❤️
Love
We care deeply about our people, our customers and the impact we make. Love guides us to create meaningful relationships and build a supportive, inclusive environment where everyone thrives.
ZEF connects employee and customer insight with business and market intelligence creating executive wisdom and foresight—so you can lead with confidence
We are a Finnish SaaS company specialized in turning lagging and leading indicators into business foresight, all in one platform. ZEF brings together market and business intelligence with employee and customer insights—what we call people intelligence—turning scattered signals into clear, actionable insights for executives.
Instead of relying only on lagging indicators like BI reports, ZEF helps executives understand what's about to happen next. This enables better decisions, reduces risks, and reveals growth opportunities earlier—so leaders know where to go before trends show up in traditional metrics.
Lead with a windshield view, not a rearview mirror.
Here at ZEF, we are experts in NPS and eNPS measurements. We help you find the root causes behind respondents' views so you can develop the things that truly matter. Based on these responses as well as business and market data, we give you a step-by-step action plan to develop and lead with knowledge. Our tools combine patented methods (including Z-scoring, the ZEF method) and modern artificial intelligence.
This way you effectively improve customer and employee experiences. Zeffi surveys launch quickly, response rates increase, and AI highlights the most important matters in reports. Real-time reports immediately show where you succeed and what needs to be developed. This takes your processes and personnel to the next level.
Our identity is shaped by core values that guide all our decisions. We believe that love, passion and courage are the foundations of innovation and success. These values are not just words, they form the foundation of our culture and drive everything we do.
We care deeply about our people, our customers and the impact we make. Love guides us to create meaningful relationships and build a supportive, inclusive environment where everyone thrives.
Our work is powered by our unwavering passion for excellence. We are committed to pushing the boundaries of possibility and channeling our energy and creativity into every project we undertake.
Courage empowers us to take risks, face challenges and pursue bold ideas. We are not afraid to step into the unknown, knowing that true innovation requires courage and a fearless mindset.
ZEF has decades of experience in collecting, analyzing, and leveraging customer and employee feedback to develop organizational performance and support business growth.
How did it all start?
ZEF was founded in 1997 by Professor Emeritus Esko Alasaarela with a clear ambition: to turn human insight into better decisions. From the beginning, ZEF combined academic rigor with practical impact—an approach that still defines us today.
Over the years, ZEF has built a unique legacy. We pioneered the global use of election matching tools in over 40 countries across Europe, Asia, and North America, shaping how millions of people engage with democracy. We are incredibly proud that we have made complex political choices more accessible, transparent, and data-driven by creating the election matching culture. We also created Finland's first live chat software, Livezhat—years ahead of its time—which was later acquired by Elisa, one of the largest telecommunication companies in Finland, and laid the groundwork for what we now know as chatbots.
In 2004, due to personal reasons, Esko passed the leadership to his son, Jaakko Alasaarela, who saw the opportunity to take the company further. Under Jaakko's leadership, ZEF transformed from a survey tool into a new kind of executive wisdom platform. Jaakko is also a motivational speaker and author, which makes him one-of-a-kind leader and CEO as he is exceptional in making his employees feel heard, seen, and appreciated. Jaakko personally shares the same mission as ZEF: to help the world in decision-making and build the best place to be and work in the world.
Today, ZEF brings together people, market, and business intelligence into clear insight and foresight. By turning siloed data into actionable understanding, we help leaders not just make sense of the present—but anticipate what comes next, and lead with clarity and confidence.
ZEF's board brings together exceptional experience in building and scaling globally successful companies. Chairman Niklas Hed, best known as co-founder of Rovio and the global phenomenon Angry Birds, offers unparalleled expertise in international growth, brand creation, and turning innovative ideas into category leaders. At ZEF, he has also played a key role in the platform's gamification and user experience development, helping shape a product that is both powerful and engaging.
Board member Jussi Paaso complements this with broad experience from multiple companies, bringing deep expertise in business leadership, governance, and strategic development. His background in supporting and guiding organizations through growth and transformation adds a strong operational and strategic dimension to ZEF's leadership.
Together, the board strengthens ZEF's credibility and ambition—ensuring the company is guided by proven expertise as it builds a new category in executive intelligence.