Innovation Labs

Generate innovative ideas, products and services from the top 1% of technology talent.

Corporate Innovation Laboratory: What is it?

At one time or another, every growing company will face the same problem: a lack of agility. This is natural, since a greater number of employees and a stronger commitment to a business model can force any company to maintain its own status quo. However, this very lack of agility is a direct path to a lack of innovation – and, in our current innovation-driven market, such a risk is not worth taking.

That's where Innovation Labs come in. Since the early 2000s, Innovation Labs have enabled growing companies to keep their ideas fresh and drive new concepts that increase their relevance and competitiveness. These small business units employ agile methodologies to accelerate innovation and introduce creative technology-driven processes that often disrupt the “normal” way of doing things.

What do innovation labs do?

Simply put, Innovation Labs do whatever it takes to seize innovative opportunities. They are in a constant state of brainstorming to drive disruptive ideas and developments, while the rest of their team keeps the business producing by doing what they know. Think of Innovation Labs as small startups within your company whose sole purpose is to generate value by thinking outside the box.

Think of Innovation Labs as small startups within your company whose sole purpose is to generate value by thinking outside the box.

Innovation Labs also perform any market research necessary to understand and measure the potential of disruptive ideas. This includes developing test scenarios and prototypes that accurately illustrate the results of committing to a particular type of innovation, as well as a clear roadmap of the steps needed to achieve the goal.

How we run innovation labs

For us, Innovation Labs are much more than a group of cool people with cool ideas. As a leading technology solutions company in the US and Latin America, we understand the real value of approaching innovation with a well-thought-out plan, a reasonable budget, and clear goals. Here's what makes our Innovation Labs service unique.

Talent #1

#2 Diversity

We've said it a thousand times and we'll say it again: innovation is driven by diversity. As one of the most diverse companies in the US , we are proud to have an incredible team of people coming from all types of backgrounds, industries and experiences. And because we are extremely diverse, we are always able to build custom teams of specialized, innovative engineers without talent gaps.

#3 Agility

When it comes to innovation, there is no time to waste. We work with agile methodologies and a design thinking mindset to keep our minds in the sky and our feet on the ground. Using an iterative approach to software development, we are able to quickly and consistently develop, test, deploy and maintain software solutions of the highest quality.

#4 Objective

Every innovation must follow a purpose. Otherwise, there is no reason to innovate. We make great efforts to listen, understand and help you define exactly what your company needs in terms of technology and innovation. Whether it's creating a new product, improving business processes, adopting a new customer focus, or even entering an entirely new market, we'll help you chart a detailed roadmap of where you are now and how you can get to where you want to be. to be.

What types of companies need innovation labs?

Innovation Labs are most useful for established companies that have started to become obsolete in terms of efficiency and new business opportunities. This is also the moment when the organization stops being a startup and thus loses a significant part of the agility and “hunger” for disruption that characterizes small companies.

Today, Innovation Labs have become a common strategy for companies and ventures across all sectors. In fact, large industry verticals such as telecommunications, finance, healthcare, technology, energy and transportation have been using Innovation Labs for years. Many of the business models, products and services available today are the result of their commitment to innovation (some examples are listed below).

In short, most innovation experts will agree on the following: Corporate innovation is critical for any company that hopes to remain relevant in the age of disruption. Innovation Labs provide a safe and efficient place where creative minds can focus on ideas that redefine the status quo – and these are the exact same ideas that make companies market leaders.

3 companies that thrive in innovation labs

Let's take a look at how Innovation Labs work in the real world.

#1 Google-X

If there's one company that's especially interested in turning concept into reality, it's Google. That's why in January 2010, the tech giant founded X (formerly known as Google X) its own research and development facility focused on creating innovative technology – also known as the Innovation Lab.

X is run by a multidisciplinary team of engineers, scientists and entrepreneurs who believe in the potential to radically reimagine possibilities. Recently, X released a new version of Google Glass designed to make IoT technology more accessible to manual workers. Going forward, X will continue to focus most of its efforts on solving intractable issues like clean energy and connectivity.

#2 Amazon – Lab126

Amazon's Lab126 is one of the first and most impactful innovation labs in history. Lab126 was founded in 2003 under a simple philosophy: “reinvent the book” . In fact, you may be familiar with one of their biggest hits, the 2007 Kindle (which, by the way, sold out in just 5.5 hours on the day of its release).

Believe it or not, there was a time when reading books on a computer screen was not a common culture. Lab126 had the courage to use modern technology to create something that literally changed the way people read. Today, Lab126 is working hard to expand innovation across Amazon's Fire TVs, tables, and Amazon Echo.

#3 Volkswagen-VAIL

As one of the automotive industry's leading Innovation Labs, the Volkswagen Automotive Innovation Lab (VAIL) is working hard to invent the cars of the future. And, yes, that includes electric and driverless cars. Located in the heart of Stanford University, VAIL was the industry's first innovation laboratory after its founding in 2005.

In fact, VAIL was a pioneer in autonomous vehicles, marked by the thrilling achievement of a Volkswagen Touareg SUV driving itself across more than 100 miles of desert in 2005. Since then, VAIL has hired the best experts in machine learning and energy technology solar to push the limits of driverless vehicles – and they have a lot of things coming .