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OnPoint: Where do you think the Open Innovation market is headed in the next 3 years?
AZ: Until recently, we’ve seen Open Innovation primarily as the domain of the large
corporate entity. I believe, though, that the mid-market (companies with approximately
$100M to $1B in revenues) is the next frontier for Open Innovation. We are seeing
a great up-tick in interest from these companies who are looking to make their innovation
pipelines much more robust by bringing in new, disruptive technologies that will
provide them with a competitive advantage. We all know what a difficult 12 months
it has been with the global recession upon us. I think the consensus is that there
will be a slow build over the next 2-3 years as the economy recovers. As a result,
companies will have to fight hard to win market share, and the way to do that most
effectively is to invest in innovation and knowledge.
OnPoint: Can we expect to see any changes to NineSigma’s approach to Open Innovation
now that you are CEO?
AZ: I don’t anticipate any major changes to our current approach, but we are certainly
building on what we’ve been doing and adding greater depth and breadth to our Engage
and EnableSM solutions. With a spectrum of clients at different stages of Open Innovation
maturity, we have had the opportunity to really think through our existing services
and add new services based on what our clients are telling us. For example, we’re
now launching our first Linked InnovationSM program which is an alternative to the
traditional consortium approach enabling clients to solve perennial issues such
as food safety, removal of toxins in inks and toners, water usage reduction, and
more. Our NineSigma IntelligenceSM program, launched last year, has quickly become
a key component of our clients’ Open Innovation strategy providing them with a comprehensive
technology report on strategic areas of interest. It is these types of services
that we will continue to build and modify in order to better meet the needs of our
clients.
OnPoint: Coming from NineSigma Europe, would you characterize the practice of Open
Innovation in Europe as being different than the practice of Open Innovation in
the United States?
AZ: The practice of Open Innovation in Europe is actually quite similar to that
in the United States. Some might say that the adoption curve in Europe is 18-24
months behind the United States, but Europe is catching up fast. European companies
are very good about internalizing the principles and best practices of Open Innovation
and building the organizational structure necessary to support it on an ongoing
basis. For example, we’re working right now with a large European chemical company
on training their people to help drive adoption of Open Innovation across their
business. Through this large-scale program, we are transferring know-how to key
people across functions to make them more effective in identifying opportunities
and needs, and executing Open Innovation for maximum results.
OnPoint: With so many companies providing innovation services in the market today,
why do you think NineSigma stands out?
AZ: We’ve been practicing Open Innovation since 2000, before the term was even coined
by Professor Henry Chesbrough in 2003. We have worked with industry-leading companies
on innovation projects across the value chain from upstream research to ready-to-go
products, and everything in between. Did we make some mistakes along the way? Yes.
Did those early experiences help us build better offerings? Absolutely. We’ve now
completed more than 1,600 Open Innovation projects which is more than any other
provider in this space. We have been able to work with premier innovation-driven
companies and the world’s best and brightest solution providers in industry, academia,
government and private labs. We see a lot of “me-too” innovation service providers
out there who come and go, and frankly, that’s normal. To succeed in the global
innovation marketplace, it takes careful execution, deep technological skill, extreme
attention to detail, and good listening. I think it is those things that will continue
to make us stand out.
OnPoint: Tell us something you would like people to know about yourself.
AZ: I’m doing exactly what I always wanted to be doing. From a very young age, I
had an interest in building businesses and have been working towards that goal all
along. I had the opportunity to build a new drive technology business from the ground
up when I immigrated to the U.S. (I’m originally from Germany) in my late 20’s.
I’ve worked for both large and small companies but really like the ability to have
an impact that comes with working for a smaller company. I value my experiences
in working with people in different cultures and think it is important to have that
background when running a business with a geographically diverse customer base.
I’ve had the opportunity to sell and deliver services in six different countries
including the U.S., UK, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium and France. I’m happy to be
back in the United States, and I’m particularly looking forward to working with
our Europe, Japan and U.S. teams to continue to grow the business on a global level.
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