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IdeaLab: Supercharging ideation to solve customer challenges
Innovation is changing and technology is opening up new ways to think, create and solve problems at a whole new scale. At Hempel, we’ve been exploring exactly that: What happens when we bring together the power of artificial intelligence (AI) and the imagination of people? Through our internal innovation incubator, GrowHub, we set out to find out. The result is IdeaLab, our new AI-powered ideation engine designed to enhance in-person workshops that generate breakthrough ideas.
“Many generative AI tools are built to speed things up or take over tasks. We wanted something else: a system that sparks and complements human creativity. IdeaLab represents a new approach to human-machine collaboration in creative problem solving,” says Morten Schnohr, Sr. Innovation Technologist in GrowHub.
Nicolai Hansen, Senior Innovation Manager and Morten Schnohr, Senior Innovation Technologist in GrowHub, Hempel’s innovation incubator
From data to direction – and better ideas, faster
We’ve developed a tool that uses cutting-edge technology to reimagine innovation from the ground up. Rather than starting with a blank page, IdeaLab can tap into data from past projects, emerging trends and market insights to suggest promising directions for new ideas.
But the real strength lies in its virtual personas. These are smart, AI-generated profiles representing different customer types, markets and needs. They give early feedback on ideas, helping our experts evaluate concepts faster and refine the ones with highest impact.
“IdeaLab changes the game,” says Nicolai Hansen, Sr. Innovation Manager in GrowHub. “With the unique AI-powered customer archetypes, teams can now explore diverse perspectives, identify risks and explore new innovative directions while our experts in the room ensure solutions remain grounded in real-world needs.” This approach reinforces Hempel’s commitment to always keeping the customer at the centre of our solutions.
Colleagues at an innovation workshop testing out IdeaLab
Empowering people to think further
IdeaLab makes the process for innovating outside the can more efficient and strengthens our ability to think differently, experiment more boldly and shape future-ready solutions in a competitive global market.
What used to take long manual processes can now happen at speed and scale. IdeaLab is already used in workshops with Hempel’s commercial teams and the results speak for themselves: Idea generation became 8 times faster, with a 320% increase in idea volume and a 270% rise in concepts progressing to the next stage each showing significantly improved quality.
“The ideas we’re seeing are more relevant, sharper and better aligned with real market needs. Our innovation teams say they’re working with higher-quality inputs and feel more confident in where to place their focus. The synthetic personas provide an extra layer of validation, making it faster and easier to test ideas across different customer groups,” says Nicolai Hansen.
By bringing together our strategic enablers: innovation, people and digitalisation, and adding a customer-centric perspective, IdeaLab helps us solve customer challenges from entirely new angles. It’s a great example of what building the future looks like: empowering people with smarter tools to take their ideas further.
IdeaLab is funded by Hempel and Microsoft, and developed in collaboration with our partner Delegate.
