The topics.
Strategy, Leadership & Organization | Governance & Portfolio Management | Foresight & Business Design | Incubation, Venture Building & Scaling | Open Innovation | Climate/SDG | Culture & Capabilities | Talent & Teams
As always, this series of 8 Learning Labs explores the best and latest in corporate innovation. Here’s an overview of the topics we’ll cover and questions we’ll aim to answer.
- If your company is plagued by HiPPO decision-making and Innovation Theatre, a carefully crafted Innovation Mandate might just be the piece your company is missing.
- We all know it takes many new ideas to create one decent innovation that actually delivers revenue and impact. So how do you manage it when every project is so wildly uncertain?
- There is an urgent need to examine and optimize approaches to Horizon 1 for repeatability, given resource allocation as well as a faster commercial payoff for the organization. What are common challenges and keys to success for Horizon 1 innovation? And what is the experience in practice with this, at lululemon?
- How does the DB SCHENKER STARTup terminal Venture Client Unit work, and what can you learn from that?
- Most employees lack the time and energy to innovate meaningfully, yet workplace practices ‘steal’ 13 years from an average career. What are practical approaches for innovation professionals to restore the personal and collective innovation capacity that their organizations urgently need?
- Innovation Management is moving into the realm of becoming a corporate profession, with new job titles appearing every day. We know more about the work to be done but don’t know how to staff it. How might we codify the work so that job descriptions and career paths can be formalized? How do we select, develop and retain innovation professionals?
Dive into these topics, and much more at our Q2-series of Learning Labs.
The schedule.
This series consists of 8 Learning Labs. Each Learning Lab is a 2-hour online workshop, covering one key pillar of corporate innovation, typically with 2 speaker sessions per workshop.
You’ll get a detailed agenda and further instructions after registration.
Wednesday 30 April, 16:00-18:00 CEST/10am-12pm EDT/7am-9am PDT
Governance & Portfolio Management
16:00-16:15 CEST/10:00am-10:15am EDT/7:00am-7:15am PDT
Introduction & Peer Pod
17:45-18:00 CEST/11:45am-12:00pm EDT/8:45am-9:00am PDT
Capturing Takeaways & Wrap Up
Melody Rolph - Community Lead at Innov8rs
16:15-17:00 CEST/10:15am-11:00am EDT/7:15am-8:00am PDT
Using AI to Govern Innovation: Smarter Forecasting, Better Decisions
Innovation is a gamble, but governance shouldn’t be. Companies struggle to predict which initiatives will thrive, often relying on rigid processes that stifle creativity or gut feelings that lead to wasted investment. The challenge? Governance models designed for stability often fail when applied to the uncertainty of innovation.
AI-powered approaches to Innovation Accounting offer a way to bridge this gap. Instead of forcing false certainty, AI enhances governance by generating probabilistic forecasts, improving portfolio management, and providing decision-makers with credible predictive ranges—without overpromising.
In this session, we’ll explore the dos and don’ts of AI-driven forecasting for innovation governance. How can AI help innovation boards make smarter funding decisions? How do we prevent AI from reinforcing biases? And how can innovation leaders use AI to gain buy-in from executives while maintaining agility?
Let’s cut through the hype and talk about practical ways to use AI to strengthen governance, navigate uncertainty, and ensure the right projects get the green light.
Tristan Kromer
CEO and Founder at Kromatic
17:00-17:45 CEST/11:00am-11:45am EDT/8:00am-8:45am PDT
Setting Up an Innovation Department
More information coming soon…
Mariano Maluf
Fractional Technology Leader, Principal & Founder at Nexial Group
Thursday 8 May, 17:00-19:00 CEST/11am-1pm EDT/8am-10am PDT
Strategy, Leadership & Organization
17:00-17:15 CEST/11:00am-11:15am EDT/8:00am-8:15am PDT
Introduction & Peer Pod
18:45-19:00 CEST/12:45pm-1:00pm EDT/9:45am-10:00am PDT
Capturing Takeaways & Wrap Up
Melody Rolph - Community Lead at Innov8rs
17:15-18:00 CEST/11:151m-12:00pm EDT/8:15am-9:00am PDT
Ignite Engagement: Build Support and Drive Commitment for Business Growth
Shift from elevator pitches to action (and escape pilot purgatory)
When a growth initiative gets stuck—no matter how great an idea or a pilot might be—it will never scale unless we get people on board. Andrea Kates, former tech CEO, growth expert and author of From Stuck to Scale, shares the secret to engagement, commitment and action. The workshop draws on her experience with more than 13,000 innovation teams and answers the question: How can you get the resources and support you need to achieve breakthrough success?
Value: You’ll get to the heart of the critical steps driving business growth: building commitment. You’ll come away with a clear plan for who must be on board and how to get them engaged. After the workshop, you’ll understand what “ignites” other people to support your initiative..
Andrea Kates
Author, From Stuck to Scale & Entrepreneur-in-Residence MIT
18:00-18:45 CEST/12:00pm-12:45pm EDT/9:00am-9:45am PDT
How Do you Drive Growth at the Edge of Core?
The current innovation climate pushes corporate innovators to work closer to the Core and deliver short-term impact.
But that’s easier said than done — success depends on mastering the NOW/NEW interface.
In this session, you’ll gain clarity on how to innovate effectively at the edge of Core.
You will learn about the challenges in leveraging Core’s capabilities, how to align stakeholders around a Growth Mandate, how to set up a strong collaboration model, and how to identify the pieces that make up a setup for success.
Frank Mattes
CEO at Lean Scaleup
Wednesday 14 May, 15:00-17:00 CEST/9am-11am EDT/6am-8am PDT
Foresight & Business Design
15:00-15:15 CEST/9:00am-9:15am EDT/6:00am-6:15am PDT
Introduction & Peer Pod
16:45-17:00 CEST/10:45am-11:00am EDT/7:45am-8:00am PDT
Capturing Takeaways & Wrap Up
Melody Rolph - Community Lead at Innov8rs
15:15-16:00 CEST/9:15am-10:00am EDT/6:15am-7:00am PDT
The Pre-Tangible Stage
More information coming soon…
J Li
Partner at Prototype Thinking Labs
16:00-16:45 CEST/10:00am-10:45am EDT/7:00am-7:45am PDT
How to Design an Innovative Business Model with Purpose?
In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, innovation has to focus on social requirements. Purpose-driven innovation is crucial for inspiring social and economic wealth, fostering inclusivity, and driving meaningful change. By focusing on universal accessibility, digital transformation, and the engagement of vulnerable employees, we can create a more equitable and sustainable future.
What will we discuss?
Our session will delve into the evolution of the innovation with purpose model, highlighting key aspects such as:
– Universal Accessibility: Ensuring accessible to everyone in the hotel sector,
– Special Employment Centers: how to support a business model with disabled employees at the core.
– Digital Transformation: Leveraging technology to drive innovation and improve processes.
– #InnovACTION: A call to action for all stakeholders to co-create with them.
– Culture: Exploring the internal culture and the InnovACTION X-PACE Ecosystem that supports innovation.
– Indicators of Success: Identifying metrics to measure the success of the innovation initiatives.
Takeaways
Participants will leave the session with:
1. An understanding of purpose-driven innovation and its role in inspiring social and economic wealth.
2. Insights into the #InnovACTION model for co-creating with all stakeholders, with the employee at the core.
3. Strategies for engaging vulnerable employees
4. Knowledge of the relevance of DEIB coaches, mentors, and transformation ambassadors in driving innovation.
Carlos Bello
Innovation Director at Ilunion Hotels
Wednesday 21 May, 15:00-17:00 CEST/9am-11am EDT/6am-8am PDT
Incubation, Venture Building & Scaling
15:00-15:15 CEST/9:00am-9:15am EDT/6:00am-6:15am PDT
Introduction & Peer Pod
16:45-17:00 CEST/10:45am-11:00am EDT/7:45am-8:00am PDT
Capturing Takeaways & Wrap Up
Melody Rolph - Community Lead at Innov8rs
15:15-16:00 CEST/9:15am-10:00am EDT/6:15am-7:00am PDT
Coming Soon
More information coming soon…
Coming soon
16:00-16:45 CEST/10:00am-10:45am EDT/7:00am-7:45am PDT
Coming Soon
More information coming soon…
Ashley Nelson
VP Innovation and New Product Development, Mastercard Foundry at Mastercard
Wednesday 28 May, 16:00-18:00 CEST/10am-12pm EDT/7am-9am PDT
Open Innovation
16:00-16:15 CEST/10:00am-10:15am EDT/7:00am-7:15am PDT
Introduction & Peer Pod
17:45-18:00 CEST/11:45am-12:00pm EDT/8:45am-9:00am PDT
Capturing Takeaways & Wrap Up
Melody Rolph - Community Lead at Innov8rs
16:15-17:00 CEST/10:15am-11:00am EDT/7:15am-8:00am PDT
Coming Soon
More information coming soon…
Alice Ponti
SVP Innovation & Strategy at VentureFuel
17:00-17:45 CEST/11:00am-11:45am EDT/8:00am-8:45am PDT
Coming Soon
More information coming soon…
Coming soon
Wednesday 4 June, 16:00-18:00 CEST/10am-12pm EDT/7am-9am PDT
Climate/SDG
16:00-16:15 CEST/10:00am-10:15am EDT/7:00am-7:15am PDT
Introduction & Peer Pod
17:45-18:00 CEST/11:45am-12:00pm EDT/8:45am-9:00am PDT
Capturing Takeaways & Wrap Up
Melody Rolph - Community Lead at Innov8rs
16:15-17:00 CEST/10:15am-11:00am EDT/7:15am-8:00am PDT
Innovating Within A Company That 'Believes' It Is Innovative
Innovation is the name of the game in the renewable energy sector – new battery chemistries, new technological advances, working with the hyperscalers in the tech industry, etc – and, consequently, the companies in the sector believe they are inherently innovative.
But if innovation is about failure, learning and iterative loops to get to a successful outcome, then renewable energy companies that are more utility-like are still resistant to true innovation.
This session will discuss how to truly build innovation into the culture of utility companies that need to be innovative to stay competitive.
Seyi Fabode
Director, Cleantech Innovation at RWE
17:00-17:45 CEST/11am-11:45am EDT/8-8:45am PDT
Coming Soon
More information coming soon…
Coming soon
Wednesday 11 June, 19:00-21:00 CEST/1pm-3pm EDT/10am-12pm PDT
Culture & Capabilities
19:00-19:15 CEST/1:00pm-1:15pm EDT/10:00am-10:15am PDT
Introduction & Peer Pod
20:45-21:00 CEST/2:45pm-3:00pm EDT/11:45am-12:00pm PDT
Capturing Takeaways & Wrap Up
Melody Rolph - Community Lead at Innov8rs
19:15-20:00 CEST/1:15pm-2:00pm EDT/10:15am-11:00am PDT
From Resistance to Reinvention: Overcoming Cultural Barriers to Transform Innovation Capability
More information coming soon…
Noel Sobelman
Partner at Accel Management Group
20:00-20:45 CEST/2:00pm-2:45pm EDT/11:00am-11:45am PDT
Creative Velocity: Propelling Breakthrough Ideas in the Age of Generative AI
More information coming soon…
Leslie Grandy
Founder & CEO at The Product Guild
Wednesday 18 June, 16:00-18:00 CEST/10am-12pm EDT/7am-9am PDT
Talent & Teams
16:00-16:15 CEST/10:00am-10:15am EDT/7:00am-7:15am PDT
Introduction & Peer Pod
17:45-18:00 CEST/11:45am-12:00pm EDT/8:45am-9:00am PDT
Capturing Takeaways & Wrap Up
Melody Rolph - Community Lead at Innov8rs
16:15-17:00 CEST/10:15am-11:00am EDT/7:15am-8:00am PDT
Set it on Fire! The Art of Innovation
More information coming soon…
Natalie Born
Founder at Innovation Meets Leadership and Author of Set it on Fire, The Art of Innovation
17:00-17:45 CEST/11:00am-11:45am EDT/8:00am-8:45am PDT
High-Performance: A Missing Link for Better Innovation?
What if high-performance principles for leaders and their teams are the missing link for stronger innovation capabilities and thus greater impact?
Companies talk about innovation as if it’s all about ideas, technology, and creativity. But here’s the real challenge:
Innovation doesn’t fail because of a lack of ideas. it fails because teams and leadership aren’t set up for high performance and don‘t pay enough attention to the people and team aspect.
• They push for disruptive thinking, yet teams struggle with unclear direction and priorities.
• They demand fast execution, yet decision-making is slow and bureaucratic.
• They say they want collaboration, yet reward individual performance over team success.
• They talk about learning from failure, yet penalize teams when things don’t go as planned.
The result? Innovation efforts stall – not because of weak ideas, but because the teams responsible for driving them aren’t structured around high performance principles and approaches.
In this talk, Stefan will share what you can do to identify and fix this.
Stefan Lindegaard
Globally Recognized Expert, Author, and Coach in High-Performance Leadership, Team Dynamics, and Corporate Innovation
These are not your typical boring webinars. You’ll get to work with peers and experts in interactive small group sessions, so you actually learn something.
Whatever your challenges are, and regardless of industry and innovation maturity, you’ll leave with new, practical insights and an upgraded toolbox, to implement right away.
All Learning Labs follow the same structure:
- 15 min: introduction and speed networking
- 45 min: First speaker session with Q&A
- 45 min: Second speaker session with Q&A
- 15 min: Capturing takeaways and next steps
With each Learning Lab comes access to session recordings plus relevant content and resources from the “Netflix of Corporate Innovation”
Also, you’ll be able to engage with other participants through our community platform before, during and after the session.
Bring your team. Boost your impact.
Innovation is a team sport, don’t you agree?
Bring your team to focus on one key topic and get to the bottom of it. Or, you can divide and conquer to capture all of what’s being discussed..
With our team packages you get a great deal on tickets- but even greater outcomes.
With so many issues to tackle and so much change happening so fast, you will benefit from your team joining too.
You're in great company.
Membership is available only to individuals and teams, working in roles like
• Chief Innovation Officer / VP of Innovation
• Head of Innovation, Innovation Program Director, Innovation Lab/Centre Director, Innovation Team Lead
• Venture Lead, Individual Intrapreneur, Innovation Team Member
• Leader/professional in general business role or other functions like Strategy, IT/Transformation, R&D/Product, Marketing, HR/Change
Connect and collaborate with other corporate innovators from brands like
Trusted by brands. Loved by peers.
"This is my tribe of lifelong learners and do-ers.
Innov8rs is unlike any conference. It’s the only place were corporate innovators and intrapreneurs get vulnerable and real about the challenges facing disruptors today and work together on creating breakthrough opportunities."
"I am blown away with learnings, reflections and new insights. Such an amazing crowd with a true sharing mentality.
I have gathered so many cases for best practice on how to run innovation, how to measure it, how to fuel intrapreneurship etc. Further, most people I have met are really down to earth, pragmatic and no-bulshit kind of people that are creating real impact in the companies they work for."
"I'm amazed by the format, how open, honest and authentic it was.
What a great event! You rarely ever get that with these types of events - well done!"
"This was a refreshing reminder that we're not alone.
Sometimes working at the front-end of innovation can be a lonely place, especially in a large 100-year-old company. Connecting with so many other innovation professionals acted as a shot of adrenaline reigniting my drive to transform our organization."
"I understand how difficult these events are to run in the best of times.
This is hands down the best virtual event I have attended."
"For me, the Innov8rs Unconference is one of the few intrapreneurship conferences that is worth paying for.
The ability to connect with such a high quality speakers, ask questions, and get great insights is just invaluable!"
"I have already used some of the ideas presented. It is also influencing my thoughts on many other areas related to innovation.
The value of the Unconference has far exceeded the cost."
"The conference was great – it was a perfect mixture of networking and practical learning with a group of high-caliber, highly involved and dedicated participants.
It's a rarity to attend an event like this!"
Ready to dive in?
This series consists of 8 Learning Labs; 2-hour workshops each covering one key pillar of corporate innovation.
Member Pass
for current members of Innov8rs Community and up to 5 of their colleagues. Not a member yet? More info and apply via the button below.
FREE
Individual Pass
1 Seat
1 seat for all 8 Learning Labs
€95
Team Pass
5 seats
5 seats for all 8 Learning Labs
€395
10 seats
10 seats for all 8 Learning Labs
€695
20 seats
20 seats for all 8 Learning Labs
€995
As a first step, apply to join via the button below.
Are you a member of Innov8rs Community already?
As a member, you are automatically enrolled onto every Learning Lab, so no need for you to purchase a pass separately. Want to become a member? As a first step, apply here.
Need some help?
If you’d like to understand better how participating in Innov8rs Learning Labs would support you and your team in achieving your objectives, or if you have questions about registration, email Theo via theo@innov8rs.co
