Life at Metso - Where planet, passion and performance meet

“It all started with a love for big machines”

Equipped with an engineering degree in electronics, an executive MBA, and 22+ years of experience in IT and digital transformations, Rashmi Kasat went on to lead the digital transformation within Metso’s mining segment’s Digital unit, as Vice President, Equipment Performance. Her expertise garnered her the Business IT Leader Award in 2020, recognizing her influential role in the IT industry.

Despite her professional accolades, Rashmi finds time for exploration and balance. Whether traversing new countries, hiking in the woods, delving into neuroscience or whipping up culinary masterpieces, she embraces the creativity that life offers. In her eyes, cooking isn’t just about flavors; it’s a metaphor for leadership. “Too much pushing will spoil team dynamics, but not enough will also cause stagnancy,” she muses, drawing parallels between the art of cooking and the art of leadership.

Seventeen years ago, Rashmi moved to Finland. What was meant as a three weeks work trip became so much more. Nearly two decades of love, career, excitement and tranquillity. Going from sharing the same space with 20 million Mumbaikars to 5 million people in the entire Finland was interesting, and as Rashmi described it, “felt like a retreat”.

The catalyst to a career journey at Metso 

Before joining Metso, Rashmi was working at Capgemini with large industrial clients. But the itch to get closer to the action, understand how machines are built, used and maintained, led her to Metso.

“You might be surprised to hear that before joining Metso, I didn’t know much about mining. I actually used to think rather narrowly and negatively about the mining industry because of the cases we worked on in my MBA”, Rashmi explains. But what she quickly learned about the world’s need for minerals shook her preconceptions.

“3 billion tons of minerals are needed to transition our world to renewable energy,” Rashmi states. We cannot get these natural resources by harming the Earth. It has to be mined and processed very responsibly. This responsibility towards Earth coupled with the market demand, sparked a relentless passion within her. 

Metso, with its deep understanding of sustainable solutions, became her canvas for change. This is what makes her every single day at work enjoyable and purposeful! 

A vision for change 

Rashmi's role at Metso is as dynamic as it is pivotal. She envisions a future where services for equipment and mineral processing operations become seamlessly intertwined with cutting-edge digital solutions. This vision comes to life through a wide range of value-adding services, including condition monitoring, prescriptive maintenance, process optimization, advanced process control, and the development of digital twins. 

Not only will this enable Metso to leverage equipment expertise, minerals processing know-how, and digital proficiency to cater to the diverse needs of customers, but this will also have massive societal impact.

Through data capture and predictive algorithms, Metso’s machines are becoming more intelligent and sustainable. Rashmi’s eyes light up as she shares the profound impact: “If we can optimize every bit of energy used in making rocks smaller, it can help to provide electricity to about 90,000 people who cannot get electricity to their homes.” 

The digital team is continually growing. This expansion is not just about numbers; it represents Metso's commitment to fostering diversity and achieving sustainability goals.

The birth of Metso’s Women Leadership Forum

Rashmi is not just a thought leader in the digital realm; she is also a trailblazer in promoting diversity and inclusion within Metso. Recognizing the need for a more inclusive workplace, she has volunteered to be part of the Metso’s Women Leadership Forum (WLF)  Board. “We are a very male dominant industry. The ratio is now around 1:20 and we want to play a positive role and inspire women to join and grow into leadership positions here,” Rashmi explains. 

This initiative, which took shape in the summer of 2023, aims to activate the global network of women within Metso. The forum is open to all genders, encouraging a collaborative environment where perspectives are respected. Rashmi proudly serves as the first chairperson of this forum, steering it toward honest dialogue, engagement, and a much needed change.

Where innovation and purpose converge

Before we wrapped up our interview with Rashmi, she shared a story that encapsulates what working at Metso has been like for her:

“I was at the border control upon my return to Finland from a business trip and was asked ‘what company do you work at?’ When I said Metso, the border police stopped writing. He looked up, and with a twinkle in his eye responded ‘Metso is a great company, wait no, a fabulous company.” When you work at Metso, you get a warm and proud welcome home. 

At its core, working at Metso means getting to solve complex problems of the universe: how to process minerals sustainably and energy efficiently. It’s a place where people and ideas are valued. And for us to solve these problems, diversity in all its forms is crucial. We need all the fine talents of the world to help us.