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CUSTOMER SUCCESS STORY

AI-powered trend and technology management

How Lear Innovation Ventures is leveraging AI to spot opportunities in foresight and innovation using the ITONICS Innovation OS

3,700+

weak signals scanned

118
trends evaluated
12
key trends identified
John Absmeier Lear
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"Using ITONICS‘ AI-enabled platform, we aimed to enhance strategic alignment across business units and preemptively develop rigorous capabilities, products, processes, technologies to continuously future-proof our business."
 
– John Absmeier, Chief Technology Officer, Lear Corporation
Lear Technology Radar powered by ITONICS
THE CHALLENGE

Integrate an AI-enabled platform into the innovation ecosystem

The continuing story of innovation at Lear begins with the discipline of design focused on delivering products that drive solutions for the increasing expectations of the end consumer.

Lear aims to make every drive better by providing the technology for safer, smarter, and more comfortable journeys. Headquartered in Southfield, Michigan, Lear Innovation Ventures (LIV) aims to advance mobility innovation in the automotive industry.

Lear Technology Portfolios powered by ITONICS

Initial situation at Lear

The LIV ecosystem is varied and vibrant, ranging from leveraging Lear‘s entire global team to collaborations with world-class businesses to connecting with outside partners from the startup, accelerator and incubator, design, and venture communities.

In partnership with ITONICS, LIV shapes the culture of AI-powered signal sensing and data-driven decision-making to continually invent, innovate and evolve new capabilities and products.

  • Need for the right systematic approach to scan and monitor emerging technologies and insights
  • Need for a digital platform for strategic alignment and collaboration across experts and business units
  • Necessity to accelerate the innovation and foresight culture inside the corporation
  • Need for an AI-based tool for emerging signal scanning, evaluating and processing

Objectives

Strategic signal sensing

Make signal sensing an integral part of strategic alignment and collaboration. Set up a standardized internal approach.

Early-warning system

Establish an early-warning system for AI-enabled scouting and monitoring of emerging trends and technologies.

 

Alignment and transparency

Foster alignment and transparency across teams such as strategy, engineering, innovation and domain experts.

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"Leveraging the ITONICS platform, at Lear Innovation Ventures, we managed to build a systematic approach to anticipate upcoming disruptions and actively seek for trends, emerging technologies or startups, weak signals and blind spots."
 
– Florian J. Ammerl, Regional Innovation Manager, Lear Corporation

THE WAY FORWARD WITH ITONICS

AI-powered tools and a
systematic approach

LIV leverages AI strategies and focuses on AI-powered scouting and evaluation to inform strategic business and technology decisions. This helps fulfill the customers' future expectations. AI is contextualized at LIV with a three-tiered approach: scouting, evaluation, and processing.

Lear Corporation - Innovation Process

Scouting

Powered by ITONICS‘ AI-enabled Insights module and Radar views, the scouting phase involves continuous monitoring of emerging trends, technologies, opportunities and blind spots. Supported by AI-powered algorithms the monitoring of high volume time-series input, such as news reports, academic research and patents, is done to identify gaps and blind spots. This stage allows global engineering experts and innovation managers to discover the known unknowns.

Evaluating

Going beyond sensing, the domain experts of LIV Core Team and Strategy analysts collaboratively interpret and evaluate the AI assisted signal, trend, technology discoveries. The collaborative evaluation is enabled through ITONICS platform. During the rating process, the most relevant technologies are selected for a deeper assessment. Using queries in the Insights module the relevance of those selected technologies is further investigated.

Processing

After the collaboration and evaluation phase, technology portfolios are created to drive action with the CTO of LIV. Strategic and data informed decisions are made to future-proof the business by investing in the company know how, building partnerships with tech startups, enhancing collaborating across different business units, etc. The final insights are internally communicated to each business unit and stakeholder through bi-annual reports.

THE OUTCOME

Achievements

  • AI-based signal detection helps to cut through complexity and focus on data-driven decision-making.
  • Supported by AI-powered algorithms, a high-volume of input data is continuously scouted to detect signals and blind spots.
  • A formalized innovation process is set to scan, monitor, and evaluate emerging technologies, trends, insights, and blind spots.
  • Leveraging technology portfolios, key technologies and their internal know-how gaps are identified.
  • Active engagement of all users helps to increase transparency and synergies across departments, business units, and domain experts.
  • Cultural benefits of innovation are reinforced as various stakeholders are engaged to drive innovation inside the corporation.

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About Lear

Lear is a global automotive technology leader in Seating and E-Systems, enabling superior in-vehicle experiences for consumers around the world. Lear‘s world-class products are designed, engineered and manufactured by a diverse team of approximately 165,000 employees located in 39 countries. Lear is driven by a commitment to innovation, operational excellence, and sustainability.

Learn more about how innovative companies implemented a world-class innovation ecosystem. Get a free demo!

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