(By Buzz Knight) CES 2025 is coming soon, and I’m excited to be soaking up the spirit of innovation. To thrive in the competitive marketplace, every business needs to confront the challenges and opportunities of solving problems, improving user experiences, and creating new paths to revenue and profitability.
Denying this because of a lack of resources is a “head in the sand” approach to doing business in today’s world.
I’ve been attending CES and writing about it in Radio Ink for many years with the hope that those of you reading this will be inspired to try and transform your team to be an innovation powerhouse.
Here’s an approach you might consider to retrofit to your organization: to foster innovation and effectively evaluate emerging technologies, organizations can establish a dedicated technology evaluation team. This team would systematically assess new technologies and provide actionable insights to the broader organization. Here’s how to create and structure such a team for maximum impact:
Define the Team’s Purpose
The primary goal of the team should be to identify, evaluate, and report on emerging technologies that align with the organization’s strategic objectives. This includes:
- Staying updated on technological trends and innovations.
- Assessing the feasibility and potential impact of new technologies.
- Providing recommendations for adoption or further exploration.
Assemble a Cross-Functional Team
Creating a diverse team ensures a range of perspectives in evaluating technologies. Include members from:
- IT and engineering departments
- Business strategy or operations teams
- Marketing or promotion teams.
This diversity helps in understanding both technical feasibility and business implications.
Establishing a dedicated tech evaluation team is crucial for staying competitive in today’s rapidly evolving media landscape that is awash with AI possibilities.
By systematically assessing new technologies, aligning them with organizational objectives, and fostering collaboration across departments, organizations can drive innovation while making informed decisions about technological investments.
Make a regular commitment to this process whether, it be weekly, monthly or quarterly. You don’t have a ton to lose, and maybe by starting the dialogue your team will be hungrier to make a difference that will help shape the future.
Buzz Knight can be reached by e-mail at [email protected]. Read Buzz’ Radio Ink archives here.
