- Success stories about the groundbreaking impact of artificial intelligence (AI) technology on business are omnipresent, and the benefits that might emerge for innovation management are the talk of the town. However, managers are still struggling to find the appropriate approach for applying AI in their innovation projects. At this early stage in the age of AI,
companies differ in how they leverage the opportunities afforded by AI and seek guidance. Our study among 162 tech-savvy managers highlights the current state of AI usage in innovation management, reveals different implementation patterns, and provides guidance in finding the right approach to increase innovation performance using AI technology.
We find that companies follow distinct implementation approaches that differ regarding strategy, organizational setup, capability building, and scaling, which results in three user groups: 39% of participants consider themselves “AI-Leaders”, the most progressive group when it comes to dealing with the technology and breaking ground inSuccess stories about the groundbreaking impact of artificial intelligence (AI) technology on business are omnipresent, and the benefits that might emerge for innovation management are the talk of the town. However, managers are still struggling to find the appropriate approach for applying AI in their innovation projects. At this early stage in the age of AI,
companies differ in how they leverage the opportunities afforded by AI and seek guidance. Our study among 162 tech-savvy managers highlights the current state of AI usage in innovation management, reveals different implementation patterns, and provides guidance in finding the right approach to increase innovation performance using AI technology.
We find that companies follow distinct implementation approaches that differ regarding strategy, organizational setup, capability building, and scaling, which results in three user groups: 39% of participants consider themselves “AI-Leaders”, the most progressive group when it comes to dealing with the technology and breaking ground in AI-driven innovation
management. 30% belong to the “AI-Pragmatists” user group that is ambitious in applying AI, while 31% are „AI Aspirants” only rarely using AI for their innovation processes. A vast majority of the participants anticipates overall improvements in innovation performance by
more than 50%, as they expect the effectiveness and efficiency of new product development to increase significantly. However, companies still face severe implementation challenges, such as missing data access or a lack of technical expertise. Depending on their individual characteristics, companies should take deliberate strategies to advance in the autonomous innovation game.…

