Insights
InnoLead case studies, interviews, book excerpts, and contributed columns.
Deploying AI at $28B Sun Life Financial: Learnings So Far
InnoLead interviews Sun Life exec Laura Money about how she prioritizes AI projects; some of the concrete outcomes they’re seeing so far; and why Sun Life has joined other Canadian companies to form the AI Consortium.
Fidelity, GM, and Best Buy Heath: Stories from the Front Line of Deploying New Technology
Speakers at our recent Impact conference share advice on getting new tech across the gap from demo to deployment.
A Practical Guide to Using AI to Identify Problems Worth Solving
How can AI be useful in business-to-business innovation? By identifying the right problems to solve, write Ranjan Dash and Suresh Chandran.
How Synchrony is Preparing for the Arrival of Agentic Commerce
Remember the emergence of e-commerce in the 1990s? Keep an eye on the horizon for agentic commerce, says Carol Juel, executive vice president and CEO of Synchrony Financial’s Digital Platform.
How to Think About Startup Engagement in 2026
In a session at the most recent Impact conference last month, we looked at some of the reasons why it might make sense to partner with a startup rather doing everything in-house — and a few metrics and indicators that can let you know whether or not your approach is working.
What Should Companies Do with All the Free Time that AI Creates?
If AI software is going to take over a bevy of repetitive tasks and processes, then what should organizations be doing with the time that frees up? We talk with business school prof David Schonthal.
How Perdue Farms is Pursuing Differentiation with AI
We talk with Perdue Farms CIO Mark Booth about the company’s AI journey, including what future concerns are keeping him up at night.
Rewiring the Way R&D Organizations Think
R&D teams tend to understand their products with precision — but not always the people those products are designed for. Deirdre Walters explains how to address that…
Why Digital Transformation Still Gets Stuck Inside Large Organizations
When digital transformation gets stuck, the reason is rarely a lack of technology, writes Marcus East. More often, new technology is being added to organizations that still operate through outdated systems, rigid structures, and old assumptions about how work should get done.
How Sweetwater Stays Connected to Customers — While Also Leveraging AI
We talk to the music retailer’s CEO and CIO about innovation and AI — and maintaining a strong connection to customers.
Five Steps That Make Change Easier
In this excerpt from the new book How Change Really Work, the authors caution that “take up” of change and new ideas among your colleagues is never automatic, but must be earned. Then they present five steps for earning it.
Why Mitsubishi Electric is Setting Up a New Innovation Hub
This month, Mitsubishi Electric U.S. is opening a new innovation hub in Boston. What’s the goal? We talk to two leaders…
Strategic Innovation Demands an Investment Thesis
To survive in an environment where average business model lifespans have collapsed, corporate innovators must move from unstructured ideation to the rigorous discipline of successful venture capitalists, write Ranjan Dash and Suresh Chandran
Here are the Winners (and Finalists) of InnoLead’s 2026 Impact Awards
From supersonic aircraft to heavy trucks to robotic surgical assistants, this year’s Impact Awards focus on companies that are moving their industries forward. Here are the 15 finalists…
Why Innovation Can’t Happen Without Playfulness
Innovation can’t exist in a culture that doesn’t allow for playfulness, says Piera Gelardi, author of the new book The Playful Way. Yet the environment in many workplaces today is shaped by plenty of non-playful dynamics. So what do you do?
Innovating With Agents: Two Months (and Counting) with OpenClaw on Our Team
Corporations are diverting resources from innovation to fund AI initiatives. What does this mean for innovation managers? The co-authors of a new book explain.
Is the Latest Wave of AI Leading to an ‘Innovation Winter’?
Corporations are diverting resources from innovation to fund AI initiatives. What does this mean for innovation managers? The co-authors of a new book explain.
What GenAI Changes for Leaders in Large Organizations
GenAI isn’t just about creating new efficiencies, writes Itai Green in this excerpt from his new book. It’s about shifting the company’s DNA toward an innovation mindset.
How to Survive the ‘Stakeholder Spiral’
Every project in a big organization projects attract layers of stakeholders, each with their own interests, fears, and mental models. In this excerpt from his new book, Misha de Sterk offers advice on managing that dynamic.
The Death of the Design Process (and the Rise of the Infinity Loop)
The design process as we knew it is most certainly dead, writes Todd Reily in his latest piece for InnoLead. What’s replacing it?
Stop Explaining — and Start Building More Prototypes
Because the cost of “making it real” has dropped to near zero, you can stop prototyping just the “best” idea, writes Todd Reily. Instead, you can prototype a whole portfolio of potential solutions.
Bridgers Wanted: A Skillset Companies ‘are Desperate For’
Innovation at scale requires three different leadership roles, says author Linda Hill: architect, bridger, and catalyst. One is in especially high demand…
Addressing the Corporate Antibodies That Attack Open Innovation
In this excerpt from their new book, Diana Joseph, Dan Toma, and Esther Gons discuss two kinds of antibodies that often emerge to attack open innovation initiatives.
How Levi’s is Finding High-Impact Applications for AI
We talk with Jason Gowans, Chief Digital & Technology Officer, about digital strategy and AI case studies at $6 billion Levi Strauss & Co.
Why Your Team Picks ‘Compromise’ Ideas (and How to Fix It)
Todd Reily explains why awarding badges to ideas can work better than dot voting.
How We’re Building New AI-First Businesses and Ecosystems for the Future at LG Nova
“We need a new paradigm for corporate innovation,” writes Sokwoo Rhee of LG Nova. “One that actively builds and scales new businesses and ecosystems, creating self-sustaining cycles of innovation.” More inside…
Why OpenClaw Signals a New Organizational Design Challenge
OpenClaw, and its creator Peter Steinberger, have been the stars of the latest AI news cycle. Here’s the significance of Steinberger’s recent move to OpenAI.
AI Gives You B- Ideas. Here’s the Way to Earn an A.
“Good enough” ideas are a death sentence, writes Todd Reily. So how do you get truly great ideas? Not by brainstorming…
How to Know if You’re AI Obsessed… or AI Enabled
“People react in two ways to Gen AI,” writes Mohan Nair in his latest book. “One is what I call AI-afraid, and the second is AI-obsessed.” The third way is learning how to be AI-enabled.






































