Global innovation leaders collaborate to unlock GenAI value in R&D

Senior executives from Amcor, Bayer Crop Science, Mars, PepsiCo, Stepan, and P&G explore how to accelerate generative AI adoption in R&D

Six global innovation leaders have come together in a CTO Forum organised by UK-based R&D consultancy Sagentia to answer a critical question: How can we make most effective use of Generative AI in R&D – moving beyond efficiency gains to deliver true breakthrough innovation?”

After six months of collaboration, the Forum has now launched a Generative AI Playbook for R&D – providing practical guidance for organisations seeking to embed GenAI effectively into their innovation processes.

With R&D teams under pressure to deliver measurable impact from digital investments, participants in the CTO Forum discuss their own real-world use cases, outcomes, and lessons learned, which they now share in this Playbook.

The Forum focused on three critical questions:

• Where does GenAI fit within R&D’s broader digital journey?
• Which R&D problems can GenAI solve most effectively?
• How can organisations implement GenAI successfully at scale?

By sharing experiences and testing ideas collaboratively, participants accelerated learning in ways impossible to achieve in isolation. The Playbook outlines ten guiding principles, designed to help R&D leaders balance ambition with pragmatism, in particular reflecting organisations’ levels of GenAI maturity.

Key success factors include data readiness, prioritisation of high-value use cases, and strong user engagement – with the last of these often providing the greatest challenge.

Early wins are essential to secure buy-in and pave the way for more advanced applications, such as moving from simple task automation to more creative solutions capable of tackling complex innovation challenges.

Dan Edwards, CEO of Sagentia, commented:
“GenAI is driving a step-change in how R&D operates – but many organisations struggle to move from efficiency gains to breakthrough applications. Our Playbook provides actionable guidance to help leaders navigate this journey with confidence. The keys to success are to focus on value creation, preparing your data effectively, and critically, bringing your people with you.”

The Generative AI Playbook for R&D is now available as an open-source resource to support the wider industry.
Download it here: https://sagentia.com/cto-forum/

Following publication of the Playbook, Sagentia has launched two service offerings for organisations embracing the GenAI challenge. The first is a benchmarking service which allows companies to compare their activities and approach to those of peer organisations. The second is focused on helping R&D teams to prioritise which problems to solve with GenAI. For more information on these services: https://sagentia.com/contact/

Sagentia’s CTO Forum brings senior R&D and innovation leaders together to tackle issues of material importance to the R&D community. Its goal is to share insights and develop practical tools and methods that can be applied within the R&D function to address key challenges.