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F-Secure’s product chief exits as the company shifts focus to execution
F-Secure’s product chief exits as the company shifts focus to execution

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Credit: F-Secure, TL Viswanathan

Credit: F-Secure, TL Viswanathan

F-Secure’s leadership reshaping continues.

The Finnish cybersecurity company said recently that Chief Product Officer TL Viswanathan will leave in mid-August to pursue new opportunities. His departure marks the fifth senior leadership transition at the company in less than a year, following changes across finance, strategy, and technology.

His exit comes as F-Secure moves deeper into the commercial rollout of the telecom partnerships, embedded security products, and AI-driven development initiatives built over recent years.

Viswanathan helped build much of that foundation.

The executive behind embedded security

Viswanathan joined F-Secure roughly four years ago and became one of the central figures behind the company’s product expansion strategy.

During his tenure, he led the creation of F-Secure’s Embedded Security business and oversaw the acquisition and integration of Lookout Life, which expanded the company’s consumer identity protection capabilities.

“I want to sincerely thank TL for his outstanding contributions to F-Secure over the past years,” CEO Timo Laaksonen said in the company announcement. “TL has played a central role in setting up our Embedded Security business as well as the Lookout Life acquisition and integration.”

Laaksonen also credited Viswanathan with rebuilding the company’s product organization and strengthening its focus on consumer experience.

Viswanathan described the role as “some of the most meaningful” work of his career and said he leaves with “full confidence in the mission, the strategy, and the people executing it.”

The business he helped shape is now entering a more commercially demanding phase.

In March, F-Secure raised its 2026 revenue outlook after announcing a partnership with Verizon and stronger-than-expected business performance. The company said new Tier 1 services are expected to begin generating revenue during 2026. A separate Tier 1 Communications Service Provider agreement signed in December 2025 is also expected to reach consumers during the second half of this year.

The focus is shifting from deployment to scale.

An interim successor while the search continues

Katja Kuusikumpu, currently director of portfolio governance & operations, will become interim chief product officer effective August 17.

F-Secure has not announced a permanent successor or a timeline for the appointment.

The next product leader will inherit a business already under pressure to prove that its Embedded Security model can scale profitably through telecom operator relationships.

That makes the appointment more than a routine replacement. Product execution now sits close to the center of the company’s growth strategy.

Nearly every major leadership function has changed

Viswanathan’s departure is part of a broader turnover cycle that has reshaped much of F-Secure’s executive structure since late 2025.

In October 2025, the company appointed Santeri Kangas as CTO. In December, CFO Sari Somerkallio announced her departure, with former Revenio Group finance chief Robin Pulkkinen named as successor.

In February, former F-Secure executive Jyrki Tulokas returned as chief strategy officer after leadership roles at Verkkokauppa.com. Earlier this year, SVP of Corporate Development Antero Norkio also exited the company.

Taken together, the changes point to a company rebuilding key parts of its leadership structure while preparing for a different stage of growth. 

The appointments also reveal a clearer operational direction. Kangas brings a stronger AI-native engineering focus. Tulokas combines previous F-Secure experience with channel and e-commerce strategy expertise. Pulkkinen arrives with a mandate likely centered on profitability discipline and leverage reduction.

The company’s priorities increasingly appear aligned around three areas: scaling telecom partnerships, improving operational efficiency through AI, and expanding margins.

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The strategy is becoming more defined

F-Secure’s medium-term targets now look more focused than they did immediately after the company’s 2022 separation from WithSecure.

Management has said the company is targeting high single-digit annual revenue growth, with additional upside from major Tier 1 partnerships. Once revenue reaches EUR 200 million, F-Secure expects adjusted EBITA margins to approach 40%.

Several recent product launches support that direction. Halo, F-Secure’s scam protection product, entered beta this year. Horizon, a new partner business platform designed to support telecom operators, is also in beta. Neither is expected to materially contribute to revenue this year, but both are positioned as infrastructure for future scaling.

The company is also embedding AI deeply into its development organization. F-Secure has said nearly 80% of its software development work is already fully AI-generated or AI-assisted, reducing development cycle times by more than half. That figure helps explain the importance of the CTO appointment last year and the broader emphasis on engineering efficiency.

The strategic direction itself is becoming easier to identify. The harder part now is execution.

The next phase is delivery

The financial backdrop remains mixed.

First-quarter revenue fell 2.1% year over year to EUR 36.3 million, while adjusted EBITA margin declined to 31.8% from 35.4% a year earlier. Currency-neutral revenue still grew 2.1%, and the partner channel linked to Embedded Security grew 4.6% on the same basis.

Management attributed the weaker profitability partly to restructuring costs and to investments required ahead of Tier 1 revenue ramp-up.

At the same time, net debt stood at EUR 142.3 million at the end of the quarter, leaving leverage above the company’s own long-term target.

F-Secure now has a strategy that is more coherent than it was two years ago. The company has committed heavily to telecom partnerships, AI-enabled development, and consumer security subscriptions tied to operator distribution.

The remaining challenge is proving that the model can deliver durable growth while protecting margins.

Viswanathan helped build the platform. The leadership team now has to show it can scale it.

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Authors

Emmi Laine is head of business content at Listeds and our lead for finance and business coverage. She sets the editorial agenda, interviews Nordic business leaders, and writes stories, newsletters, and social content on timely market and corporate topics. Emmi brings nearly eight years of experience from Shanghai's Yicai Global / Yicai Media Group, where she was awarded for reporting on China’s economy, finance sector, and technology innovation. She holds an MSc in Innovation and Entrepreneurship from ESADE Business School in Barcelona and a Master’s degree in International Design Business Management from Aalto University. She also holds a Bachelor’s degree in Culture Studies with a major in Journalism from Stockholm University and has studied Mandarin Chinese and Chinese culture. Emmi is a Finnish citizen and has lived in Finland, Sweden, China, and Portugal.

Emmi Laine is head of business content at Listeds and our lead for finance and business coverage. She sets the editorial agenda, interviews Nordic business leaders, and writes stories, newsletters, and social content on timely market and corporate topics. Emmi brings nearly eight years of experience from Shanghai's Yicai Global / Yicai Media Group, where she was awarded for reporting on China’s economy, finance sector, and technology innovation. She holds an MSc in Innovation and Entrepreneurship from ESADE Business School in Barcelona and a Master’s degree in International Design Business Management from Aalto University. She also holds a Bachelor’s degree in Culture Studies with a major in Journalism from Stockholm University and has studied Mandarin Chinese and Chinese culture. Emmi is a Finnish citizen and has lived in Finland, Sweden, China, and Portugal.

Devdatta Temgire is a data and business analyst at Listeds. He contributes research, data analysis, and pattern detection to the publication’s coverage of Nordic-listed companies, with a focus on board composition, leadership transitions, and financials. He holds an honors degree in artificial intelligence and data science alongside a bachelor’s in computer engineering, and previously worked at KPMG.

Devdatta Temgire is a data and business analyst at Listeds. He contributes research, data analysis, and pattern detection to the publication’s coverage of Nordic-listed companies, with a focus on board composition, leadership transitions, and financials. He holds an honors degree in artificial intelligence and data science alongside a bachelor’s in computer engineering, and previously worked at KPMG.

Authors

Journalist

Emmi Laine is head of business content at Listeds and our lead for finance and business coverage. She sets the editorial agenda, interviews Nordic business leaders, and writes stories, newsletters, and social content on timely market and corporate topics. Emmi brings nearly eight years of experience from Shanghai's Yicai Global / Yicai Media Group, where she was awarded for reporting on China’s economy, finance sector, and technology innovation. She holds an MSc in Innovation and Entrepreneurship from ESADE Business School in Barcelona and a Master’s degree in International Design Business Management from Aalto University. She also holds a Bachelor’s degree in Culture Studies with a major in Journalism from Stockholm University and has studied Mandarin Chinese and Chinese culture. Emmi is a Finnish citizen and has lived in Finland, Sweden, China, and Portugal.

Devdatta Temgire is a data and business analyst at Listeds. He contributes research, data analysis, and pattern detection to the publication’s coverage of Nordic-listed companies, with a focus on board composition, leadership transitions, and financials. He holds an honors degree in artificial intelligence and data science alongside a bachelor’s in computer engineering, and previously worked at KPMG.

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