According to consulting firm McKinsey, good ideas are becoming harder to find. More money is needed for breakthroughs. The good news is that they believe AI “can double the pace of R&D to unlock up to half a trillion dollars in value annually.”

However, AI still needs humans for innovation. To find out how to innovate with AI, BigSpeak Speakers Bureau looked at what the Top Innovation Keynote Speakers in the industry were saying. These experts have founded innovative companies like Netflix, created virtual assistants like Siri, or worked at OpenAI. 

Here are five ideas that could help your business innovate.

1) Focus on real problems.

When it comes to innovation, Marc Randolph (Netflix Cofounder) is an expert at generating ideas. He developed the idea of DVD rental by mail when few people even owned a DVD player. Currently, Marc sees AI as a gold rush. Companies are moving quickly to be first, but Marc says, “In the end, the big winners aren’t likely to be the first movers. They’ll be the ones who do the hard work of solving real problems and trying ideas out until they find the ones that actually work.”

2) Stay lean.

You don’t need lots of money or resources to innovate, according to Zack Kass (Global AI Advisor and Former Head of Go-To-Market at OpenAI). “Scarcity breeds innovation. Deepseek proved this,” said Zack. With fewer resources and funding, the company created a state-of-the-art AI model that was on par with models being released in the United States.

3) Look for trends and triggers.

For innovating, Adam Cheyer (Creator of Apple’s Siri and Samsung’s Bixby AI Assistants), you should use the “trends and triggers” methodology. Looking for trends and triggers, Adam was able to see the rise of social networking and the mobile internet, so he could develop Siri and Change.org. Once you see where things are heading, you can invent things people need when they get there.

4) Ask provocative questions and stay curious.

Even with AI getting smarter, humans still need to ask the right questions to innovate, according to Lisa Bodell (bestselling author of Why Simple Wins and CEO of Future Think). Innovation involves uniqueness, and you won’t get there by using the same identical prompts as your rivals. You need to ask disruptive questions and go through multiple iterations before you can create something new.

5) Concentrate on your culture.

The key to innovating with AI is to include your people in the process, according to Tiffani Bova (Former Chief Growth Evangelist at Salesforce). “They bring creativity, context, and customer understanding that no model can replicate. Empowered teams are the key to lasting innovation.” Begin with your culture and use technology to help.

For more on innovation, read

Top Booked Innovation Speakers & Thought Leaders

8 Emerging Trends in Business Innovations in 2025

Top Questions to Spur Innovation from the Top Innovation Speakers