How to move from hype curve to reality curve

In this episode of Think Ecosystem, Paul Webb and Jeff Wong from the EY organization join ServiceNow’s Dave Wright and Amy Lokey to discuss innovation and how to operationalize it.

Podcast host Paul Webb, EY Global Alliance Leader for ServiceNow; welcomes Dave Wright, ServiceNow CIO; Amy Lokey, ServiceNow SVP of Product Experience; and Jeff Wong, EY Global Chief Innovation Officer.

Together, they discuss innovation and how to harness and operationalize it. Innovation is a critical driver of business growth, and companies that fail to innovate risk falling behind their competitors. However, there often needs to be more clarity between the hype surrounding new technologies and their actual impact on business operations. As a result, organizations need to move from the hype curve to the reality curve to deliver on the promise of innovation.

Business leaders should clearly define the problem they're trying to solve and brainstorm and evaluate what strategies and technologies can deliver real breakthroughs above incremental improvement. This approach ensures that investments in innovation are driven by business needs and priorities rather than by hype and buzz. It requires a measured and strategic direction.

In this episode, the panel discusses how this works in reality, how generative AI fits into the broader transformation of companies and how to get from strategy to adoption to realization. They cover the importance of purposeful and intentional technology to solve real customer problems and much more.

Key takeaways:

• Start with the outcome. Determine the desired result, then apply the best technology to achieve that outcome rather than using the best technology and seeing what outcome you get.
• Have a system and program for targeting and testing new technologies. Experiment, but be willing to stop those that won't scale or work inside your environment.
• When considering a technology project, think of it as a user experience initiative and consider the tangible experience improvement it will deliver for users. 
  

For your convenience, a full text transcript of this podcast is also available.