Samu Lahdenperä

Samu Lahdenperä

DATA AND SEMANTIC MODELLING CONSULTANT
Developer and maintainer of datamalli.fi – a Finnish-language guide to semantic modelling
Samu is a data consultant specialised in semantic modelling who has worked with Microsoft's BI stack since 2016. He builds performant, maintainable semantic models for large organisations and data volumes: models that both people and AI can trust. His experience spans the whole data-to-decision pipeline, from data lake to visualisations, and his strength is translating business needs into sustainable technical solutions. Samu works AI-natively: AI-assisted development (Claude, Copilot, MCP and agents) has long been an integral part of his way of working. Samu is part of Qumio, home to some of Finland's best Microsoft freelance consultants, including Microsoft Data Platform MVPs.
Projects
Senior BI Developer | Media company 08/2026 – 10/2026
  • Data model consolidation project and build-out of the semantic modelling and Power BI environment
  • AI-assisted consolidation plan
  • Data model migration and gold layer design
  • In short: data modelling in the gold and presentation layers
Technologies: Semantic modelling (with Power BI), MCP
Developer and maintainer | datamalli.fi (own project) 01/2026 –
  • Design, content and implementation of a Finnish-language guide to semantic modelling: articles on modelling, naming conventions and AI-ready metadata, plus a Finnish–English data glossary and tool guides
  • Site built AI-natively: AI-assisted coding
  • Self-study and professional development
Technologies: Claude
Power BI Lead | Yleisradio Oy 08/2022 – 12/2025
  • Lead developer for the Data Democratisation project (Power BI)
  • Lead developer for the Fabric environment: practices, administration and semantic modelling
  • Design and optimisation of semantic models with up to billions of rows (web analytics, customer data, social media data)
Technologies: SQL, Semantic modelling (with Power BI), Snowflake, Redshift, dbt, Microsoft Fabric, GitHub
Articles about the work:
Streamlining Yle’s visualisation platforms - how we did it &
Three years of data strategy at Yle: lessons from driving impact
BI Lead | Keusote 02/2022 – 05/2022
  • Managed the organisation-wide Power BI environment and its architecture in a Premium setup
  • Main developer for multiple datasets and responsible for technical solutions
  • Semantic modelling and reporting for end users
Technologies: SQL, Power BI, DAX, Snowflake
Data Engineer | Destia Oyj 05/2018 – 11/2021
  • Project reporting: extensive data models for financials and forecasts
  • Site reporting: analysis, visualisation and readiness reporting for IoT data
  • Primary responsibility for Power BI architecture and stakeholder collaboration
Technologies: SQL, SSAS, Power BI, DAX, TimeXtender
Data Engineer | Private healthcare 05/2018 – 06/2019
  • Built visual reports (health data, dental care)
  • Concept modelling, ETL tasks and maintenance
Technologies: SQL, Qlik Sense, Qlik View, HubSpot
Data Analyst | Posti Group Oyj 08/2016 – 04/2018
  • ~80% SSAS and Power BI tasks
  • ~20% SSRS, SSIS, MS MDS, MS SQL, Oracle ETL
  • Training, specifications, workshop facilitation, and project management for transitioning reporting from Qlik and SAP BO to Microsoft Power BI and SSAS
Technologies: SSAS, Power BI, SSRS, SSIS, MS MDS, MS SQL, Oracle
Publications
The Importance of Data Modelling with BI Tools (Master's thesis) 2022
The thesis focused on minimising technical debt and best practices in Power BI environments.
https://lutpub.lut.fi/handle/10024/163805