Explore and follow profiles from this article to get timely updates:
Sami Huusari, most recently division manager at Carpenter Co., will join Eagle Filters Group Oyj as chief executive officer on Aug. 24, 2026, as the filtration technology company enters a new phase of growth backed by a record €7.7 million order backlog. Huusari succeeds Acting CEO Jussi Joki-Tokola, who will step down from the executive role and continue as vice chairman of the board.
Huusari brings more than two decades of industrial manufacturing experience from companies including Carpenter Co., Recticel, and Evonik Finland. Eagle Filters said the recruitment process was launched to support the company's production expansion and the execution of its growth plans.
The appointment follows the June 10 promotion of Daniel Lähde to CFO, completing a leadership transition across the company's top operational and financial roles, as Listeds reported earlier.
Eagle Filters Group, a Finnish filtration technology company focused on clean energy and industrial applications, is entering the next stage of its development after a sharp improvement in demand. Huusari served as division manager at Carpenter Co. from 2023 to 2026. Before that, he was operations manager at Recticel between 2019 and 2023 and plant manager at Evonik Finland from 2014 to 2019. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Industrial Engineering and Management and an MBA in International Business Management.
"The Board considers Sami Huusari to be the best candidate to lead Eagle Filters Group and to strengthen the company's position in its key focus areas," the company said.
Continuity alongside change
The transition is notable because Joki-Tokola is not leaving the company. By remaining vice chairman, he preserves continuity between the board and the management team as Eagle Filters moves into its next operating phase.
The arrangement allows the company to bring in an external CEO with deep manufacturing experience while retaining institutional knowledge at the board level. The board said the CEO search was initiated to support production expansion and the execution of the company's growth plans.
A double leadership reset
Monday's announcement follows another senior leadership change disclosed less than a week earlier. On June 10, Eagle Filters appointed Daniel Lähde as CFO after promoting him from his role as group controller.
Lähde succeeded Timo Linnainmaa, who announced his resignation in January and left the company during the spring.
Together, the appointments place new leaders in the company's two most important executive positions within five weeks. The combination pairs an internally developed finance leader with an externally recruited chief executive officer whose background is rooted in industrial operations.
What Eagle Filters aims to accomplish
The leadership changes come as Eagle Filters seeks to turn improving commercial momentum into sustainable financial performance.
Management has identified production expansion as a key priority. The company plans to increase production staffing and make targeted manufacturing investments to support deliveries against its growing order book. The board directly linked Huusari's appointment to that objective, stating that the recruitment process was launched to support the production scale-up phase and the execution of growth plans.
Profitability is the second major objective. While Eagle Filters remains loss-making, recent results suggest progress. First-quarter EBITDA improved to a loss of €132,000 from a loss of €934,000 a year earlier, bringing the business close to breakeven.
The company is also strengthening its financial position to support future growth. A €2.6 million capital raise completed in May and June provides additional funding for investment, while shareholders have authorized the board to issue up to 80 million shares and 10 million stock options, giving the company flexibility to pursue future expansion initiatives.
Recent demand has been driven by continued growth in the clean energy business area, which contributed to a 190% increase in order intake during the first quarter.
The financial backdrop
Huusari inherits a business whose commercial performance has improved dramatically but which has not yet reached profitability.
For full-year 2025, Eagle Filters reported revenue of €3.1 million and EBITDA of negative €2.7 million after customer-driven delivery delays weighed on sales. The first quarter of 2026 showed a markedly different trend.
Order intake rose 190% year-on-year to €3.0 million, while the order backlog reached a record €7.7 million, almost fivefold from the prior year. Revenue more than doubled to €1.6 million, and EBITDA improved to negative €132,000.
The balance sheet has also strengthened. Alongside the recent capital raise, Business Finland forgave an outstanding loan of €708,000 plus accrued interest, reducing financial pressure as the company prepares for further investment.
The challenge ahead
The central question facing Eagle Filters is no longer whether demand exists. The record backlog provides clear evidence that customer demand is strengthening.
The challenge is converting that backlog into revenue and profitability.
Huusari's first full reporting period as CEO will be the second half of 2026. By then, investors should have a clearer view of whether Eagle Filters can translate growing demand into sustained revenue growth and positive earnings.
Follow moves like this on the Listeds Executive Intelligence Platform.
Stay on the pulse, catch the signals
Subscribe to Listeds Leadership Intelligence Platform:
leader and company database access
email alerts
career, boards and interim opportunities