*The project referenced in this case study was delivered by Taival Advisory, which CGI acquired in March 2025.

 

Taival expert was selected as an interim CDO to lead the digital development activities, as the client did not have expertise on digital business models or technology development. Taival created the initial business modelling and pricing structures from market benchmarks, designed the business and technology architecture and led the development project as a product owner towards the technical development team.

 

The challenge

After the Taxi legislation renewal, the industry was experiencing fierce competition from well-funded agile global solutions such as Uber and Yango as well as new “wild taxis”, which created major pressure on prices and eroded the image of quality and trust for the taxi industry in general. The issues were further complicated by the slow recovery from Covid as the usage patterns had changed due to working from home and increased use of private vehicles.

Taksi Helsinki and Sanoma saw an opening in the market for a national Taxi app that would focus on ease of use, pre-priced trips, and national service coverage. As the margins in the market were small, one of the design principles was to create a fully automated financial back office to handle payments and invoicing.

Solutions

Taival expert was selected as an interim CDO to lead the digital development activities, as the client did not have expertise in digital business models or technology development. Taival created the initial business modelling and pricing structures from market benchmarks, designed the business and technology architecture, and led the development project as a product owner towards the technical development team.

When the MVP was launched in the spring of 2022, Taival CDO stayed on to lead further development and continue evolving the business and operating model, succeeding e.g. in fully automating the order to cash process. In 2023 the business model was successfully pivoted to a driver company-oriented distributed model and consequently sold fully to Sanoma.

Towards the end of 2023, Taival led the strategy development for the company and developed the B2B services business model. In March 2024 the company was successfully sold to 020202 Oy.

Benefits

With the help of an interim CDO Valopilkku was able to execute their vision and set up a successful digital taxi app. The main benefit was gained from a flexible contractual model combined with full ownership of the development and operation of the business model and technology – from design to a successful exit.