Innovation Roundtable Insights

Stefan Kohn, Vice President of the Telekom Design Gallery sits down with us to explain how Deutsche Telekom does innovation and design thinking. Kohn discusses, among other topics, how the organization uncovers latent customer needs, how it predicts trends through technology scouting and analyzing customer behavior, and how it places focus on diverse internal teams.

Henrik Hahn sat down with us to discuss the digital innovation processes at Evonik. He explains why digitalization is not only about technology but also about interacting with customers, why diversity in skills is important, and what the challenges are in terms of achieving effective digital services. 

Fredrik Hacklin, Professor of Entrepreneurship at Vlerick Business School and Managing Director of the Corporate Innovation Lab, discusses the advantages and disadvantages of digitalization. Hacklin further discusses the challenges and opportunities of turning business into a platform and stresses the importance of having a strategic identity.

We sat down with Ulli Waltinger from Siemens, who is heading up its Machine Intelligence Group, to talk about running internal hackathons. The conversation tackles his view on accelerating the implementation of innovative ideas, how to find the optimal format, and solving potential challenges during the process. 

Sean Carney, Chief Design Officer and GM Business Leader Healthcare Transformation Services of Philips, sits down with us at the 2016 Summit to talk about design thinking approach in reducing various healthcare challenges in the modern days. Carney presents Philips’ approach to design thinking branded as ‘co-creation’ and emphasizes the benefits of having diverse people involved in creating soluti...

Mario Pieper, CDO at BSH Group, delves into digital transformation and its impact on the home appliance industry. Pieper explains how to uncover customer needs and turn ideas into feasible projects. Furthermore, he highlights the importance of effective leaders and an innovation culture in digital transformation journeys.

Nicolas Verschelden, Head of Digital Transformation at Anheuser-Busch InBev, sits down with us to talk about digital transformation. Verschelden discusses the role of digital "evangelists" at a corporate level and the use of games such as "Shark Tank" to bring an entrepreneurial spirit.

Marc Gruber, Professor of Entrepreneurship at EPFL, shares his research insights on opportunity identification, and discusses the problem of myopia and how firms can systematically identify better opportunities by having cognitive flexibility. Gruber further explains the need for multi-skilled teams and highlights the importance of designing a successful process for opportunity selection.

Marcus Weldon, CTO of Nokia and President of Bell Labs, sat down with us during the 2016 Innovation Roundtable Summit to discuss Bell Labs’ innovation approach. Weldon shares his view on the future and explains how to approach disruptive and technological innovation.

Christopher Holmes from Vodafone draws upon his experience as Head of Future Operations in our interview with him in November 2017. The conversation involves the innovation processes at Vodafone, and how they have improved their customer services with emerging technologies and driven their own digital transformation.

Shannon Deegan sat down with us during the 2017 Innovation Roundtable Summit to discuss how Google nurtures its culture of innovation through openness and transparency. He also delves into the importance of recruiting profiles that are at ease working in a VUCA environment and how to develop leadership skills among all employees.

Michael Jacobides, professor at London Business School, shares his insights into the competitive landscape, as sectors transform and value migrates. He discusses the underlying factors causing the transformation, how and where value migrates, and what implications this has to industry incumbents. Jacobides also shares tips and advice in terms of identifying value within ecosystems, and how to capi...

Nikhilkumar Adhia, senior director at Global Open Innovation at Oracle, sat down with us at an Innovation Roundatble workshop in 2017 to discuss how to solve the problem of misalignment between corporates and startups. Adhia talks about Oracle accelerator and innovation programs to ultimately drive a new era for cloud and disruptive technologies.

Timothée Baret, Head of Digital at BASF Coatings, sat down with us to talk about digital transformation. Baret discusses the challenges companies face during digitalization and presents BASF´s practice in this matter.

Tim Minshall, Professor at University of Cambridge, sits down with us to talk about open innovation based on his academic research and background in a university incubator. Open innovation between a large corporation and nimble startup can be immensely valuable, but difficult to pull off. Minshall talks to us about best practices in making it work, including partner selection criteria, aligning ex...

In this interview with Bruno Leprince-Ringuet, former Vice President of R&D at Air Liquide, we delve into how new ways of working have spurred change in managing innovation for R&D teams. During the Innovation Roundtable® Summit 2017, he sat down with us to discuss how to evaluate teams' ideas and composition, and how to transitioning projects into commercialization.

In his role as a professor of Innovation Management at IMD, Bill Fischer looks closely at the role of managerial choices in anticipating disruption. During the Innovation Roundtable® Summit 2017, he sat down with us to discuss what disruptive innovation means for incumbents today and tomorrow, the role managerial choices play in this picture, and the importance of building a culture of innovation...

David Gram recalls how the LEGO Group moved from the brink of bankruptcy to become the most powerful brand in the world – by shifting focus back to its core capabilities. He further shares his thoughts on integrating agile processes at LEGO, merging physical and digital experiences, and how to become a diplomatic rebel within large organizations.

Drawing on his extensive research and experience within technology and innovation, Mohanbir Sawhney, Professor at Kellogg School of Management, sits down with us to discuss how to approach digital disruption and the role of leadership and patience in nurturing a culture of innovation.

In his role as a Managing Director at CucinaBarilla, Matteo Gori led the innovation team, focusing on developing new cooking experiences. At a workshop hosted by EDF in Paris in September 2017, Matteo sat down with us to discuss Barilla's innovation approach. He describes the process of coming up with disruptive innovations and new business models, engaging with the right partners, and how to...

Michael Skok is an entrepreneur-in-residence at Harvard Business School and co-founder of Underscore VC. At the Innovation Roundtable® Summit 2016, he sat down with us to discuss entrepreneurial processes within established firms, collaborating with startups, and corporate venturing.

Mikael Cato, Chief Digital Officer at Scania, sits down with us to talk about innovation frameworks in the manufacturing industry. Cato tackles the challenges of bringing the organization through digital transformation.

In this interview with Ingo Rauth, professor at IE Business School, we get a deeper understanding of change transformation in organizations for design thinking. From the 120+ interviews he has conducted in his research activities, Rauth shares with us the many challenges and aspects companies face with design thinking.

In his role as a Principle Group Program Manager at Microsoft, Aaron Bjork works in the developer division. He sat down with us at a workshop hosted by Bosch in Chicago to discuss agile innovation and the opportunities and challenges faced by Microsoft in integrating agile processes at scale. Moreover, he discusses the importance of uncovering latent customer needs based on customer observation an...

Peter Hiscocks sits down with us to discuss how large firms apply lean methodologies and how this differs from that of SMEs. He draws upon his involvement in numerous startups, to speak about the unique advantages of corporations vs. SMEs. He brings experiences and lessons learned on identify latent customer needs, using big data, and rapid prototyping.