Can AI empower my company to innovate and transform?

On July 18th, MVP Factory organized a one-hour intensive webinar where AI experts Dorian Schlede, Kilian Sorg, and Michael Tetsuo Grundstein discussed the effects of new technologies on the innovation process. 
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In this article, we will dive deeper into what they talked about and answer the following questions:

• Why should you be interested in AI as an innovator?  
• How can AI accelerate the venture-building process? 
• How can you leverage AI to innovate and build? 

Why should you be interested in AI as an innovator?  

“AI will reach human-level performance way faster than previously estimated,” said Dorian Schlede, MVPF Venture Architect, while opening the webinar. 

He emphasized the importance of embracing the AI revolution for innovators and said, “According to a survey conducted by McKinsey, AI will surpass human-level creativity as early as 2026 and even reach the social and emotional reasoning level of humans by 2030.” 

The speakers agreed that AI isn't just another tool; it's a powerhouse of benefits. It not only boosts the efficiency of the innovation process, further accelerating market entry but also enables rapid iteration through faster testing with tools like synthetic users, leading to expanded horizons and redefined possibilities. 

The market seems to validate these - according to the "Age of Creative AI" report, investments in AI are skyrocketing, with a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of over 20% expected in the next five years. The AI market, which reached $85.8 billion in 2021, is projected to grow to $190 billion by 2025. 

At MVPF, we have witnessed this transition firsthand. Our partners, whether from the corporate world as Henkel or the public sector as the Bundeswehr and BWI, are all open to incorporating AI into their innovation journeys and have collaborated with us on various AI workshops and projects (learn more about the MVPF Workshops here). 

While there is evident growth in the involvement of AI in the innovation process, the scope of innovation and what it means is rather vast. 

The MVPF experts decided to dive deeper into the venture-building process - during the webinar, they gave a brief overview of the design thinking process and discussed a few use cases and tools that innovators can use to harness the growing power of AI. 

How can AI accelerate the venture-building process? 

Design thinking is a non-linear, iterative process that builders use to familiarise themselves with the users, challenge hypotheses, redefine problems, create solutions to user needs, and prototype and test them.

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Kilian Sorg, MVPF AI expert, and Venture Architect introduced this section by saying, “While it is important to understand clearly the existing tools and upcoming trends, it is essential to note that it's not about replacing human innovation; it's about amplifying it - it is about ways how tasks are likely to be allocated between us as humans and AI as a more supportive role.”

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As the webinar progressed,  the speakers dove deeper into the recent and upcoming trends for each step of the innovation process and analyzed the role of AI along with humans (contact us to access the webinar recording). 

A major driving force that emerged throughout the discussion was Generative AI and how to ensure the creation of a high-quality output. 

Generative AI refers to algorithms that can generate new content based on patterns and trends learned from existing data. An essential part of ensuring that the result meets the standard is providing well-engineered prompts (a prompt is a text that allows you to interact with AI systems). 

Michael Tetsuo Grundstein, our Growth Marketing Consultant, introduced Prompt Engineering, “It is the process of improving a prompt - it involves creating effective prompts to guide the AI towards generating the desired responses by iteratively refining prompts to align the AI's output with the desired goals.”

Recently, MVP Factory has worked with Prompt Engineering extensively in the innovation process. With our various clients, including JobRad, DB Schenker, and more, we’ve adopted this technique to support the creation of different business models, ideation streams, and user research. (Click here to access our AI cheatsheet) 

How can you leverage AI to innovate and build?  

The speakers continued the last leg of the webinar by pointing out the difficulties Corporates face when applying new technologies to the business context. 

All three MVPF speakers agreed that while Prompt Engineering is an effective start, companies often face an understandable level of skepticism when implementing new technologies into innovation processes due to a lack of expertise and necessary resources. 

One successful use case on how Corporates can leverage AI to build digital solutions and ventures is MVP Factory’s collaboration with the Cyber Innovation Hub for Bundeswehr. 

MVP Factory organized and facilitated an AI Usage Validation workshop for our partner, Cyber Innovation Hub, the software partner of Bundeswehr, the German Armed Forces, to enable them to make an educated decision on how to incorporate Artificial Intelligence in their operations. 

During the workshop, we conducted a comprehensive analysis of the defense model canvas, creating and testing various Defense GPT Operating Systems. 

A significant part of the workshop was to initiate knowledge transfer and enhance skills, incorporating an innovation pitch challenge and utilizing an AI image generator for improved visualization.

When asked about the learnings, Alexander Kleinschmidt, Principal at MVPF and the Project Lead for the BWI AI Usage Validation workshop, says, “Often described as a ‘traditional’ industry, it is astonishing to see how to open the defense personnel are to adopting new technologies. The general acceptance among our conservative client base validated our belief - that AI when combined with the human mind, can accelerate innovation.”

Where to start? 

What Alex said aligns perfectly with the main takeaway from the webinar - the key to maximizing AI's potential lies in partnership and the synergy between human ingenuity and AI's computational might.

MVP Factory’s mission of enabling digital transformation and encouraging corporates to successfully incorporate emerging technologies follows the same principle - we guide companies like BWI, DB Schenker, Henkel, and many more to wield the intricacies of AI integration and ensure that the technology aligns seamlessly with business goals. 

If you’re interested in AI and the wide scope of possibilities it offers, book a workshop with experts and discuss how to kickstart your journey. 

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