Ongoing Innovation: Tom Malloy on Sustaining the Relevance and Impact of Adobe's Advanced Technology Labs - Knowledge@Wharton
A look at Adobe Systems innovation practice in an interview with Tom Malloy head of Adobe Advanced Technology Labs.
The interview is one of a series conducted by Knowledge@Wharton a fountain of university student's inquiry into a range of important "vertical" slices of the knowledge pie.
Here is a key quote from the interview about how Adobe innovates:
"New product development, on the other hand, is a totally different beast. First of all, it is not strictly a technology-centric approach. So when I talk about new product development, I am not just talking about new product development within the Advanced Technology Labs. I am talking about our philosophy for new product development throughout the company. In the case of new products, we try to mimic the venture capital model as much as possible within the context of a medium-to-large sized company. We believe in backing entrepreneurial people, and putting people in front of the ideas.
The company is full of ideas. The critical resource is entrepreneurial people who know how to plow a path that is not as well defined as it is if you are working on the "nth" version of an existing product."