Why I Started Zeigi: A Founder's Story

My name is Jan Valkonen, and people often ask why I started Zeigi. The honest answer isn’t a business plan; it’s a memory. As a father, there’s nothing quite like watching your child step out into the world, ready to find their place. But I’d be lying if I said it has been easy to watch my 20-year-old daughter navigate the choppy waters of today’s job market. Through her eyes, I’m witnessing a battle where talented people of all ages are armed with passion and potential but lack the right tools to succeed.

This experience brought a fundamental problem into sharp focus. Let’s get one thing straight: people are more than a two-page resume. In a world where our skills and ambitions are constantly evolving, why are we still trying to fit everything we are onto a static piece of paper? The resume hasn’t changed much since Leonardo da Vinci penned the first one back in 1482. We’ve upgraded from parchment to PDFs, but we’re still distilling our professional lives into a list of dates and bullet points.

Seeing my daughter struggle with this outdated system was the catalyst. My journey as an entrepreneur has always been focused on user-centric AI technologies, leading my teams through ventures like ForteAI and iDapt. We’ve even earned recognition in Finland’s AI Landscape report for helping build the future of work. But it took that personal, fatherly frustration to see the one problem we absolutely had to solve, and to pour all that experience into creating Zeigi.

The "Hunger Games" for a Job

Let me paint a picture of this struggle through my daughter's eyes—a story that will feel familiar to many. Like her peers, she joined countless platforms promising perfect opportunities. The reality, however, is a soul-draining cycle of filling out the same forms repeatedly. She sends resumes into the digital abyss—a black hole of applications—and often hears nothing back.

Despite this, she still receives last-minute WhatsApp blast messages for gigs: “Waiter needed in 4 hours. First come, first served!” It’s less a career opportunity and more the Hunger Games: Restaurant Edition. Watching her grapple with this system, I had one of those classic dad moments: “There has got to be a better way.”

As an entrepreneur, I decided I had to build it. But as a dad, I knew I had to do it quietly. My daughter is fiercely independent and doesn’t want me meddling in her job hunt. So, I started what I call “covert parenting”: building the tools she and her generation—and everyone else—could use, without ever knowing I had a hand in them.

The Uphill Battle for a Better Way

That personal frustration sparked Zeigi’s creation. The goal was simple, but the challenge is immense: to build a platform that sees each person as a whole, not just a collection of buzzwords. This is a mission that demands sisu—that uniquely Finnish blend of grit and stubborn persistence.

So, I am tackling the core issue. I understand the frustration of applying for a job only to receive a generic “Not selected” email—if you’re lucky enough to get a response at all. I see headlines about a talent shortage, even as talented people are overlooked. I can’t control politics or global economics, but I can solve the problem directly in front of me by building a better tool.

That tool is a platform built on two core ideas. First, we're creating real-time, adaptive profiles for everyone—students, job seekers, freelancers, and seasoned professionals alike. Second, we're moving beyond the limits of keyword-based search to a conversational, context-aware interface that understands your intent, nuance, and the complex story of your career.

My Last Rodeo

This will be my last entrepreneurial rodeo, but it’s the one that matters most. I’m not just building this for my daughter anymore. I’m building it for every talented person who a keyword filter has overlooked. I’m building it for every recruiter drowning in a sea of irrelevant applications.

I’m building Zeigi to create the future of work I want my kids to live in. It’s a future where everyone gets a fighting chance because job offers aren’t races to the fastest response, but thoughtful matches between a person’s true potential and the opportunities available. Ultimately, it's a world where people are seen for who they really are, not for how well they can format a document from the 15th century.

– Jan Valkonen, Founder & CEO of Zeigi