A New Chapter Begins: Welcoming Toni as CEO of CostPocket
We’re thrilled to officially welcome Toni Kivinen as the new CEO of CostPocket. With an impressive career spanning fintech, banking, and healthtech, T
We’re thrilled to officially welcome Toni Kivinen as the new CEO of CostPocket. With an impressive career spanning fintech, banking, and healthtech, Toni brings the perfect mix of strategic insight, leadership experience, and vision to guide our growth and innovation.
Toni’s Journey to CostPocket
Toni’s story begins in Helsinki, where he earned his Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) in 2005. Since then, he’s built a career that spans nearly two decades—starting in banking and fintech, and eventually leading a healthtech company operating across Finland and Eastern Europe.
Throughout his journey, Toni has held key roles as Sales Director, Business Developer, and CEO. His leadership style is grounded in calm, strategic thinking. As Toni puts it:
“Working across multiple cultures and sectors has taught me patience and strategic calmness. Often, simply sleeping overnight solves most issues.”
We think that’s a very Finnish approach to problem-solving—and we love it.
How Toni Found CostPocket
Toni’s first connection to CostPocket came via a LinkedIn ad. After a meeting with our co-founder Martin Sookael, he joined as Country Manager for Finland, a role he held for a year. Though he briefly left to pursue another opportunity in healthtech, he always felt the connection wasn’t over.
True to his intuition, Toni returned in 2024 - first resuming the Country Manager role, and now stepping into the CEO position.
Having worked in both startups and large corporations, Toni knows how to scale businesses while maintaining agility. As CEO, he’s focused on blending structure with innovation: empowering teams, sharpening processes, and always putting the customer first.
CostPocket Management team: Ed Kotov, Martin Sookael, Toni Kivinen and Joonas Sernjuk
Vision for the Future: AI-Driven Expense Management
Toni is a firm believer in AI’s potential to transform expense management. Under his leadership, CostPocket will continue to prioritize usability, expand integrations and partner network, offering a seamless and intelligent solution for optimizing this process.
“I’m excited about AI’s potential—not to replace human skills, but to empower people by automating repetitive tasks, freeing businesses to focus on strategic growth.”
He emphasizes that automation isn’t a threat—it’s a virtual assistant for business owners and accountants:
“Your time is precious. Automation lets you focus on what really moves your business forward.”
Toni’s five-year vision for CostPocket centers on one core principle: exceptional customer experience. He aims to elevate how we interact with users by introducing personalized experiences, offering omnichannel support, and integrating voice technology and in-app commenting features. A major part of this vision includes AI-powered smart chatbots that enhance customer support—making it faster, more intuitive, and available.
Toni Beyond Business
Toni has a personal connection to the world of accounting—his wife is a bookkeeper, making his mission at CostPocket feel even more meaningful.
Outside of work, Toni is full of surprises:
- At his peak, he could bench press 155 kg—the equivalent of lifting 30,000 invoices single-handedly!
- A sci-fi enthusiast (favorite movie is Aliens).
- Enjoys reading Yuval Noah Harari, appreciating books that challenge conventional thinking.
Together with Toni, CostPocket is ready to scale new heights and keep pushing the boundaries of innovation. Join us in giving him a warm welcome as we begin this exciting new chapter.
Welcome aboard, Toni!