#18 - Design Thinking & Open Innovation in The Gen-AI Era
The Corporate Venturing Podcast
<p>In this episode, I’m joined by <a rel="nofollow"><strong>Harsh Wardhan</strong></a>, Innovation Strategist at a major Big Tech company (leading design for Search & Labs) and formerly a founding member of a Design Lab in an big automotive OEM. Harsh sits at the unique intersection of two worlds: the high-stakes, high-CapEx constraints of the automotive industry and the infinite, high-speed ambiguity of Generative AI.</p>
<p>We strip away the "theater" of innovation (the sticky notes and workshops) to focus on the hard metrics and methodologies that actually de-risk ventures, whether you are bending metal or writing code.</p>
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<p>In this episode, Harsh shares insights on:</p>
<p>🎭 <strong>Stripping Away the Theater </strong></p>
<p>🤖 <strong>GenAI: Delegate Tasks, Not Thinking </strong></p>
<p>🏭 <strong>Speedboats vs. Cruise Liners </strong></p>
<p>📉 <strong>Time-to-Evidence > Time-to-Market </strong></p>
<p>🏗️ <strong>The "Build vs. Buy" Heuristic</strong></p>
<p>🚫 <strong>The "Post-It Note" Trap </strong></p>
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<p>We close the episode on Harsh’s definition of meaningful work and why a lack of a concrete plan at the start is the biggest red flag in corporate labs.</p>
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<p><strong>Resources:</strong>• <a href="https://openroadventuress.substack.com/" rel="nofollow">Open Road Ventures Newsletter</a>• <a href="https://bundl.com/" rel="nofollow">Bundl Venture Club</a></p>
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<p>🎧 <strong>Follow the podcast for grounded stories and practical lessons from inside the world of Open Innovation and Corporate Venturing.</strong></p>