Black Belts joins Kela’s €589M Eepos program — one of Finland’s most significant public-sector transformations.
Kela announced in April 2025 that PwC had been selected as the main delivery partner for the €589 million Eepos program — a landmark initiative set to renew Kela’s benefit processing and customer service systems to meet the digital demands of the 2030s. Salesforce has been chosen as the program’s core technology platform.
Following PwC’s selection, Kela carried out a separate tendering process to find a Salesforce architecture service partner for this critical technical role. The evaluation gave equal weight to quality and price to ensure the best possible match.
In the end, Black Belt Consulting Oy was selected — only candidate to receive full quality points, and the second most cost-efficient bidder.
“We’re extremely proud and excited to support Kela in the Eepos program — a project that will impact nearly every Finnish citizen,” says Rolle Isotalo, CCO & Co-Founder at Black Belt Consulting.
“The result also proves that our model works just as effectively in the public sector: we’re able to deliver top-level experts from the market at a competitive price — while ensuring strong compensation and motivation for our consultants.”
Black Belt level expertise for a national-scale transformation
At the heart of the collaboration is Hermanni Toivo, known in the Salesforce ecosystem as “Salesforce Jesus” — one of fewer than 400 CTA-certified professionals worldwide, and among only a handful in Finland.
Hermanni brings unmatched architectural expertise to ensure that Kela’s Salesforce vision turns into a sustainable, future-proof reality.
“This collaboration is about much more than architecture. It’s about enabling Kela to realise its long-term Salesforce vision and ensuring that the program moves forward as planned,” adds Timo Pasonen, Chief Salesforce Consultant at Black Belt Consulting.
“We’re thrilled to be part of this journey with Kela. It’s a partnership built on trust, expertise, and shared ambition — and we’re fully committed to supporting the teams and people making this transformation happen,” says Nea Rautiainen, Chief Happiness Officer at Black Belt Consulting.
“Eepos is one of Finland’s most ambitious digital transformations, and success depends on getting both the vision and the execution right. Black Belts’ role in shaping the Salesforce architecture is a crucial part of making that vision real,” says Markku Laukka, Delivery and Technology Risk Lead at Kela.
The partnership places Black Belts in a key role to help ensure the successful execution and continuity of one of Finland’s most strategically important digital initiatives.
Because at the end of the day, that’s what we do best: We turn complexity into clarity and plans into real impact.
Read more about the Eepos renewal on Kela’s Website.
