Struggling to align innovative ideas with market demands?

There is always a mental fight to understand market demand with respect to innovation. Market demand will not required innovative ideas always. Sometimes basic product can be market fit if it is really solving one's problem. We should not overthink to force innovations on market needs just to "look" the product innovative.

As an Owner of Software Development Company with a passion for AI integration, I see a tremendous opportunity to AI for both understanding needs and validating early. Implementing an agile approach ensures adaptability, while continuous learning encourage a culture of innovation. By integrating AI, you can enhance competitive edge analysis, offering tailored solutions that meet evolving market demands more effectively.

OpenAI's GPT app market provided a platform where independent developers could create and distribute apps based on GPT-3.5 model. This market allowed developers to test their applications with real users and gather valuable feedback. However, OpenAI eventually replaced third-party apps with a custom GPT app option. This shift was disappointing for many independent developers who had invested time and resources into their applications, but helped OpenAI understand customers' needs and identify areas to create and capture value.

First I guess it's important to understand the market your customer is active in. Second, his position in this market and what are the challenges he faces to be successful. Understanding his needs therefor is key. A good mapping of your customer, his market and industry trends or innovations will surely help you. Fully agree with Dr. Shardul Naik saying that sometimes basic products or solutions do the job and can be the answer to your customer's needs.

An example of MVP validation is the launch of OpenAI's ChatGPT. Initially released as a simple conversational AI, ChatGPT quickly garnered user attention and feedback. The MVP version allowed users to interact with the AI, providing OpenAI with critical insights into its strengths and weaknesses. Users' interactions revealed areas for improvement, such as handling complex queries and context retention, which guided subsequent iterations. This iterative feedback loop enabled OpenAI to refine ChatGPT continuously, leading to a more robust and user-friendly product. The rapid validation process demonstrated the power of early user engagement in shaping a product that meets market needs.

In our industry testing is key to succes. Here development and innovation relate to industry problems where the goal is to cooperate with the customer, increase performance, maximize result, lower TCO and lower OPEX. By doing so we're able to involve the customer using his data and/or processes making sure that validation is done on the right parameters thus meeting expectations.

Our competitors are mainly European based but Asian brands are becoming active as well. Our customers are end-customers sites or plantbuilders and integrators. We're the challenger in the market and our approach is to focus on several important topics being; market presence, service, maintenance, durability, universal equipment for different recycling tasks, upgradability etc. We offer a complete solution or a stand-alone solution for modernization. Especially towards AI we choose a solution that doesn't require high investment or extra machines but upgrading of existing equipment. This makes us quite unique with our solution.

If innovation can satisfy an unexplored and unfulfilled need of the customer, it can trigger quicker acceptance. So to begin with, it starts from correct gap analysis. Many times the need is unclear and so the expected solutions are unknown. Examples from different sectors: Apple did it with the launch of the iPhone. Zomato did it with food delivery in India. Telsa for EV segment. Airbnb for the hotel industry.

Alinear las ideas innovadoras con las demandas del mercado puede ser un desafío por varias razones: -Falta de comprensión del mercado. -Falta de recursos. -Aversión al riesgo. -Cultura organizacional rígida y burocrática. -Realizar investigaciones de mercado exhaustivas. -Fomentar una cultura de innovación. -Desarrollar un proceso de innovación sólido. -Asociarse con otras organizaciones. - Ser ágiles y adaptables. Al seguir estas estrategias, las empresas pueden aumentar sus posibilidades de éxito en la alineación de las ideas innovadoras con las demandas del mercado y crear productos y servicios que satisfagan las necesidades de los clientes y generen un retorno de la inversión.