Most organizations treat innovation like an event. A hackathon here, an offsite there, maybe an annual strategy retreat. And then everyone goes back to their day jobs and waits for next year.

The problem isn't a lack of ideas. It's a lack of infrastructure.
This session shares how one organization built a repeatable innovation engine from the inside out, using a model inspired by Shark Tank. Anyone in the organization could participate. Teams self-formed, roles shifted, and people picked up skills they never had the chance to develop in their day jobs. Pitching. Presenting. Building. Leading.
The rules were simple, but the bar was real. Ideas had to demonstrate a clear path to moving the organization forward before they made it past the first gate. By the end of the sprint, teams presented to the portfolio leadership, either with a working MVP or a demo of what they learned and where they hit walls. Failure wasn't disqualifying. Showing up without having tried was.

The results went beyond the ideas themselves. Teams became more motivated, more creative, and more engaged. People who had never spoken to a C-suite audience were presenting with confidence. Cross-functional collaboration happened organically because people chose where they could contribute, not where they were assigned.

We'll walk through how the program was built, what worked, what didn't, and how to adapt the model for your organization, regardless of size or industry.

This session is for executives, HR and people leaders, change practitioners, and program managers who want innovation to be a discipline, not an event.