For the second consecutive year, Cubo Itaú, the largest innovation hub in Latin America, hosted the main corporate innovators meeting of the year. Organized by Innoscience, the event took place on June 20 and brought together over 500 professionals focused on corporate innovation, aiming to promote the exchange of experiences and knowledge about the trends and challenges in the sector.
“This meeting is a unique opportunity for professionals from different sectors and companies to share their experiences and learnings about innovation. Furthermore, it is a space to discuss best practices and strategies that will impact the market in the coming years, contributing to the development of the corporate innovation ecosystem in Brazil,” highlighted Maximiliano Carlomagno, co-founder of Innoscience.
Carried out in a hybrid manner, allowing both in-person and online participation, the event was made available in full for those who wanted to watch or revisit the lectures and panels. To access the content, simply click here – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6VeBuuNkVs.
Below, the experts from Innoscience highlight the five most valuable insights extracted from the 2024 edition of Innovation Unlocked for corporate innovation professionals:
Innovation plays different roles in different companies: Innovation should not be an end in itself, but a vehicle for executing and renewing the company’s strategy. Thus, in an agricultural commodities producer, innovation can be a vehicle for efficiency, while in a food and beverage company, it can be a way to diversify the portfolio by entering new businesses adjacent to the core business. This depends on the strategic context of the sector and the company.
Incremental innovations are as relevant as disruptive ones: Disruptive innovations introduce technologies that are more accessible, convenient, and easier to use and have the potential to replace incumbent players. However, the majority of a company’s innovations are incremental, improving current products, services, and processes. Innovation leaders need to balance efforts between disruptive and incremental innovations to ensure the current viability and future survival of their businesses.
Innovation area, yes or no? The most innovative companies in Brazil have already overcome the false dilemma of whether or not to have a dedicated innovation structure. These companies currently have a range of dedicated innovation structures and also innovation dispersed as an organizational capability. The most innovative companies combine these different structures and integrate them through governance and innovation portfolio management.
Open innovation is a tool for everyone but not for everything: In the last twenty years, companies have discovered that they can expand their innovation efforts through collaboration with the innovation ecosystem. Currently, more than 5,000 Brazilian companies establish systematic relationships with startups. This is an innovation mechanism that can be very efficient, but not all projects are suitable for partnering with startups.
Generative AI can enhance creativity and project development: Generative artificial intelligence is a technology with enormous potential to boost the efficiency, creativity, and reach of the innovation process. The cases presented in Unlocked showed that the technology can be used in intrapreneurship programs and open innovation to enhance human intelligence to generate and refine better innovation proposals.
