August 4, 2025

Spotlighting the Quant veterans: Pia Ahtiainen

In 2025, we are celebrating Quant’s 10-year anniversary as an independent company. Some of our professionals have been part of our journey since the early days and one of them is Pia Ahtiainen, Group Quality & ESG Manager.

Originally part of ABB, Quant became an independent company in 2015. Pia Ahtianen, now working as Group Quality & ESG Manager, is among the dedicated employees who were already part of the organization before the carve-out. Since then, she has grown her career in parallel with Quant’s evolution, taking on increasing responsibilities and playing a key role in shaping the company’s journey.

– It was a very cold February morning in 2001 when I started my career in ABB in Oulu, Finland. I was not really sure what the job was all about and what to expect, but I had a good feeling about the people I had met and was going to work with. Since then, I have been really privileged to have had the chance to work in different roles in many places across the world – and with great people, she says.

– In Quant, I really appreciate the opportunities I have had to develop, both professionally and as a person. I have studied and learned new things and been involved in interesting projects, from feasibility studies to site start-ups, and from OHS to process development. The latest new area for me has been to dive deeper into the world of sustainability and support Quant in this area. But to be honest, the best thing about this journey has been the chance to meet and work with such multitalented, professional, knowledgeable, and fun people as we have in Quant.

“That drives us forward as a company”

And the people is a recurring topic when Pia reflects on the past decade. Describing how Quant has evolved as a company since the start, Pia emphasizes the role of employees driving the development and success of the company, having shaped Quant into what it is today. She highlights the importance of the strong company culture where colleagues share experiences, support each other, and are constantly striving to improve.

– We have always been a very customer focused business, and still are, but now I think that we are much more agile to work together with our customers and respond to their needs. We have this great culture of people and teams working together to find the best solutions considering all stakeholders. And this is supported by our strong process-oriented management culture which enables us to work efficiently and innovatively yet delivering high quality maintenance and other services we can all be proud of, she says.

– Maintenance if anything is a people business, and I think that unifies us. I feel that many people in our organization have this drive at work because they have a passion for this business and to make Quant a great place to work. Safety has been one of the cornerstones of Quant since the beginning, but now I think this drive we have has gone beyond safety to continual learning and improvement. It is reflected in professionalism and enthusiasm in keeping machines working, and in improving our processes to be lean, effective and value adding. We have amazing people in Quant – if you have a problem and you reach out with it, there is always someone who has worked with something similar before or knows about this topic and helps you out.

Having held various roles within the company, Pia has gained a wealth of experience from different areas and valuable insights into company operations. She has worked cross-functionally and cross-country, travelled the globe, gone from being the newcomer to being part of the group of Quant veterans. It has been a journey full of learnings – and it continues. When reflecting on what role she as an experienced colleague plays in shaping the future of Quant, Pia emphasizes the importance of having a diverse group of people working together and learning from each other.

– It is the mix of people with their unique skills and talents, enthusiasm, and experience that drives us forward as a company. I think the older I get the more I learn about what I do not know. That makes me humble, but it also drives me to learn more and try new approaches, she says.

– I suppose sometimes I am like the librarian or a historian, reflecting on the learnings from my career to utilize them in our plans and ideas, not to put the breaks on development but to ensure we have learned from the past and have embedded all that knowledge, quality and sustainability into our solutions. The veterans of Quant have their place in the organization in sharing their knowledge and in supporting our new talents to test their ideas and skills so that we can grow and succeed as a company.

“An opportunity that makes me proud”

Her wide experience is also reflected in the many milestones reached during her Quant career. Pia has been a key player in the development of Quant Academy, our platform for internal trainings and competence development. She was the first person in Finland to become certified according to the requirements of the European Organization for Quality, and she has been deeply involved in the work with developing Quant’s Site Operation Model, our internal site assessment and audits, and aligning our processes with ISO standards.

– Now we have started to align the process management model with the sustainability framework to ensure it meets the new requirements as well. I find this work very interesting, and it makes me proud to be involved in this opportunity to make Quant more sustainable and at the same time contribute to the sustainability of the companies and businesses we work with, all for a better planet for future generations.

The past decade has brought ups and downs, challenges and success, hard work – but of course also memorable moments. Our safety-first approach is a cornerstone of our operations, but there can actually be situations where personal protective equipment might not be the best choice.

– Once I got invited to a colleague’s wedding party when I was on a business trip. I had not known about the wedding beforehand and I had the safety gear with me but no suitable outfit to go to a church wedding, so ended up going for a desperate last-minute shopping. But it was worth it, the wedding was beautiful, and I felt honoured to be there to celebrate the couple.

– Another great memory is when I was on a business trip in the US, and received an email from Finland. It said that the colleagues from Quant Finland had applied me this decoration which is awarded by the President of the Republic of Finland. I had no idea about this, it was a total surprise and I felt truly honored. Quant Finland has an annual event celebrating employees with a long career within the company, and in that event also these decorations are delivered by the Country Manager & Country HR. This is one of the most memorable moments I have had with Quant, and I think it is a great local tradition we have in Finland. All companies do not have this, so this is one of the things that makes me proud to work for Quant.