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Written by Nigel Watson, CIO and Innovation Director at NWG,, and Tom Staley, Technology Advisory and Innovation Lead at Sopra Steria.

The pace of technological advancement today is unparalleled, with generative AI leading the charge in reshaping industries and redefining the way we work. At the recent Digital Leaders Innovation Roundtable, we explored how organisations can systematically manage innovation in this transformative era, leveraging the ISO 56000 series framework and the power of AI. 

This thought-provoking session brought together innovation leaders, including Nigel Watson, CIO and Innovation Director at NWG, and Tom Staley, Technology Advisory and Innovation Lead at Sopra Steria. 

Our discussion focused on three pivotal themes: 

1. Managing Innovation: Foundations and Collaboration 
2. Leveraging the ISO 56000 Framework 
3. AI’s Role in Innovation Management 

Here’s a recap of the key insights and takeaways from the session: 

1. Managing innovation: Foundations and collaboration

Innovation is often seen as an art, but as its complexity grows, organisations are recognising the need for structured approaches. While proof-of-concepts and minimum viable products bring ideas to life, establishing robust foundations for innovation management are critical for their scaling and implementation. 

Key insights: 

• Structured Foundations: A sustainable and scalable approach to innovation starts with embedding it into the core of strategic planning. This ensures that innovation is not just a sporadic activity but a continuous, purposeful process aligned with organisational goals. Without a structured framework, innovation efforts risk becoming siloed, reactive, or short-lived, failing to deliver long-term value. 
• Open Innovation: Collaboration across organisational boundaries is 

becoming a key driver for innovation. Reports, like Sopra Steria’s 

collaboration with INSEAD, highlight a significant untapped opportunity for 

startup collaboration — while 81% of UK corporates view it as critical, only 61% are actively collaborating. Frameworks like the Innovation Collaboration Framework pioneered by Transport for London (TfL), which was recently

recognised in the Visionary Public Procurement category at the Mind the 

Bridge and International Chamber of Commerce Start Up Ecosystem Stars awards, provides a template for engaging with the innovation ecosystem; 

spanning startups, academia, industry and hyperscalers. 

We’ve been deliberately innovating for nine years now and we agree with the need for structure and process. Indeed, it was the first point my boss made, “I want machinery, not magic” were her exact words. We decided to use Design Thinking as codified by Jake Knapp in the wonderful book “Sprint”. 

We soon realised that we needed to set our efforts in a way that was appropriate to our context, that being a highly-regulated and risk averse water company. What did we mean when we said we were innovating? That was the first question we needed to answer, because we had existing mechanisms for improving our business. 

A reasonable definition of innovation is the process of getting value from new ideas. But new to who? New to your organisation, doesn’t really fit the bill, because you can easily copy and paste from others. New to the world puts you in the realm of invention and we don’t possess those capabilities in any depth. We decided that, if we were the first water company in the UK to do it, we would categorise it as an innovation and recognise the risks that come with that. 

Innovation should definitely involve a degree of failure. We got comfortable with the idea of a 4 out of 10 success rate. People often comment to me that it is really good. I reply that it is neither good nor bad, it is was works for us. If you are Google, going for moonshots, 4 out of 10 would not be ambitious enough. For a regulated business 

like ours, it meant that we would stretch ourselves, but not scare the horses. Nine years on, we are still hitting 4 out of 10 and it turns out to be a really good return. 

2. Leveraging the ISO 56000 framework: Building a systematic approach

The ISO 56000 series provides a comprehensive framework to ensure that innovation is not only creative but also consistent, measurable, and aligned with organisational goals. This framework helps organisations approach innovation as a repeatable process, driving sustainable results. 

A systematic framework like ISO 56000 ensures that innovation is more than a series of ad-hoc efforts. It provides structure, fosters collaboration, and mitigates risk, enabling organisations to pursue innovation in a way that is both scalable and sustainable. 

Key Insights:

• Strategic Context: The ISO 56000 framework emphasises aligning 

innovation initiatives with an organisation’s strategic direction. This includes considering internal capabilities, stakeholder needs, and external market 

conditions. For example, DIANA demonstrates how clearly defined contexts lead to innovation that drives measurable impact. 

• Leadership Commitment: Effective innovation management requires 

leadership to champion a culture of innovation. Leaders must provide the 

resources, support, and vision necessary to inspire creativity and ensure 

accountability. 

• Continuous Improvement: The framework promotes ongoing evaluation and adaptation. By incorporating feedback loops, organisations can learn from successes and failures, refining their innovation processes for greater 

efficiency and impact. 

We have two main processes for innovation. There is the idea creation process, where we still rely mainly on the sprint methodology. Then there is the idea-to-value process, which is a 6-stage process that is really a series of structured experiments that prove the technical and economic feasibility of the idea. We use this to report on our Innovation Pipeline to the Executive Leadership Team every month. 

We have recently decided to adopt ISO56000. We haven’t done it in order to tick a box – not at all. We’ve done this because we believe that it will improve our idea-to-value process. This process is currently taking us 3-4 years and we’d like to reduce it down to two. We think that the improved accountability and risk 

management inherent in the methodology will help us get part of the way there. 

3. AI in Innovation management: Enhancing processes and outcomes 

Generative AI is revolutionising innovation management, not only by accelerating processes but also by uncovering new possibilities for creativity and collaboration. By integrating AI into innovation management, organisations can enhance efficiency, reduce bias in decision-making, and stay ahead of market trends. It acts as both a catalyst for creativity and a safeguard for resource optimisation, ensuring innovation efforts are both impactful and sustainable. 

Key Insights:

• Idea Generation: AI tools analyse vast datasets—customer behavior, market trends, and competitor strategies—to spark novel ideas. This approach allows organisations to uncover opportunities that might otherwise be overlooked. 
• Decision-Making and Prioritisation: AI enhances decision-making by objectively evaluating the potential impact of ideas. By leveraging predictive analytics, organisations can prioritise projects that offer the highest return on investment and align with strategic goals. 
• Process Automation: Routine tasks like data collection, portfolio tracking, and progress monitoring can be automated using AI, freeing teams to focus on high-value creative and strategic activities. 
• Collaboration and Connectivity: AI-powered platforms streamline 

communication and task coordination, enhancing cross-functional teamwork. This capability is particularly valuable in open innovation initiatives that involve external partners. 

We are using Generative AI both as an innovation that can improve some of our processes and as a method for improving the innovation process itself. We run an annual Innovation Festival, which is a smashing together of our innovation efforts with a British Summer Festival. We typically tackle c. 50 challenges over the course of a week, collaborating with over 3,000 participants. It generates 50-60 ideas that go into our Innovation Pipeline. 

At last year’s festival we brought in a generative AI co-pilot, someone who is expert in using the tools both for fun and value. We trained our sprint leads on the tools and the possibilities that they gave us. It was an experiment, but we saw great value coming from it in the sprint preparation stage. We were able to more easily research what had been done before. We then used it at the festival itself, to summarise the ideas, elaborate on them and bring them to life for the final day, when the ideas are pitched for investment. 

We’ve been using Generative AI since the festival too. A lot of the time we take to get to value happens ‘in the field’ – we do a lot of our work outside in the weather. Gen AI is unlikely to help us with that much. However, we also undertake a lot of desk-based activities: – creating collaboration agreements, designing a well-structured experiment, updating our partner ecosystem. We have definitely seen gains in these areas and we will continue to exploit the technology and learn how to extract value from it in the years to come. 

Key Takeaways for Innovation Leaders

The roundtable discussions emphasised that success in innovation management requires a blend of structured frameworks, collaborative approaches, and 

cutting-edge tools like AI. To thrive in today’s competitive landscape, organisations must: 

• Adopt Standards: Incorporate frameworks like ISO 56000 to ensure 

repeatable, scalable innovation processes. 

• Foster Collaboration: Embrace open innovation by partnering with startups, research institutions, and even unconventional allies. 
• Leverage AI: Use AI not only as a tool but as a strategic enabler to 

accelerate innovation and enhance decision-making. 

• Learn and Iterate: Continuously evaluate what works, embrace lessons from failures, and refine processes. 

The Digital Leaders Innovation Roundtable provided a platform for exchanging ideas and exploring actionable strategies. As AI continues to evolve, the ability to manage innovation systematically will become increasingly crucial. With frameworks like ISO 

56000 and AI-driven tools, the future of innovation management is both promising and exciting. 

What’s your organisation’s approach to managing innovation? Are you leveraging the full potential of generative AI and standards like ISO 56000? Share your insights and join the conversation.

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