Episode 37: How to Make Open Innovation Work

Episode 37: How to Make Open Innovation Work

From Process Transformers by SAP SE

March 25, 2026 · 39 min · Episode 37

About this episode

This episode discusses the complexities and challenges of implementing open innovation in large organizations.

Open innovation means working with external partners to discover, test, and scale new ideas faster than you could alone. But, what does it really take to make open innovation work inside large organizations? In this episode, Lukas Egger speaks with Diana. Download the ⁠⁠ episode transcript ⁠⁠ ===== Open innovation sounds exciting. In reality, it often fails quietly. We start by redefining open innovation. It is not customer feedback or design thinking. It is about partnering with organizations that have fundamentally different strengths such as startups or universities to do what you cannot do alone. The goal is not to remove weaknesses but to combine complementary capabilities. Then we get into the real challenge, choosing the right setup. Accelerators, venture arms, and university partnerships all serve different purposes. There is no one size fits all. Every approach comes with trade offs such as speed versus scale, visibility versus discretion, and short term results versus long term bets. The biggest blocker, however, is internal. Most open innovation efforts fail not because of external partners but because of misalignment inside the organization. Conflicting incentives…

People in this episode

Host: Lukas Egger

Guest: Diana

Topics covered

  • open innovation
  • collaboration
  • organizational challenges
  • AI in innovation
  • partnerships
  • accelerators

Keywords

  • open innovation
  • collaboration
  • startups
  • universities
  • organizational alignment
  • AI
  • innovation strategies

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: SAP SE, startups, universities

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