Rounding out FEI 2024 was a keynote presentation called Brunch with the Bots. Attendees got the chance to see the blending of machine and human intelligence, and a sense of interacting with the future. Handlers provided a mix of Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs), Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs), Articulated Robots, Humanoids, Cobots, Hybrids and of course dogs to greet the delegation Each bot and handler was then available for networking at various stations throughout the main hall.
What are your thoughts on the bots that were represented here at FEI 2024 and the innovation associated with this field?
“First, let me say, I thought that the conference was fabulous. There were several great tracks and there were a lot of high-quality talks,” says Martino. “However, since I was involved in Brunch with the Bots, I think that they saved the best for last (it was the last session), and we had a number of actual robots and co-bots that we were able to show and interact with. The reason for that track is to almost signal what could be coming in the future, what are some of the new technologies in this field, and just kind of a window into the future of technology.”
Certainly, we saw a lot of interesting robots and their connection to innovation, technology, and even that aspect of innovation associated with digital transformation and generative AI. Speaking of the role of innovation, would you say that there is currently a democratization of innovation happening in the corporate enterprise? Is innovation becoming more accessible for the company as a whole?
Martino observes, “When we think about innovation at the enterprise level, there’s a number of groups, teams and departments that feed into that. Typically, that involves R&D and all of the subgroups within R&D. It includes the marketing organization. It can include the supply chain or organization and also the manufacturing organization. When we think about innovation, at least where I have worked and how I think about it, is that innovation is throughout the value chain. Now sometimes, there’s more cross-fertilization along that value chain than other times. Some organizations are more siloed, some are less siloed, but I think all of those together comprise what you would call that innovation democracy.”
We touched on a lot of those themes at FEI, that aspect of the cross-collaboration of teams and of innovation being fueled by interdisciplinary activity. Do you see that as a trend moving forward, this more interdisciplinary approach?
“I think that is a standard of the innovation practice,” says Martino. “Whenever you’re developing a new product, there are so many touch points throughout the organization to make that a success. It’s like you can’t make a diamond without the different facets, and that’s kind of how you create a really winning product and product proposition in the market.”
What are your thoughts on 2025 in terms of an outlook? Just where do you think innovation is heading?
“Over the last ten years or so, we’ve seen a cycle of different capabilities throughout the enterprise,” relates Martino. “So if we go back to, say, 2010 or so, it was all about open innovation. It was about collaboration and so forth. And that allowed organizations to open up a little bit and partner for growth. From there, the next generation digital transformation has allowed a lot of organizations to collect more data, to try to be a little bit more insightful about their data, to convert things that were originally analog to digital, and make a variety of changes.”
Martino continues, “Now we’re into the period of AI, which makes perfect sense because if you’ve collected all of this data, now you need to really mine that for insights, and you need to monetize that and see the ROI of it. I see AI now as a tool that’s allowing us to get more insight into the data that has been generated during digital transformation, and then it will continue to propel the enterprise forward.”
For more of the interview with Gail Martino, check out the video from FEI 2024.
