From AI to “löyly”, Finnish sauna meets SXSW

The story

(“Löyly” [Finnish] meaning the heavenly steam of real Sauna)

Monday at SXSW took a different turn as Finns took over Bathe Austin, the new (and first) bathhouse in Austin. The program combined two things that don’t usually meet at tech conferences, especially outside Finland: tech and sauna. In Finland, where 5.5 Million people have altogether over 3 Milion Saunas, this happens almost everyday, or at every conference. But not normal in Texas (although we did practice this with Harvia, the Finnish Sauna heater manufacturer (also Bathe heater provider, and sponsor in the Sauna like a Finn event) at SXSW 2017.

Harvia Saunabus_SXSW2017

Part one of the event was a focused panel on AI and SaaS, hosted by Softlandia and led by Founder, CEO Ilmo Lounasmaa. The discussion was moderated by Hugh Forrest, who kept the conversation sharp and grounded, with panelists Josh Liberson, Markus Hoefinger, Anand Arivukkarasu and Liz Bacelar.

The discussion cut through a lot of the week’s AI noise.

AI, SaaS & Sauna panel, moderated by Hugh Forrest at SXSW 2026 A few themes stood out:

AI is already here — but most companies are still figuring out how to use it properly

Speed is no longer the advantage — clarity and direction are

Many teams are experimenting, fewer are actually integrating AI into real workflows

The gap between “AI talk” and “AI use” is still wide

The tone stayed practical. Less hype, more honesty. For many in the room, this made it one of the most relevant panels of SXSW.

Pia (event organizer) and Kristian (city of Tampere, Finland, the Sauna Capital of the world at SXSW 2026 Part two: SAUNA LIKE A FINN

After the panel, things shifted.

SAUNA LIKE A FINN @SXSW turned the venue into a  Finnish sauna experience — heat, cold, and conversations.

The sauna session was hosted by Pia Hytönen / Sunny Way, together with Audicin / Laura Avonius, Kristian Valkama from the Sauna Capital of the World, city of Tampere, Finland, bringing a distinctly Finnish layer into the middle of SXSW.

No slides. No pitching.

Just:

sauna

cold exposure

and people talking

Conversations continued naturally from the panel. Titles mattered less. Discussions became more direct.

This is where the Sauna format works differently. Not about scale, all about connection.

Bathe Sauna and Laura Avonius, Audicin at SXSW 2026 Sauna like a Finn event

A format that fits SXSW

The combination of AI panel and Sauna captured something essential about this year’s SXSW:

smaller, more curated gatherings

experience over visibility

real interaction over staged presence

While there was no Nordic house in 2026, this kind of activation filled that gap in a different way.

Not by being bigger, but by being more memorable.

There is an excellent LinkedIn write about the event by Austin local Kim Brushaber – Cannot wait what kind of Sauna events there will be in the upcoming SXSW events!

The Sauna event was made possible by these great companies:

Sauna like a Finn & AI SaaS panel sponsors at SXSW 2026 /Peter