F-Secure Corporation said in an inside-information release on 1 October 2026 that it is planning to renew its operating model, and that it expects the change to result in “a maximum reduction of 145 roles globally”. The release gives the aim as responding quickly to customer needs “as AI reshapes the market”, while extending the company’s AI-native ways of working across the whole organisation. It says change negotiations in Finland begin on 6 October 2026. The release does not say which functions the reductions would fall in.
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The key insight: F-Secure’s release ties the plan to AI in two places: the aim is to respond to customer needs “as AI reshapes the market”, and AI-native ways of working are being extended across the organisation. It sets “a maximum reduction of 145 roles globally” and gross annual cost savings of “around EUR 13 million” next to those statements, and says part of the savings would be reinvested in growth, including new roles. We set the statements side by side as the release gives them; the release does not say how many of the roles AI would replace.
The release says F-Secure “is planning to renew its operating model” and “will start change negotiations on possible role changes and redundancies in Finland and in other countries”.
It gives the objective as “to ensure that F-Secure can anticipate and respond quickly to changing customer needs for products and services as AI reshapes the market”. It adds that F-Secure “is extending its AI-native ways of working across the whole organization, with AI increasingly supporting planning and execution”.
Under the planned model, the release says F-Secure “would organize into three business units, each owning its product, customer and go-to-market strategy end-to-end”. The three are Partner Products, Embedded Security and Direct Business.
It also plans a New Ventures unit “for incubating and validating new business models, products and customer segments”, and common functions for Technology, Strategy Office, Finance & Legal and People & Culture. The release says the F-Secure brand and the existing product portfolio “remain unchanged”.
The figures F-Secure’s own 1 October 2026 release gives: employees as of 1 October, and the maximum reduction in roles, globally and split between Finland and other countries. The figures are F-Secure’s; the release counts roles, not people, and the 145 is a maximum.
The Numbers It Gives
The release says F-Secure “employed a total of 597 people globally” as of 1 October 2026, and that the change negotiations “cover all F-Secure roles, units, and locations”.
It says F-Secure “expects that this operating model change would result in a maximum reduction of 145 roles globally. Reductions in Finland are expected to be a maximum of 58 roles and a maximum of 87 roles in other countries. In addition, new roles are expected to become available if the planned changes are implemented.”
The release adds that “the number of possible redundancies will be specified during the negotiations” and that the negotiations “may also lead to changes in teams and roles”.
On cost, it says: “The planned changes are estimated to generate gross annual cost savings of around EUR 13 million. While part of the savings would be reinvested in growth, including new roles, technology and product initiatives, the planned changes are also intended to strengthen F-Secure’s profitability and support the company’s progress toward its medium-term financial targets.”
One-off costs, the release says, “are expected to be recorded as items affecting comparability (IAC), and more information about these will be disclosed once the negotiations are concluded”.
Timing and Process
The release says: “In Finland, the change negotiations will begin on 6 October 2026 and last an estimated 6 weeks in accordance with the Act on Cooperation. All applicable processes will be conducted in accordance with local legislation in each country.”
The planned operating model “is targeted to be effective as of 1 January 2027”. The release lists a planned Leadership Team from that date, with the Executive Vice President for Direct Business “to be appointed”, and says current members continue to lead their units “until the end of December 2026”.
It also says the negotiations “do not affect the previously disclosed financial outlook for 2026 or the set medium-term financial targets of F-Secure”.
What the CEO Said
The release quotes President and CEO Timo Laaksonen: “We’re building a simpler, more focused and more agile F-Secure. AI is changing the way we work and operate, as well as the threats we defend against, while opening genuinely new product markets and business opportunities.”
He adds: “This contemplated change allows us to direct investment quickly into growth-stage products, customer segments and new roles as our ways of working evolve.”
The Structural Read
The release keeps two kinds of number apart: a headcount, 597 people employed globally on 1 October 2026, and a ceiling on roles, a maximum of 145, split into a maximum of 58 in Finland and 87 in other countries. It says the number of possible redundancies will be specified during the negotiations, and that new roles are expected to become available if the plan is implemented.
It also states the money gross. The gross annual cost savings are put at around EUR 13 million, and the release says part of the savings would be reinvested in growth, including new roles, technology and product initiatives. It gives no net figure and does not say how the savings divide between the reductions and other parts of the plan.
On AI, the release names an aim, to respond quickly as AI reshapes the market, and a way of working, AI-native, with AI increasingly supporting planning and execution. It ties no number of roles to AI, names no system and does not say which tasks AI would take over.
Timo Laaksonen, President and CEO of F-Secure, in the release
“We’re building a simpler, more focused and more agile F-Secure. AI is changing the way we work and operate, as well as the threats we defend against, while opening genuinely new product markets and business opportunities.”
Three Implications
THE NUMBERS ARE CEILINGS, NOT DECISIONS The release gives 145 roles as a maximum and says the number of possible redundancies will be specified during the negotiations. It says the Finnish negotiations begin on 6 October 2026 and last an estimated six weeks.
THE SAVINGS ARE STATED GROSS The release puts gross annual cost savings at around EUR 13 million and says part would be reinvested in growth. It says one-off costs will be disclosed once the negotiations are concluded.
AI IS NAMED AS CONTEXT, NOT AS A COUNT The release says the aim is to respond as AI reshapes the market and that AI-native ways of working are being extended across the organisation. It gives no number of roles that AI replaces and names no vendor or system.
What Is Not Established
We read F-Secure’s English release and its Finnish original in full, and the two match on the figures and dates. Neither says which functions or teams the reductions would fall in beyond the split between Finland and other countries, how many roles AI would replace, which tasks AI would take over, or what the one-off costs will be. The release names no AI vendor or system.
The 145 is a maximum, and the release says the number of possible redundancies will be specified during the negotiations. The release links the plan to AI in the words quoted above: the objective is to respond “as AI reshapes the market” while extending AI-native ways of working. We draw no conclusion beyond what F-Secure says about the reasons for the changes. We did not contact F-Secure, its employee representatives or any union, and we did not read any announcement later than the release.
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F-Secure said on 1 October 2026 that it plans to renew its operating model around three business units and a New Ventures unit, and that it expects a maximum reduction of 145 roles globally, a maximum of 58 in Finland and 87 in other countries. It says it employed 597 people on 1 October 2026. It estimates gross annual cost savings of around EUR 13 million, part of which it says would be reinvested in growth.
It says the Finnish change negotiations begin on 6 October 2026 and last an estimated six weeks, and that the planned model is targeted to take effect on 1 January 2027. The release does not say which functions the reductions fall in or how many roles AI would replace.
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A note on sourcing. This piece rests on F-Secure’s English release and its Finnish original of 1 October 2026, both read in full. We haven’t checked F-Secure’s claims independently, and we did not contact F-Secure, its employee representatives or any union. We draw no conclusion beyond what F-Secure itself says about the reasons for the changes. Nothing here predicts anything or is legal, employment or investment advice.
Gennaro is the creator of FourWeekMBA, which reached about four million business people, comprising C-level executives, investors, analysts, product managers, and aspiring digital entrepreneurs in 2022 alone | He is also Director of Sales for a high-tech scaleup in the AI Industry | In 2012, Gennaro earned an International MBA with emphasis on Corporate Finance and Business Strategy.
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