Strategic Innovation Labs

Most companies chase obvious applications in new markets. 3M architects entire industries instead. When Dr. Jens Eichler began exploring hydrogen opportunities for 3M four years ago, everyone was excited about household heating. Today, 38 studies confirm that was a dead end. But Eichler's team had already moved on. Not because they had better technology, but because they asked better questions. Their secret comes from two deceptively simple words: "when" and "where." Instead of pushing technology into markets, 3M deeply understands where challenges will actually emerge. Take iridium catalysts for hydrogen electrolyzers. The company faced a truly fundamental constraint: geology. Scaling production would exhaust Earth's iridium supply. So 3M developed catalysts that achieve the same performance with dramatically less material, solving the boundary condition itself. This is "architecting" rather than participating. It's the difference between waiting for a market to form and actively shaping how it will function. 3M's 15% culture plays a crucial role here – the principle that technical people in 3M can spend 15% of their time on projects of their own choosing. Most people think 15% culture is about generating breakthrough inventions. It's not. It's about building connective tissue – those "weak ties" between specialists that spot opportunities at the intersection of technologies and needs. The multilayer optical films now in billions of LCD screens? Two colleagues with adjacent posters at a Tech Forum event. The key is that 3M doesn't just tolerate exploration, they engineer it. No permission needed. No bureaucratic approval. If someone is passionate about a topic that serves 3M's interests, they contribute their 15% time. That removes the friction that kills innovation in most large organizations. Eichler calls hydrogen ventures "class six" programs – new products for markets still finding themselves. There's no stable reference point. Even the definition of "green" hydrogen remains contested. Yet this ambiguity creates opportunity for those who architect rather than chase. The lesson is that having breakthrough technologies is good. Having the organizational infrastructure to recognize which technologies matter and when is transformational. Read my full story about this in Forbes (link in Comments).

Emerging Technologies of 2025: #Innovation and Societal Impact . The World Economic Forum report spotlights breakthrough innovations poised to transition from scientific discovery to real-world application, aiming to catalyze dialogue and shape technology agendas. It details ten specific technologies, ranging from structural battery composites and osmotic power systems to #AI watermarking and engineered living therapeutics, explaining their novelty, development progress, and transformative potential across various sectors like #energy , #healthcare , and urban systems. •Key Themes of Emerging Technologies: The 2025 technologies reveal exciting patterns, often representing a convergence of fields: ◦Combining Energy Systems with Advanced Materials: This includes innovations like structural battery composites, which integrate energy storage within load-bearing structures, improving functionality and efficiency in transport. ◦Using Biological Approaches to Improve Human Health: Examples are engineered living therapeutics (genetically engineered microbes producing medicines in the body) and GLP-1s for neurodegenerative disease (repurposing drugs for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's). ◦Reimagining Industrial Processes for Sustainability: This involves technologies such as green nitrogen fixation for low-carbon ammonia production and nanozymes (laboratory-produced nanomaterials with enzyme-like catalytic properties). ◦Creating New Foundations for Trust in Connected Systems: This includes collaborative sensing (distributed sensors connected to AI systems for context-aware decisions) and generative watermarking (invisible markers in AI-generated content to verify authenticity) Each technology's overview includes its strategic outlook, ecosystem readiness, and the challenges to its widespread adoption, emphasizing their capacity to address complex global challenges and foster resilient, sustainable societies.

🌐 Harnessing the Future: Navigating the 2024 Hype Cycle for Emerging Tech💡 As we explore the revelations from Gartner's 2024 Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies, let's delve into some groundbreaking technologies shaping our approach to software development, AI, and cloud. Some technologies have particularly caught my attention as they are central to my discussions with my clients: 🧠 Unsurprisingly, Generative AI is swiftly advancing towards the Peak of Inflated Expectations. ☁️ Cloud Native, crucial for building and running scalable applications in environments such as public, private, and hybrid clouds, is nearing the Trough of Disillusionment. Its capabilities for resilient and flexible deployment make it a cornerstone in modern tech infrastructure. 👨💻 AI-Augmented Software Engineering and Internal Developer Portals are both designed to boost developer productivity through more intuitive interfaces and automated tools, significantly reducing developers' cognitive load. These technologies are eagerly pushing towards the Peak of Inflated Expectations. 🔄 GitOps employs git repositories to manage infrastructure and software configurations, promoting a version-controlled, collaborative, and declarative approach. This method is currently on its ascent towards the innovation trigger. 🤖 Autonomous Agents, capable of independent operation and decision-making, are poised near the Trough of Disillusionment. These agents are set to redefine AI interactions and autonomy within tech solutions. What experiences have you had with these technologies, and what potential do you see for their future application? 🔗 Source: Gartner, August 2024 https://lnkd.in/eB4JWvnd #EmergingTech2024 #GartnerHypeCycle #GenerativeAI #CloudNative #SoftwareEngineering #AI #TechTrends #InnovationInTech

Why You Need Systems Thinking Now! I. Three Modes of Innovation 1. Breakthrough thinking: invention‑first, constraint‑busting leaps that can open new markets and create unintended side effects when they outrun norms and regulation 2. Design thinking: human‑centered discovery, rapid prototyping, and desirability testing; great for usability, but can shift costs to actors the team didn’t study (suppliers, communities, nature) 3. Systems thinking: maps interdependencies and feedback loops, targets leverage points, and pursues resilient, net‑positive outcomes for the whole system II. Why it Matters In tightly coupled economies, linear fixes ripple. Systems thinking anticipates second‑order effects and reduces collateral damage while still harnessing the best of the other two III. A Practical 4‑Step Framework 1. Define the desired future state: name system‑level outcomes and metrics (resilience, equity, externalities, flow efficiency) 2. Reframe with stakeholders: map actors, incentives, and harms; craft a shared problem statement multiple parties can own 3. Focus on flows & relationships: chart stocks/flows, bottlenecks, and delays; redesign rules, incentives, and business models—not just products. 4. Nudge and learn: run small policy, pricing, or process nudges with a minimum‑viable coalition; instrument the system, measure spillovers, iterate, scale IV. Meeting the Wicked challenges Breakthrough and design thinking are powerful tools, but they often fall short when facing wicked problems—complex, evolving challenges with no clear solutions. In these cases, systems thinking offers a more holistic and adaptive framework for meaningful, multi-stakeholder change. Make sure to check out this insightful Harvard Business Review article by Tima Bansal and Julian Birkinshaw at Ivey Business School at Western University here: https://lnkd.in/dp2dsXRJ —— For regular updates on Transformative Innovation, make sure to follow us here: The Futuring Alliance The Futuring Alliance unites visionaries across business, policy, science, and society who believe the best way to predict the future is to shape it – together #innovation #transformativeinnovation #foresight #futures #systems #systemschange #strategy #venturing #impact #designthinking

Horizon scanning is not about collecting more trends. It is about building the institutional capacity to notice, interpret and use weak signals before they harden into policy problems. That is one of the strongest insights in the new OECD - OCDE working paper: Building capacity in technology horizon scanning: A guide for policymakers. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/eGncqUqv The report analyses 129 international horizon scanning exercises from 2020–2025 and extracts more than 10,000 signals of emerging technologies. The figure below shows the usual suspects: AI, quantum, biotech, digital infrastructure, robotics, advanced materials, sensors, energy and environment. Useful, certainly. But the deeper value of the report lies elsewhere. The real issue is capacity building. Governments, organisations and institutions do not only need better lists of emerging technologies. They need better routines for deciding what to look for, how to interpret ambiguous signals, how to connect them to policy choices, and how to avoid being surprised by developments that were already visible at the margins. One distinction in the report is especially useful: exploratory scanning versus issue-focused scanning. 🔭 Exploratory scanning starts wide. It deliberately looks beyond current priorities to detect weak signals, emerging issues and possible disruptions that do not yet fit existing policy categories. Its value is that it can reveal blind spots. It helps institutions ask: What are we not seeing because our current frames make it invisible? 🎯 Issue-focused scanning works differently. It starts from a more defined policy concern — for example strategic autonomy, food and water security, health, safety, privacy or energy resilience — and searches for signals that may confirm, challenge or reframe that concern. Its value is direct policy relevance. It helps institutions ask: What emerging technologies matter for this specific decision, risk or investment? Both are necessary. Exploratory scanning protects against tunnel vision. Issue-focused scanning protects against irrelevance.

𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗥𝗮𝗱𝗮𝗿 - 𝗩𝗼𝗹𝘂𝗺𝗲 𝟯𝟮 (𝗔𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗹 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱) ThoughtWorks has just released Volume 32 of its Technology Radar, which provides insights into emerging technology trends, techniques, and tools. What stands out in this latest report: 𝟭. 𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀 Coding assistants now go beyond generating snippets, allowing developers to drive implementation directly from AI chat interfaces. Tools like Cursor, Cline, and Windsurf enable developers to modify code, execute commands, and fix errors—all from within their IDE. While promising, caution is advised to avoid complacency with AI-generated code. Human oversight remains essential despite impressive results. 𝟮. 𝗘𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗯𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 Observability practices are adapting to the complexity of distributed systems. We're seeing dedicated tools for LLM monitoring (Weights & Biases Weave, Arize Phoenix, Helicone), AI-assisted observability, and the growing adoption of OpenTelemetry. Primary tools like Alloy, Tempo, and Loki now support OpenTelemetry, creating a more standardized landscape for monitoring complex systems. 𝟯. 𝗥 𝗶𝗻 𝗥𝗔𝗚 The retrieval component of Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) is growing rapidly. New approaches include corrective RAG, Fusion-RAG, Self-RAG, and FastGraphRAG. These innovations improve how LLMs access and leverage relevant information. 𝟰. 𝗧𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗲𝗿 The focus has shifted from the volume of big data to effectively managing rich, complex data. Data product thinking is emerging as a framework for applying product management principles to analytics. This approach is crucial for organizations that leverage unstructured data for AI applications and analytics. In more detail: 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗶𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀: ✅ Adopt: Data product thinking, Fuzz testing, Software Bill of Materials, Threat modeling 🧪 Trial: API request collection as API product artifact, Architecture advice process, GraphRAG, Model distillation 🔍 Assess: AI-friendly code design, AI-powered UI testing, Structured output from LLMs 🛑 Hold: AI-accelerated shadow IT, Complacency with AI-generated code, Replacing pair programming with AI 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝘀: ✅ Adopt: GitLab CI/CD, Trino 🧪 Trial: ABsmartly, Dapr, Grafana Alloy, Grafana Loki, Grafana Tempo, Railway 🔍 Assess: Arize Phoenix, Graphiti, Helicone, Humanloop, Reasoning models, Supabase 𝗧𝗼𝗼𝗹𝘀: ✅ Adopt: Renovate, uv, Vite 🧪 Trial: Claude Sonnet, Cline, Cursor, D2, Metabase, NeMo Guardrails, Software engineering agents 🔍 Assess: AnythingLLM, Gemma Scope, Jujutsu, OpenRouter, System Initiative, Windsurf, YOLO 𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀: ✅ Adopt: OpenTelemetry, React Hook Form 🧪 Trial: Effect, Hasura GraphQL engine, LangGraph, MarkItDown, Module Federation, Prisma ORM 🔍 Assess: .NET Aspire, Browser Use, CrewAI, FastGraphRAG, Gleam, PydanticAI 🛑 Hold: Node overload

If you’re only building what people ask for…you’re already behind. Most breakthrough ideas don’t come from customer surveys. They come from intuition, pattern recognition, and bold bets. Henry Ford said it best: "If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses." Here’s the mindset shift every product leader needs: ➤ Customers describe problems, not solutions ➤ Innovation solves for tomorrow, not just today ➤ Visionaries connect dots others miss ➤ True value isn’t always obvious at first What does this mean for you? ✓ Ask deeper questions ✓ Study behavior, not just words ✓ Build what people need, not what they expect Don’t just listen to feedback—interpret it. The next big leap isn’t in a feature request... It’s in the future you’re brave enough to create. What’s one insight you’ve acted on that no one asked for, but everyone needed? P.S. Agree? Repost to share with your network ♻️. And follow Jay Mount for more insights like this. --- Want to learn with like minded people? 👉 Join my free newsletter for weekly deep dives: https://lnkd.in/gbynuG9X

Excited to share that the Stanford Emerging Tech Review 2025 has dropped. Co-chaired by Condi Rice, Engineering Dean Jennifer Widom, and me, this collaboration between the Hoover Institution and Stanford's School of Engineering involves >100 faculty across fields to demystify key emerging technologies, debunk hype, and identify recent developments and over-the-horizon challenges for policymakers. Check out the new report here: https://setr.stanford.edu/. Special CFR podcast series coming soon. We are just getting started!

86% of Breakthrough Innovations Happen When We Pause to Wonder "What If?", Yet Most Leaders Fill Calendars Too Full for Curiosity Scrolling through LinkedIn on this relaxed Saturday morning, Khozema Shipchandler's celebration of Twilio's 400th patent caught my attention. His words about innovation being "our engine" rather than just a buzzword resonated deeply as I sip my coffee, mind wandering beyond weekday constraints. What truly powers innovative cultures and discovered fascinating patterns: → Space Creates Breakthroughs Organizations that build legitimate "think time" into workweeks see 3.7x more employee-generated innovations. Companies with protected thinking hours experience significant creative output, yet 78% of knowledge workers report having zero unstructured thinking time. ↳ As Khozema noted, each innovation represents "a spark of curiosity, a bold idea, & the drive to build something new" → Psychological Safety Drives Bold Thinking Teams with high psychological safety produce 41% more innovative solutions than peers. When employees feel secure taking risks without fear of ridicule, organizations experience 37% fewer implementation failures and 2.5x faster idea-to-market cycles. → Cross-Pollination Transcends Boundaries Our analysis shows 68% of transformative business ideas originate from outside industry frameworks, often sparked during moments of relaxation or unexpected connections that traditional work structures rarely accommodate. ↳ Organizations breaking down silos see innovation rates triple compared to those with rigid department boundaries Cultivating Curiosity-Driven Culture ✦ Inspiration Catalysts – Install physical and digital spaces where employees share articles, ideas or thoughts that sparked "what if" moments, creating continuous innovation triggers. ✦ Celebration Rituals – Implement storytelling practices highlighting both successful innovations and valuable "productive failures," reinforcing that exploration is valued alongside execution. ✦ Connection Architecture – Design both physical and digital environments that facilitate unplanned interactions across functions, knowing innovation thrives at intersections. ✦ Reflection Rhythms – Build regular pauses into organizational cadence—like I'm enjoying this Saturday—where stepping back allows patterns and possibilities to emerge. The most innovative organizations recognize that building creative culture requires both structure and space—systems that nurture curiosity while providing the safety and resources to transform questions into impact. What's one unexpected source that's sparked your best innovation? Love exploring possibilities, Joe PS: We are building People Atom, the private network where forward-thinking HR leaders and founders learn to balance structured execution with creative exploration to transform innovation cultures. Our first private roundtable for CHRO's is scheduled on July 11th in Chennai (DM me for details)

I just invested in groundbreaking tech which gives satellites 'eyes' to navigate space safely. 4 Reasons Cape Fear Ventures is backing Scout Space: 1) The Space Safety Crisis: Space is getting dangerously crowded. More new satellites launch every year. But our ability to track and manage them hasn't kept pace. → Traditional satellites essentially fly blind → Most rely on ground-based systems → The risk of crashes grows with each launch → Scout's tech gives satellites “eyes” to "see" and react It’s like giving satellites their own collision avoidance system. 2) Proven In Space: What really impressed me was Scout's track record since 2021. → Already operating successfully in orbit → Real flight heritage - not just lab testing → Continuous improvement based on actual space data → Growing customer base including the most demanding clients Space tech companies often struggle to bridge the gap between theory and practical implementation. Scout's already crossed that chasm. 3) Their Three-Tier Solution Scout's product strategy: → Owl: Flagship system for long-range detection → Raven: For close-up inspection capabilities → Sparrow: Focused on navigation and collision avoidance They're not just solving one piece of the puzzle. But building an entire ecosystem for space safety. 4) Forward-Looking Applications The implications of Scout's technology go beyond avoiding crashes. → Enabling autonomous space operations → Supporting national security needs → Creating safer conditions for commercial space activities → Building foundation for future space traffic management As space’s highways grow more crowded, Scout's building the ultimate collision avoidance system. (For deeper dives and analysis, join high-growth founders and seasoned investor getting my newsletter https://lnkd.in/e6tjqP7y) P.S. Building technology for the space economy? Or interested in investing in the most promising early-stage companies? Let's connect. I'm deploying capital in Q1 2025 and I'm always looking to back visionaries solving critical space challenges.