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Innovation Storytellers

Susan Lindner

Did you ever wonder how an innovation got to its finish line? How innovators saw the future, made a product, and created change – in our world and in their companies? I did. Innovation Storytellers invites changemakers to describe how they created their innovation and just as important – THE STORIES – that made us fall in love with them. Come learn how great innovations need great stories to make them move around the world and how to become a better storyteller in the process.

I'm Susan Lindner, the Innovation Storyteller. But I wasn't always. I've been a wannabe revolutionary, an epidemiologist at the CDC and an AIDS educator in the brothels of Thailand helping to turn former sex workers into entrepreneurs. Trained as an anthropologist and the Founder of Emerging Media, I've spent the last twenty years working with innovators from 60+ countries. Ranging from cutting edge startups to Fortune 100 companies like GE, Corning, Citi, Olayan, and nine foreign governments, helping their leaders to tell their stories and teaching them how to become incredible advocates for their innovations.

Great innovation stories make change possible. They let us step into a future we can't see yet. I started this podcast to shine a light on our generation of great innovators, to learn how they brought their innovation to life and the stories they told to bring them to the world.

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#279
Tuesday · 9 min
279: HOW to Get Your People to Believe in Your AI Strategy
How do you get employees to believe in an AI strategy when the future you are asking them to believe in has not happened yet? In this solo episode of the Innovation Storytellers Show, I want to address a question I am hearing increasingly from organizations undergoing major AI transformation: can you really manage AI-driven organizational change through storytelling? I am not sure there is another way to do it. When leadership announces an AI strategy, employees do not immediately experience that future. They experience what leaders tell them about it. When the explanation stops at productivity, efficiency, agents, automation, and new tools, people begin writing the missing parts of the story themselves. Those private narratives tend to contain three uncomfortable words: replacement, obsolescence, and irrelevance. I have been working through this problem with a major financial services organization, and it has reinforced something I believe strongly about storytelling for AI adoption. The silence surrounding technological change can be more damaging than the technology itself. In this episode, I explain why leaders should communicate the why before the what and connect AI initiatives with the organization's wider purpose rather than simply promising productivity gains. I also talk about something many AI transformation programs seem reluctant to confront directly: fear. If employees are worried about job security, changing responsibilities, or whether their skills will still matter, avoiding those subjects will not make the concerns disappear. Leaders need to name them, discuss what is known and what remains uncertain, and provide a credible plan for how people will develop alongside the technology. This is where AI change management storytelling becomes practical. Show employees what their work could look like after the transformation. Explain what becomes easier. Describe the work they may stop doing and the skills they will have the opportunity to develop. Give them ways to provide feedback as workflows change. Then start telling the stories emerging from inside the organization. If Mary finds a better way to complete a task using AI, tell that story. If Ashok discovers a new coding workflow, let colleagues learn from it. If Juan experiments with visual AI and creates something genuinely useful, show people what happened. Those internal stories can make an AI strategy feel tangible because employees can see people like themselves participating in it. Leaders also need to use the technology themselves. Telling employees to change how they work while having little firsthand experience with AI will quickly undermine credibility. Organizations that manage AI transformation successfully may not be those with the most sophisticated technology roadmap. They may simply be the ones whose leaders never allow employees to lose sight of where the story is heading and where they belong within it. If you are responsible for communicating AI to employees, ask yourself one question. Can your people see a better version of their working lives inside the future you are asking them to build?
#278
October 6 · 49 min
278: How to Take Innovation from Outcomes to Impact
What happens when AI makes it easier than ever to produce work, but organizations still struggle to turn that activity into meaningful results? In this episode of the Innovation Storytellers Show, I speak with Dr. Mik Kersten, creator of the Flow Framework and founder of Tasktop. Mik is the author of Project to Product, and Output to Outcome, about why the AI era demands a very different way of thinking about innovation. He has spent much of his career studying how ideas move through organizations, from his early work at Xerox PARC to building technology for value stream management. One lesson has stayed remarkably consistent: large organizations rarely struggle because they lack ideas or ambition. They struggle because their structures, incentives, approvals, and operating models slow the feedback loops required for innovation. AI is making that problem much harder to ignore. When knowledge outputs become cheap and plentiful, measuring productivity by documents created, code written, or tasks completed begins to lose meaning. Mik argues that organizations need to move toward outcome-driven operating models that ask a much more useful question: did the work improve something for the customer, employee, or business? We discuss why some large companies can take around 120 days to move an idea to a customer, while smaller teams can test ideas within weeks. We also examine what happens when AI accelerates a poorly designed system and simply produces more work for humans to review. Mik explains his concept of the outcome loop, where strategy leads to outputs created by humans and AI, followed by customer and employee outcomes that inform the next round of decisions. For leaders thinking about how to communicate AI transformation, this changes the conversation from productivity to effectiveness. We also talk about storytelling for C-suite leaders and why internal examples may become some of the most persuasive tools for winning AI stakeholder buy-in. Instead of telling employees that AI transformation is inevitable, leaders can show where new ways of working are already producing results, what failed along the way, and what the organization has learned. Our conversation also raises a bigger question about human-AI collaboration. Mik believes AI should support decision-making, but accountability must remain with people. His view is simple: humans should continue to report to humans, particularly when organizations are deciding which outcomes technology should pursue. As AI gives organizations the ability to create more, faster, the competitive advantage may no longer come from the volume of work being produced. It may come from knowing which outcomes are worth pursuing in the first place. How is your organization measuring the difference between AI activity and genuine impact?
#277
September 29 · 11 min
277: How Human Stories Become the Competitive Advantage in AI
What if the biggest weakness in AI-powered innovation is that we are getting better at predicting human behavior while becoming worse at understanding what that behavior actually means? In this solo episode of the Innovation Storytellers Show, I want to talk about something I believe is becoming increasingly important for innovation leaders: AI can identify patterns, surface signals, and predict what customers may do next, but prediction is not the same as understanding. My background in anthropology has always shaped how I think about innovation. Anthropologist Clifford Geertz wrote about "thick description," the idea that observing human behavior without understanding its context can lead us to misunderstand what we are seeing completely. A wink and a twitch may look almost identical, but they mean very different things. AI faces a similar problem. A model might tell you that thousands of customers abandon their shopping carts at the same point. What it cannot reliably tell you is whether they are worried about money, overwhelmed by choice, consulting their family, reconsidering the purchase, or distracted by something happening in their lives. The behavior is visible but the meaning often is not. This creates an important challenge for AI storytelling for business leaders and anyone responsible for storytelling for AI innovation. As organizations gain access to more customer data, they also need people who can listen, interpret, question assumptions, and understand the cultural context behind what the data appears to show. In this episode, I share four ways innovation teams can interpret what AI cannot. I explain why AI should act as a scout rather than the storyteller, why customer stories should challenge data rather than confirm it, and why the strongest human-AI collaboration narrative combines machine intelligence with human judgment. Your competitors can increasingly access the same models, similar data, and comparable technology. The advantage may come from what your people understand that the machines cannot fully explain. If AI can tell us what customers are doing, are we spending enough time asking why?
#276
September 22 · 7 min
How AI Is Killing the Best Part of Innovation: The Idea
What happens when AI gives your organization more ideas than your people actually want to own? In this solo episode of the Innovation Storytellers Show, I want to challenge something I am seeing more frequently across innovation teams: the assumption that because AI can generate hundreds of ideas in seconds, it should automatically become our ideation partner. I think we need to question that. Most organizations are not suffering from a shortage of ideas. Employees, customers, partners, suppliers, and markets are already full of observations about products that could be improved, processes that make no sense, new business models worth testing, and customer frustrations waiting to be addressed. The problem is often that organizations are not asking the right people the right questions. AI can produce options at enormous speed, but it cannot manufacture belief. It cannot create the feeling that comes from a group of people building an idea together, choosing to champion it, and taking pride in seeing it become real. That difference matters because innovation eventually depends on execution. If teams feel disconnected from the ideas they are being asked to deliver, more ideation simply creates a larger backlog. In this episode, I look at innovation storytelling in the age of AI, why human ownership still matters, and why storytelling for AI adoption must explain why a direction matters to the people expected to make it happen. I also discuss how leaders can think differently about human-AI collaboration, communicating AI to employees, and winning AI stakeholder buy-in without reducing innovation to another exercise in generating AI output. AI absolutely belongs in innovation. The bigger question is where it adds the most value and where human judgment, imagination, conviction, and conversation still need to lead. Are we using AI to help people build better ideas, or are we slowly removing people from the process that creates belief in those ideas?
#275
September 15 · 9 min
How to Make Your Visuals Stand Out in an AI World
What happens to visual storytelling when everyone suddenly has access to the same powerful AI tools? In this solo episode of Innovation Storytellers, I'm looking at what it takes to create visual stories that still feel distinctive, credible, and unmistakably human in an AI-generated world. AI has made it incredibly easy to create polished graphics, videos, presentations, and infographics in seconds. But when every organization can do the same thing, visual sameness quickly becomes another form of noise. Producing more content is no longer enough. The real challenge is deciding what deserves to be communicated and finding a point of view that belongs to your organization rather than an algorithm. I share practical ways innovation teams can use visual metaphor, AI-generated drafts, storyboarding tools, customer reactions, and real-world video without surrendering the judgment that makes a story matter. I also explain why the first AI-generated output should almost never be the final deliverable. The opportunity is to use AI for speed while keeping humans firmly responsible for meaning, emotion, and choice. Because when everyone can create more content, discernment becomes the real differentiator. How are you making sure your visual storytelling still feels human when AI can generate almost anything?
#274
September 8 · 38 min
(BEST OF) Three Words to Your Next Story
What if the stories you tell about innovation are actually working against you? In this episode of the Innovation Storytellers Show, I do something a little different. I open a new series by inviting other storytellers I deeply admire, people who bring their own lenses, frameworks, and lived experience to the craft of story. I want you to think about storytelling as an expansive, evolving practice, not a single narrative you perfect once and reuse forever, but a skill you keep refining as your audiences, challenges, and ambitions change. To begin that journey, I sat down with Park Howell, a 40-year veteran of brand storytelling and host of the Business of Story. Park shares how he found storytelling through advertising, why stories have a repeatable structure rooted in human biology, and what he calls the science and bewitchery behind stories that truly move people. We unpack his deceptively simple "and, but, therefore" framework, why leaders lose rooms with bullet points, and how story becomes the bridge that helps people move from status quo thinking to real behavior change. We also explore why storytelling so often fails in organizations, especially when leaders make the story about themselves rather than their audience. Park explains how innovation stories should focus on outcomes, not offerings, and why emotional connection must come before logic if you want ideas to stick. From the hero's journey and Joseph Campbell's influence to the reality of selling ideas in five-minute executive meetings, this conversation is packed with practical insights for anyone trying to communicate change under pressure. We close by looking at how AI fits into modern storytelling, including Park's work on the Story Cycle Genie, and why emotional intelligence combined with artificial intelligence may shape the next era of leadership communication. If innovation is ultimately about getting people to move, decide, and act, how might your stories need to change to meet them where they are, and what could happen if you finally told the story they were waiting to hear?
#273
September 1 · 40 min
(BEST OF) How to Live in the Innovation Simulation
How do you bring discipline to innovation without stripping away the creativity that makes it powerful in the first place? In this episode of the Innovation Storytellers Show, I sit down with Stephen Parkins, Innovation Strategist and Founder of Culturedge, to unpack what it really takes to turn innovation into a strategic asset rather than a side project fueled by hope and enthusiasm. Stephen brings an outside-in perspective shaped by an unconventional career spanning financial markets, startup entrepreneurship, and senior innovation roles within complex global organizations. That distance from the usual corporate playbook allows him to challenge some deeply held assumptions about how innovation should work and why so many well-intentioned efforts struggle to deliver measurable returns. We talk openly about the tension between creativity and structure, and why innovation does not fail because teams lack ideas, but because organizations lack clarity, consistent decision-making, and shared language. Stephen offers a thoughtful perspective on innovation management systems, including the much-debated ISO standards, and explains why guardrails are often misunderstood as constraints. Drawing on real-world experience from large enterprises, he argues that structure, when well designed, creates the conditions for better experimentation, smarter risk-taking, and stronger alignment between innovators and the core business. The conversation also dives into strategy, funding, and culture, particularly the invisible friction between those running today's business and those inventing tomorrow's. Stephen shares how portfolio thinking, exposure to risk, and optionality can shift innovation from theater to real value creation. We also explore his work as co-founder of Strategy Quest, a simulation-based approach that helps leaders practice decision-making under uncertainty, surface blind spots, and learn through consequence rather than theory. It is a compelling look at how scenario thinking and simulated environments can prepare the next generation of innovation leaders to see around corners. If innovation is meant to help organizations grow stronger in uncertain times, what needs to change in how leaders think about risk, culture, and decision-making, and are we brave enough to build systems that actually support that ambition?
#272
August 25 · 36 min
(BEST OF) Weathering the Tech Front: Amy Freeze on Avatars, AI, and Audience Connection
In this episode of the Innovation Storytellers Show, I sit down with Amy Freeze, a meteorologist, innovator, and public safety advocate who has spent decades helping people understand risk when it truly matters. Everywhere I go lately, conversations circle back to AI, but this one brings it out of the abstract and straight into our homes, our screens, and moments where trust can make all the difference. Amy shares her remarkable journey from broadcast journalism to becoming one of the most recognized voices in weather. We talk about her work forecasting major events like Superstorm Sandy and the Joplin tornado, and how those experiences shaped her sense of responsibility to the public. As the first female chief meteorologist in Chicago and a six time Emmy Award winner, her career has been built on credibility and calm communication. What fascinated me most was why she chose to create a digital avatar, and how she sees AI as a way to deliver urgent, accurate information at scale without losing the human connection people rely on in moments of uncertainty. We also dig into the fears and ethical questions surrounding digital twins, AI driven storytelling, and protecting name, image, and likeness. Amy offers a grounded perspective on why avoiding new technology can sometimes create more risk than adopting it thoughtfully. Together, we explore how empathy, trust, and clear storytelling help audiences move past fear toward understanding, especially when the stakes involve safety, language barriers, and real-time decision-making. This conversation reminded me that innovation does not have to feel cold or distant. It can be practical, human, and deeply rooted in care. We talk about how trusted voices evolve with technology, how stories help people accept change, and why the future of AI may depend far less on hype and far more on responsibility, context, and trust.
#271
August 18 · 31 min
How Curiosity Built Siri, Alexa, and the Future of AI
What allows someone to see a technology years before the rest of us realize we need it? In this episode of the Innovation Storytellers Show, I speak with Kevin Surace, the serial entrepreneur and inventor whose pioneering work on human-like virtual assistants helped create the path toward Siri, Alexa, and the AI assistants we use today. Kevin takes me back to the late 1990s, when leaving your desktop computer meant leaving your email, contacts, calendar, and digital information behind. His team saw that frustration and asked a remarkably simple question: could everyone have access to the kind of assistant usually reserved for executives? The result was Mary, a virtual assistant that could recognize callers, answer phones, manage calendars, and converse using natural language. Building and launching it required around $100 million at a time when cloud infrastructure did not exist. But this conversation is about much more than the history of AI. Kevin explains why curiosity helps innovators find genuine customer pain, why a product should occupy surprisingly little space in a great investment pitch, and why corporations should stop expecting every innovation project to succeed. His argument is that experimentation works when organizations place smaller bets, learn from the market, and invest further when product timing and product-market fit become clearer. We also discuss The Joy Success Cycle and a question becoming increasingly relevant as AI changes knowledge work: if technology removes parts of the process we once enjoyed, can we learn to find greater satisfaction in the outcomes we create? For leaders trying to understand storytelling for AI innovation, win AI stakeholder buy-in, or how to communicate AI transformation without making technology the entire story, Kevin offers an unusually practical perspective. Where do you think curiosity ends and the business case for innovation begins? Listen to the episode and share your thoughts with me.
#270
August 11 · 57 min
270: How the Apple Store Used Storytelling to Change Retail Forever
What does it take to create a store that people visit even when they are not planning to buy anything? In this episode of the Innovation Storytellers Show, I speak with Ron Johnson, the creator of the Apple Store, former CEO of J.C. Penney, and author of Shop Different: How Retail Revealed Apple's Genius. Ron shares the experiences that shaped his approach to leadership, beginning with an unlikely high school soccer transformation and continuing through his work at Target, Apple, and some of the most influential retail innovations of the past several decades. Ron explains how Target made great design accessible through its groundbreaking partnership with architect Michael Graves, and why committing to 140 products created a movement that a cautious three-product test never could have achieved. He also takes us inside the creation of the Apple Store, where the objective was not simply to sell computers, but to remove people's fear of technology through welcoming spaces, hands-on experiences, and human support. We hear the story behind the Genius Bar, including why Steve Jobs initially preferred the name Geek Bar, and how Ron persuaded him that genius offered employees and customers something aspirational. Ron also reveals why the Apple Store on Fifth Avenue was built underground, how its glass cube changed the Manhattan skyline, and why opening it 24 hours a day generated $80 million in overnight sales during its first year. Our conversation goes beyond retail. It is about finding a story that gives people something to believe in, communicating a vision clearly enough that teams can act on it, and having the courage to commit fully when an idea has the potential to change an industry. Can physical spaces still create the human connections that digital convenience often removes, and what could your organization learn from the story behind the Apple Store? Share your thoughts.
#269
August 4 · 35 min
269: How Great Innovation Leaders Get Everyone Speaking the Same Language
What happens when everyone in an organization claims to support innovation, but each person has a different idea of what innovation means? In this episode of the Innovation Storytellers Show, I speak with Iffat AlRowaithy, Corporate Innovation and Innovation Center Unit Head at a globally recognized bank in Saudi Arabia. Iffat has spent more than a decade building innovation functions, developing employee capabilities, and connecting new ideas with corporate strategy and measurable business value. We begin with a problem many innovation leaders will recognize about how people define innovation. One department may view innovation as a new product, another may focus on customer experience, while others see a system update as progress. Iffat explains why leaders must establish a shared language before asking people to innovate, including clear expectations around purpose, ownership, timelines, and outcomes. Iffat also shares what she learned while building innovation centers across the public and private sectors. A creative space may look impressive, but it cannot succeed if the organization has not developed the culture, sponsorship, and capabilities required to use it. Her current center was designed around the five senses, creating an experience that helps employees think differently, contribute ideas, and participate in building solutions. We discuss why open calls for ideas can produce large volumes of suggestions without solving the problems business units actually face. Iffat describes how her team reversed the process by asking departments to submit one real challenge and inviting employees across the organization to propose solutions. This approach allowed an IT employee to solve an HR communication problem and helped turn employee insight into an implemented broadcast capability. Our conversation also examines the relationship between AI and human creativity. Iffat shares how employees used AI to move from ideation to a working prototype in around two hours, while emphasizing that human judgment, context, and empathy must remain part of the process. Perhaps the most powerful lesson is that people respond to experiences, participation, and being heard far more readily than they respond to promises. Innovation becomes part of the culture when employees can see their contribution, understand its connection to strategy, and feel included in creating what comes next. Can a shared language, a clearly defined challenge, and greater empathy help your organization turn innovation from an ambition into everyday behavior? Listen to the conversation and share your thoughts.
#268
July 28 · 57 min
268: How Paul Campbell Wrote the Playbook for Corporate Innovation
What does it really take to turn bold ideas into billion-dollar businesses inside large enterprises? In this episode of the Innovation Storytellers Show, I'm joined by Paul Campbell, one of the world's leading experts on corporate innovation and co-author of The Corporate Innovator's Playbook. Over the course of his career, Paul has helped create more than 50 new businesses that have generated over $5 billion in growth while advising companies including Hewlett-Packard, Philips, Schneider Electric, Mercedes-Benz, and W.L. Gore. Our conversation moves beyond brainstorming and ideation to focus on the reality of making innovation succeed inside complex enterprises. Paul shares why so many innovation initiatives fail, why incremental thinking holds companies back, and what leaders can do to create an environment where bold ideas have a genuine chance to succeed. We also tackle one of the biggest questions facing business today. Is AI replacing corporate innovation, or is it creating the biggest opportunity innovation leaders have seen in years? Paul explains why most companies are still focused on using AI for efficiency while missing its greatest potential as a driver of entirely new products, business models, and sources of growth. One of my favorite moments is Paul's story from Hewlett-Packard, where CEO Carly Fiorina personally challenged her team to think bigger, breaking through organizational resistance and helping transform HP's position in the Chinese market. It's a powerful reminder that innovation succeeds when leadership creates the confidence to take meaningful risks. Throughout our conversation, Paul shares practical lessons from decades of helping global enterprises commercialize ideas, navigate internal resistance, and build innovation programs that deliver measurable business results. We discuss why corporate innovation needs a practical playbook rather than more theory, how AI is changing the role of innovation teams, why efficiency alone is not enough to deliver future growth, the importance of bold leadership and executive engagement, overcoming organizational barriers to innovation, building an innovation culture that encourages smart risk-taking, and using the Innovation Canvas to uncover the blind spots preventing companies from turning ideas into successful businesses. If you've ever wondered why some organizations consistently create new growth while others struggle to move beyond incremental improvements, this conversation offers valuable insights from someone who has spent decades helping some of the world's biggest companies make innovation work.
#267
July 21 · 40 min
267: How SharkNinja Builds Viral Products Through Consumer Obsession
How do you build something nobody asked for—and turn it into an overnight obsession? In this episode of the Innovation Storytellers Show, I speak with Ross Richardson, Chief Design Officer at SharkNinja, about the thinking, testing, storytelling, and consumer obsession behind some of the company's most successful products. Ross leads a global team spanning mechanical and product engineering, industrial design, product innovation, and R&D. But his path into product design began much earlier, from taking things apart and borrowing his father's tools as a child to studying product design engineering and building a career around understanding how people interact with physical products. Our conversation reveals how SharkNinja approaches innovation by starting with consumer behavior rather than technology for technology's sake. Ross explains how the company identifies what he describes as "desirability gaps," finding experiences people already want but cannot easily recreate at home. From frozen drinks and ice cream to coffee and personal care, the opportunity often comes from making something previously difficult, intimidating, or inaccessible feel simple and repeatable. We also discuss the story behind products such as BlendBoss and how observing changing consumer behavior can lead to unexpected opportunities within established categories. Rather than assuming innovation always requires inventing an entirely new market, SharkNinja watches how people live, what they carry, what they share on social media, and how cultural trends are changing their expectations. At the center of this process is a deceptively simple challenge: "prove it." Ross explains why new ideas must withstand technical testing, commercial scrutiny, consumer validation, and internal skepticism before moving forward. He also takes me inside SharkNinja's show-and-tell culture, weekly product demonstrations, in-home user trials, observational research, physical prototyping, and its "red team" approach to bringing fresh perspectives into the development process. In an era where AI can help almost anyone create a polished presentation or convincing visualization, Ross argues that evidence matters more than ever. A compelling story may earn attention, but data, testing, consumer insight, and a working proof of concept are what help turn skepticism into stakeholder buy-in. We also discuss why teams need room to dream before inviting skeptics into the process, how collective enthusiasm can help engineers solve seemingly impossible problems, and why admitting that a favored idea is wrong can sometimes lead to a far better product. As AI changes how we research markets, generate concepts, and communicate innovation, my conversation with Ross is a timely reminder that understanding human behavior remains at the heart of successful product development. The tools available to innovators may be changing rapidly, but our ability to listen to consumers, identify genuine needs, test assumptions, communicate breakthrough ideas, and prove that an idea deserves to exist still determines whether innovation connects with the people it was designed to serve. How can we combine faster, technology-enabled innovation with the deep consumer understanding needed to create products people genuinely want? Listen to the full conversation and share your thoughts.
#266
July 14 · 36 min
Beyond Networking: Why Relationships, Not Contacts, Drive Innovation
What if the most valuable asset in your career is not your expertise, your technology, or even your latest idea, but the people you already know? In this episode of the Innovation Storytellers Show, I welcome Yaron Flint back to the podcast to discuss his new book, Beyond Networking: Making Connections That Matter, and why many professionals are failing to make the most of one of their greatest business assets. Networking has become easier than ever. LinkedIn gives us access to thousands of people, conferences create endless opportunities to exchange contact details, and AI can research prospects, write outreach messages, and help us manage relationships at scale. Yet having more contacts does not necessarily mean having stronger relationships, greater influence, or better business outcomes. Yaron argues that the problem begins when networking becomes transactional. Too many people reach out only when they need something, collect contacts without maintaining relationships, or rely on generic AI-generated messages that make communication feel impersonal. We discuss why a network should be treated as something active and deliberate, built around genuine human relationships, mutual value, and the ability to help people achieve outcomes they could not accomplish alone. Our conversation also examines the role AI should play in modern networking. Rather than using technology to replace human interaction, Yaron explains how AI can help professionals prepare for meetings, understand the people they want to connect with, identify shared interests, maintain relationships, and arrive at conferences with a clear purpose. For business leaders considering human-AI collaboration narratives and storytelling for AI adoption, his message is a useful reminder that technology should support better human relationships rather than automate them. We also discuss why preparation matters before attending conferences and industry events, how introverts can become highly effective networkers, and why building a large contact list is very different from creating a network that produces meaningful opportunities. The conversation goes further into innovation storytelling and the challenge of winning AI stakeholder buy-in and support for breakthrough ideas. Yaron explains why promising initiatives often fail because innovators communicate from their own perspective rather than understanding what executives, decision-makers, and other stakeholders need to hear. This is where corporate storytelling strategy becomes inseparable from networking, influence, and the ability to turn ideas into business outcomes. Finally, we examine the progression from contacts to networks and from networks to communities. What happens when professionals stop thinking about relationships solely in terms of personal advantage and begin connecting people who could accomplish more together than they ever could alone? If AI can give us greater access to people, information, and opportunities than any previous generation, are we using that technology to build stronger relationships, or are we allowing convenience and automation to make our professional connections increasingly transactional? Listen to the conversation and share your thoughts. You can find Yaron's book here
#265
July 7 · 41 min
265: How Atlassian Makes Complex Technology Feel Human
In this episode of the Innovation Storytellers Show, I sit down with Priyank Jain, Enterprise Strategy & Innovation Leader at Atlassian, for a conversation about AI storytelling for business leaders and why the success of any innovation often depends on the story told long before a product is introduced. Priyank shares the personal journey that took him from a childhood ambition of becoming a doctor to building enterprise systems that improve outcomes for millions of people. That perspective has shaped his belief that technology should always begin with people, making this an insightful conversation for anyone asking how to communicate AI transformation inside complex organizations. Drawing on his experience at IBM and Atlassian, Priyank explains why storytelling for AI adoption is becoming one of the most valuable skills for innovation leaders. He argues that employees rarely resist new technology because they dislike innovation. Instead, they resist uncertainty. That distinction changes the entire conversation around AI change management storytelling and offers a practical AI disruption communication strategy that focuses on trust, clarity, and shared outcomes instead of technical specifications. We also discuss storytelling for AI innovation through the lens of healthcare, where Priyank helped introduce new approaches by focusing first on patients, clinicians, and caregivers rather than software features. His examples demonstrate why communicating AI to employees begins with understanding the human impact before discussing the technology itself. Another major theme throughout our conversation is storytelling for C-suite leaders and the importance of building support before launching an initiative. Priyank explains why winning AI stakeholder buy-in starts with listening, conducting thoughtful user interviews, and allowing stakeholders to help shape the future instead of presenting them with a finished solution. His approach provides a practical corporate storytelling strategy that encourages collaboration rather than compliance. As we discuss innovation storytelling in the age of AI, Priyank shares valuable lessons on how to lead AI culture change by balancing evidence with emotion. He explains why data creates awareness, but stories create movement, and why every successful human-AI collaboration narrative begins with understanding what matters most to the people who will ultimately use the technology. Whether you are responsible for storytelling for digital transformation, leading enterprise innovation, or looking for better ways of communicating breakthrough ideas, this conversation is filled with practical insights that can help leaders build confidence, encourage adoption, and create lasting support for new ideas. Priyank also reflects on the greatest innovation in history, the innovation team he would most like to have joined, and why he believes the world's greatest opportunity has nothing to do with technology at all. Instead, he argues that compassion and empathy remain the qualities we need most if innovation is going to improve people's lives.
#264
June 30 · 37 min
264: Are you W.I.R.E.d for Innovation?
Have you ever wondered why some people push bold ideas forward while others hesitate, even when they know they're onto something valuable? In this episode, I speak with Dr. Zakia Ghafari, a behavioral scientist, pharmacist, storyteller, and creator of the WIRE Framework. Our conversation explores a topic that every innovator encounters but rarely talks about openly: fear. Not the fear of technology or market competition, but the deeply personal fears that shape how we show up, speak up, and share our ideas with the world. Zakia explains how experiences from childhood, family history, and even generations before us can influence the decisions we make today. Drawing on neuroscience, epigenetics, and identity research, she shares why change can feel uncomfortable, why some leaders struggle to find their voice, and how hidden patterns often influence innovation efforts inside organizations. We also discuss the connection between storytelling and personal growth, the role of self-awareness in leadership, and why small, consistently repeated changes can create remarkable results over time. Zakia shares her own journey from quietly holding back her ideas to stepping onto storytelling stages and helping others do the same. As AI continues to reshape industries and workplaces, Zakia offers a powerful reminder that human connection, empathy, and understanding remain among our greatest strengths. Technology may change how we work, but the human experience continues to shape how we lead, communicate, and innovate. What patterns from your own past might still be influencing the way you approach change today, and what could happen if you challenged just one of them?
#263
June 23 · 26 min
How LG Nova Is Turning Corporate Innovation Into New Companies
Could a company best known for TVs, appliances, and consumer electronics become a launchpad for entirely new businesses? In this episode of the Innovation Storytellers Show, I sat down with Sokwoo Rhee, Corporate Executive Vice President for Innovation at LG Electronics and Head of LG NOVA, to discuss why some of the world's largest organizations are rethinking how innovation happens and what it takes to build the next generation of companies from within a corporate environment. Sokwoo shares his journey from entrepreneur and government innovator to leading LG NOVA, LG's Silicon Valley-based innovation center focused on creating entirely new ventures in areas such as healthcare, AI, energy, and digital services. We explore why innovation requires a different mindset from traditional business operations and why corporate leaders must be willing to invest in opportunities where the outcome is uncertain but the long-term potential could reshape an organization's future. Our conversation also examines the challenge of balancing quarterly business realities with long-term innovation goals. Sokwoo explains why successful innovation portfolios resemble venture capital strategies, where multiple experiments are necessary because breakthrough ideas rarely arrive with guaranteed outcomes. He offers a candid perspective on risk, leadership, failure, and the importance of creating space inside large organizations for ideas that may eventually define the next decade of growth. We also discuss LG NOVA's approach to building new companies, including its work in mental health technology, where AI is being used to help therapists spend more time supporting patients and less time on administrative tasks. Along the way, Sokwoo reflects on the role of storytelling in innovation, why evidence matters as much as vision, and how innovators can help organizations imagine futures that do not yet exist. If you've ever wondered how corporate innovation can move beyond pilots and PowerPoint presentations to create entirely new businesses, this conversation offers a fascinating look inside one of the world's most ambitious innovation initiatives. What role should large corporations play in building the companies of tomorrow, and how much risk are they willing to take to get there?
#462
June 16 · 40 min
How FM Ignites Innovative Risk Management
What happens when an insurance company thinks like an engineering lab? And how does a deeper understanding of risk create opportunities for innovation rather than slowing it down? In this episode of the Innovation Storytellers Show, I sit down with Dr. Jaap De Vries, Staff Vice President and Principal Innovation Specialist at FM, to explore how one of the world's leading commercial property insurers approaches innovation, risk management, and emerging technologies. From fire protection robotics and structural digital twins to AI-powered risk analysis, Jaap shares how his team is helping organizations anticipate challenges before they become costly problems. Our conversation moves beyond insurance and into the broader role risk plays in every innovation journey. Jaap explains how FM's engineering-led culture shapes decision-making, why understanding the science of risk builds customer trust, and how large-scale testing helps businesses identify threats they might otherwise miss. We also discuss the importance of storytelling when introducing new ideas and why data alone is rarely enough to drive adoption. Along the way, Jaap reflects on his journey from aerospace engineering and combustion science into innovation leadership. He shares lessons from mentoring entrepreneurs, teaching technology commercialization at Brown University, and helping organizations balance technical expertise with the human side of persuasion. The discussion also touches on AI's impact on work, the changing nature of entrepreneurship, and why future innovators may need to spend less time analyzing and more time building. We explore some bigger questions. What is the greatest innovation of all time? Which innovation team from history would Jaap most like to have joined? And what kind of innovation does the world need most right now? If you've ever wondered how innovation and risk management can work together to create stronger, more resilient businesses, this conversation offers plenty of insights. What role does risk play in your own approach to innovation, and are you paying enough attention to the opportunities hidden inside it?
#261
June 9 · 8 min
How Are You Closing the Empathy Gap in Your AI Strategy?
What if the biggest challenge with AI isn't the technology itself, but how it makes people feel? Lately, almost every conversation I'm having with clients comes back to AI. Not surprisingly, it's dominating boardroom discussions, strategy sessions, and innovation agendas everywhere. But what fascinates me most isn't the technology. It's the human response to it. In this solo episode, I'm talking about something I believe doesn't get nearly enough attention in the AI conversation: empathy. I recently read that companies like Anthropic are hiring storytellers at salaries approaching half a million dollars a year. That caught my attention. Why would one of the world's leading AI companies place such a premium on storytelling? Because even the most advanced AI still struggles to create the kind of human connection that comes naturally through empathy, understanding, and authentic communication. As organizations rush to implement AI tools, I'm hearing the same concerns again and again. Employees are being asked to trust systems they don't fully understand. Leaders are under pressure to move faster than ever before. Customers are interacting with AI-powered experiences that often feel efficient but strangely hollow. That's why I believe empathy isn't a soft skill anymore. It's a business strategy. In this episode, I share why so many AI initiatives struggle with adoption, even when the technology works perfectly and the business case is clear. I talk about the hidden cost of asking people to abandon the systems and expertise they've spent years mastering. More importantly, I explain why resistance to change is rarely about stubbornness and almost always about self-preservation. When we ask people to adopt new AI tools, we're often asking them to give up something deeply valuable: the confidence that comes from mastery. That's a much bigger ask than most leaders realize. I'll also share practical ways to bridge what I call the empathy chasm, helping teams feel supported rather than threatened, involved rather than replaced, and excited rather than overwhelmed. If there's one thing I've learned from working with innovators around the world, it's that people don't resist technology. They resist feeling disconnected from the reason behind the change. How are you bringing empathy into your AI strategy, and are you doing enough to bring the humans along on the AI journey?
#260
June 2 · 47 min
260: How the Transatlantic Innovation Hub Connects US + Europe
What does it really take to turn a promising European startup into a successful US business? In this special fifth-anniversary episode of Innovation Storytellers, I sit down with Simone Tarantino, Managing Director of the Transatlantic Innovation Hub and Managing Partner at HVentures, to discuss the challenges, opportunities, and realities of building bridges between two of the world's most influential innovation ecosystems. From its flagship location on Fifth Avenue in New York City, the Transatlantic Innovation Hub is creating a launchpad for European startups, scaleups, corporates, and innovators looking to expand into the United States. Simone shares how the Hub helps companies move beyond simply securing office space by providing access to investors, advisors, legal experts, business development partners, and the relationships that often determine whether international expansion succeeds or fails. We also explore the cultural differences between European and American innovation ecosystems, why networking remains one of the most valuable business skills, and how founders can avoid common mistakes when entering a new market. Simone reflects on his own journey from entrepreneur in Italy to ecosystem builder in New York, including the lessons learned from starting over and finding his place in one of the world's most competitive business environments. The conversation goes beyond startups and venture capital. We discuss why corporate innovation initiatives often struggle, the importance of translators who can bridge the language gap between startups and large enterprises, and why collaboration frequently delivers better outcomes than competition. Simone also shares his vision for a growing global network of innovation hubs connecting New York, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Whether you're a founder looking to expand internationally, a corporate leader searching for fresh ideas, or someone fascinated by how innovation ecosystems are built, this episode offers valuable lessons on creating connections that help ideas travel further and grow faster. What role could stronger partnerships play in accelerating your own innovation journey?

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