Talent, AI and collaboration: leaders discuss in Monterrey how to strengthen corporate innovation
JOSÉ ÁNGEL DE LA PAZ | EGADE BUSINESS SCHOOL
The challenges of turning innovation capabilities into results, developing specialized talent and harnessing artificial intelligence shaped the conversation among academics and business leaders gathered on September 2 at EXPEDITION FEMSA in Monterrey.
The event opened with the presentation of Corporate Innovation Report by Alberto Méndez and Cristian Granados, research professors at EGADE Business School at Tecnológico de Monterrey and continued with a panel on some of the main challenges organizations face as they pursue innovation.
Méndez and Granados are the study’s lead authors, with contributions from professors Sascha Fürst, Isaac Lemus and Jairo Orozco. The research was supported by the Tecnológico de Monterrey Entrepreneurship Observatory and sponsored by Oracle.
Four profiles that reveal how companies innovate
The study analyzed 87 companies, mainly medium-sized, large and multinational organizations, to understand how they structure and manage innovation and what results they achieve. Eighty-seven percent of the participating companies are Mexican, with operations concentrated primarily in Mexico City and the State of Mexico, Nuevo León and Jalisco.
Granados explained that one of the study’s starting points was the limited information available about what happens inside organizations when they try to innovate.
“We do not know how companies innovate, how much they invest, what their talent looks like, how management is involved or how strategy is defined; we know very little. That is why we decided to conduct this study with medium-sized, large and multinational companies,” he said.
Rather than creating a ranking, the researchers analyzed corporate innovation through three pillars: enablers, which include culture, structure and resources; mechanisms, such as strategy, processes and tools; and outcomes, including financial variables, impact, growth, market leadership and internal legitimacy.
Using this model, they identified four profiles: leading innovators, frugal innovators, sleeping giants and lagging innovators.
Leading innovators have robust capabilities and successfully translate them into results; frugal innovators achieve meaningful outcomes with more limited structures and mechanisms; sleeping giants make substantial efforts but do not generate proportional results; and lagging innovators face the widest gaps between the intention to innovate and the ability to act.
One of the study’s central findings is that resources and structures alone are not enough: the best-performing organizations connect the conditions that enable innovation with the mechanisms needed to manage it and translate it into results.
Granados, who is also national academic director of the Tec Beyond executive innovation program, summarized the point during the presentation:
“The companies that achieve the best results are those that align these mechanisms and enablers to scale projects,” he said.
The findings also reveal a gap between strategy and execution. On a seven-point scale, participating companies scored an overall 5.0 in innovation strategy, compared with 2.6 in processes and 2.0 in tools, highlighting opportunities to turn strategy into systematic practices and stronger technological capabilities.
Méndez, who is also director of the Online Master in Finance at EGADE Business School, explained that each of the four profiles requires a different path to strengthen its innovation capabilities, from institutionalizing structures and processes to increasing agility or avoiding complacency among top-performing organizations. The study also identifies a shortage of talent trained in innovation and technology as a significant barrier for companies.
“Being a leader today does not mean you will be a leader tomorrow,” Méndez warned during the presentation.
Talent and AI: from adopting technology to creating value
The second part of the event brought these challenges into the business context. The panel featured Karen García, Innovation Director at Bayer Mexico; Edgar Muñiz, director of Tecnológico de Monterrey’s Distrito de Innovación Monterrey; Pedro Puente, Vice President of Innovation at Prolec Energy; and Robin Geurten, Oracle Strategic Account Director for FEMSA. The conversation was moderated by Jairo Orozco, professor in the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Department at EGADE Business School.
One of the main topics was talent and the opportunity to build capabilities through networks that extend beyond the boundaries of individual organizations.
“The talent is there, and the leader is an orchestrator of talent,” Puente said. “It is in schools, research centers, local and international universities, consulting firms and sometimes within the organization itself.”
Muñiz pointed to the opportunity to build deeper partnerships between companies and universities to address specific talent-development needs.
“I think the future of the university is probably less about being seen as a provider and more about asking: how can we become partners in this development?” he said.
Artificial intelligence opened another line of discussion: whether companies should use technology only to make existing processes more efficient or use it to rethink experiences and operating models.
“If your question is, ‘How do I make something faster or less expensive?’, it will lead you to efficiency. The problem with efficiency is that it has a ceiling,” Geurten explained. “When we talk about transformation [...] the opportunity is much greater.”
García emphasized that technology adoption should begin with the need an organization is trying to solve rather than with the desire to follow a trend.
“Technology is an enabler. For us at Bayer, it is about putting the customer at the center. If it truly solves a customer need, then it makes sense. It is not a trend; it is not a fad,” she said.
Collaboration to strengthen the innovation ecosystem
The conversation moved from the capabilities of individual companies to the need to connect corporations, suppliers, universities, research centers, entrepreneurs and other stakeholders to develop talent, share capabilities and accelerate innovation.
“I think we need to think about the ecosystem, not just company by company, but across supplier networks, universities and emerging talent. It is an entire ecosystem that needs to keep growing,” Puente said.
García extended this reflection to Mexico’s potential to connect capabilities around shared challenges such as health, food, mobility and water.
“As a country, we have everything. We have a strategic location, we have talent and we have advanced manufacturing. What is missing is connecting it all, so that Mexico is not simply a place that adopts technology, but a place where new solutions can be tested and scaled,” she said.
Muñiz also highlighted the importance of creating environments that can attract talent and support the transfer of applied research and knowledge as part of building stronger innovation ecosystems.
The event opened with remarks from Cristina Vélez, associate dean of Applied Research and Impact at EGADE Business School, and Robin Geurten, Oracle Strategic Account Director for FEMSA. Bárbara Durán, regional director for Mexico City and Querétaro at EGADE Business School, served as master of ceremonies.
Corporate ICorporate Innovation Report will also be presented on September 8 in Mexico City.
