Jarno Makkonen is a researcher and technology developer at the Simulator Centre of Excellence, Army Academy, Finnish Defence Forces. He holds a Master of Science (Technology) in Industrial Engineering and Management, with a focus on digital technologies and their practical applications in simulation and digital service development.

His work focuses on the application of extended reality, 3D modelling and interactive simulation in the development of user-centred digital solutions and training environments. He has experience in applied research and development across wellbeing, industrial and defence-related contexts, including metaverse-based services, digital twins, interactive visualisation and rapid prototyping. His work covers the development process from concept design and experimentation to prototyping, piloting, user testing and evaluation.

Makkonen is a co-developer of INFOPLAY, an offline-capable platform for AI-assisted information environment simulation in military and civil preparedness exercises. Working with Dr Kalle Saastamoinen, he contributed to its development and deployment during exercises. The platform combines locally hosted language models with browser-based exercise control, with further development focused on AI-assisted playbook generation while retaining human review and approval.