly important role in driving efficiency, innovation, and sustainable growth throughout the forest products sector.
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