#18 - Design Thinking & Open Innovation in The Gen-AI Era

In this episode, I’m joined by Harsh Wardhan, 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.

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.

In this episode, Harsh shares insights on:

🎭 Stripping Away the Theater

🤖 GenAI: Delegate Tasks, Not Thinking

🏭 Speedboats vs. Cruise Liners

📉 Time-to-Evidence > Time-to-Market

🏗️ The "Build vs. Buy" Heuristic

🚫 The "Post-It Note" Trap

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.

Resources:• Open Road Ventures Newsletter• Bundl Venture Club

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