Innovation Roundtable Insights

Andreas Haegele, Vice President IoT in Thales Global Business Unit Digital Identity & Security (DIS), discusses the inner-workings of the Digital Factory at Thales and how it is connected with the rest of the organization. Andreas details the organizational changes which Thales has undergone to run IoT successfully. He also discusses the role of digital ecosystems, challenges in attracting and...

* Thanks for listening! Please help us improve by filling in this short 1-minute survey * Kai Petrick, Head of Open Innovation BMW Group, sat down with us to share details about its open innovation expertise. In the conversation he talks about how BMW has set up a global network of tech offices and how it actively collaborates with startup accelerators and venture capital. In addition, Petrick dis...

* Thanks for listening! Please help us improve by filling in this short 1-minute survey * Bernhard Schwarz, VP Digital Solutions and Strategy at Zeiss, sat down with us to talk about the importance of building a balanced team to approach new digital solutions.  Schwarz digs into this approach, covering specific capabilities which are needed as well as the leadership approach required to make it al...

* Thanks for listening! Please help us improve by filling in this short 1-minute survey * Linda Hill, Wallace Brett Donham Professor of Business Administration and Faculty Chain, Leadership Initiative, sat down with us to explain how activating the company's Collective Genius can increase innovation potential and accelerate overall speed-to-market. She also discusses how companies can manage...

* Thanks for listening! Please help us improve by filling in this short 1-minute survey * Thomas Kropf, President Corporate Research and Advance Development at Bosch, sat down with us to dive into digital transformation. The conversation tackles the issue of bridging the physical world with digital, what skills are required to succeed, and how to create a culture which embraces digital.

* Thanks for listening! Please help us improve by filling in this short 1-minute survey * Rita McGrath, Strategy Professor at Columbia Business School, sat down with us to explain why organizations need to continually refresh their strategies in order to successfully innovate. In the conversation, Rita covers what normally gets in the way of capitalizing on opportunities and creating radical innov...

* Thanks for listening! Please help us improve by filling in this short 1-minute survey * Taylor Shinn, Vice President for Ventures & Growth at Baker Hughes,  sat down with us to discuss how open innovation can be beneficial to the innovation strategy. Shinn further talks about the tools required for innovation and emphasizes the importance of empowering and rewarding talent in the company.

* Thanks for listening! Please help us improve by filling in this short 1-minute survey * Tim Scanlon, Group Vice President Customer Experience & Innovation at ABB, sat down with us to share his view of how to best approach customer needs and integrate these insights into product development. Scanlon also outlines how agile methods can co-exist with more rigid waterfall processes, as well as w...

* Thanks for listening! Please help us improve by filling in this short 1-minute survey * Marianne Gaulhet, Transformation Leader Services, and Yves Charreire, Agile Coach, sat down with us to discuss how design thinking, agile, and lean startup methods connect with each other. The conversation tackles issues related to creating MVPs and transforming the organization toward agility.

* Thanks for listening! Please help us improve by filling in this short 1-minute survey  * Eik Thyrsted Brandsgård, Agile Coach and Director at LEGO,  sat down with us to explain how organizations can nurture an environment for structured innovation. This involves utilizing agile principles and design thinking to reinvent the internal culture. Brandsgård further explains how the impact of these ne...

* Thanks for listening! Please help us improve by filling in this short 1-minute survey * Andreas Clausen, Corporate Director Scouting & Technology Support at Beiersdorf, sat down with us to talk about how he approaches the early stages of innovation. Clausen addresses open innovation and ecosystems, the skills needed to be effective, and the leadership required to change the innovation cultur...

Hendrik Esser, Manager Special Projects at Ericsson, discusses agile transformation in large organizations. Esser covers how agile initiatives are organized and agile teams are enabled, as well as how to manage the impact of failed experiments and transitioning successful ones into the organization.

Eva Riesenhuber, Partner & CFO at Next47, explains how the startup unit fits within the larger innovation push of Siemens. In the interview, Riesenhuber explains how Next47 succeeds at targeting the right innovations by spreading its global presence and having a rigorous set of evaluation criteria. Furthermore, she shares details on the fund structure and focus, as well as how Next47 interacts...

Daniel Witthaut, Head of Corporate Innovation Strategy at Evonik, discusses the innovation framework at Evonik. He explains the innovation role at Evonik and talks about the toolbox and methods that the company uses to approach innovation. Witthaut further speaks about the ideal team composition and suggests combining creatives with more structured employees.

Ivanka Visnjic, Associate Professor at the Department of Operations at ESADE, talks about how companies should approach servitization. During the conversation she talks about the major challenges of moving towards more service oriented models and how companies should reach customer needs to create services that can serve their customers better.

Martin Quitzke, Venture Development Manager at Audi, talks about Denkwerkstatt, Audi’s innovation hub in Berlin. During the conversation he describes the skillsets and capabilities needed to extend a company's product portfolio and talks about the relevant methods to be applied.

Mark Coopersmith, Faculty Director & Senior Fellow at UC Berkeley, sits down with us to discuss lean startup principles. In the interview, Coopersmith shares his insights on what's required for radical innovation, including culture, leadership, skillsets, as well as embracing failure.

Micah Kotch, Managing Director for Urban-X, explains some of the traits, qualities and working styles of the startups' teams that work with BMW. Furthermore, Kotch elaborates on the relationship between BMW and its accelerator Urban-X. 

Johan Svenningstorp, Emerging Technology Program Manager at Volvo Group, sheds light on the innovation framework at Volvo and shares insights on emerging technologies. During the conversation, he tackles the opportunities and challenges of merging the physical and digital world in the manufacturing industry. 

Gina O’Connor, former professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, sits down with us to cover how organizations can approach breakthrough innovation. Her recommended approach is to ensure that clear roles for innovation are defined and that employees have the necessary mandate. O’Connor also shares her view on where innovation initiatives should be located in relation to the core business.

Luis Allo, Global Innovation Sourcing Director at Johnson & Johnson, sits down with us to talk about the organization’s innovation framework, focusing on how it interacts with the larger ecosystem, assesses external partners, and enables cross-functional collaboration internally. Allo also shares his view on the importance of agile methods in a digital world.

Mohanbir Sawhney, Professor at Kellogg School of Management, sits down with us to share his view on how large organizations can be designed for disruption, drawing upon the case of India-based Reliance Jio. The conversation covers the strategic, organizational, and leadership changes required to establish a platform to scale digital offerings to large markets.

Aurelie Moser, Head Access LABs at Roche, sat down with us at the 2018 Summit to discuss how to foster creativity in organizations with design thinking, including what it requires from leadership, teams, and individuals. Furthermore, she stresses the importance of having the right mindset to innovate and highlights key elements for successful collaborations.

Prabhdeep Singh, head of enterprise for Uber Eats, delves into Uber's challenges in keeping the flexibility and agility of a startup while being almost a corporation. Furthermore, he talks about the importance of leadership and team composition at Uber.

Vanessa Butani, Director of Strategy & Ecosystems at Electrolux, sat down with us at the Innovation Roundtable Summit 2017, to discuss her view of leading an organization through digital transformation. Based on her experience with connecting Electrolux’s appliances, she shares her insights on customer-centricity, collaborative product development, and how to think about new digital business m...