Episode 9: How can leaders measure the business value of innovation with Simon Hill

Innovation is inherently uncertain because it is about the future. That uncertainty is also the reason innovation gets cut first when budgets tighten. Most leaders cannot put a number on the value innovation creates, so when finance asks, the room goes quiet.Simon Hill has spent fifteen years building the tools to end that silence. He is the founder and CEO of Wazoku, the innovation delivery partner behind Total Innovation and the InnoCentive marketplace, and the author of Expected Value: The System to Align Innovation, Strategy, and Value Creation.In this conversation, Simon and Iliriana unpack:Why challenge-driven innovation is the most practical tool a leader has to activate innovators, internal or externalThe xV framework: the four components that let innovation teams, strategy, and finance finally speak the same languageWhy most innovation projects spend hundreds, sometimes thousands of dollars to generate one dollar of expected value, and what to do about itKill credits and zombie projects: why stopping bad investments is as valuable as launching good onesThe case for intentional deceleration in a culture obsessed with speedWhy the wall between internal and external innovators is smaller than most leaders thinkHow AI has collapsed the cost of feasibility to nearly zero, and what that means for the bottleneck of innovationWhy Simon believes innovation is not a job but a mindset and a systemThe first-time-public reveal of Wazoku's price point for the full open innovation stackSimon ends the conversation with a question for our audience, one he himself cannot answer cleanly: Why are so few organizations using open innovation when the cost of deploying it has dropped to almost zero, and the cost of not deploying it has never been higher?If you are a leader, with or without innovation in your title, working to activate innovators, build innovation programs, or measure what your innovation work is actually worth, this conversation is for you.About the guestSimon Hill is founder and CEO of Wazoku, an innovation platform serving NASA, HSBC, Novartis, Shell, the UK Ministry of Defence, and others. He is the author of Expected Value, shortlisted in the top five for Thinkers360 Author of the Year 2026. He is a five-time acquirer, a Founders Pledge member, and the Guardian SME Business Leader of the Year.About the hostIliriana Kacaniku is the founder of OpenSolve Studio and host of the Activate Innovation Lounge. She is an innovation strategist with over twenty years of experience helping organizations and their leaders activate innovators, build innovation programs, and create cultures where innovation becomes a practice, not just a moment.Connect with SimonLinkedIn: Simon Hill on LinkedInWazoku: wazoku.comBook: Expected Value: The System to Align Innovation, Strategy, and Value CreationConnect with IlirianaLinkedIn: Iliriana Kacaniku on LinkedInWebsite: OpenSolveStudio.comNewsletter: Activate Innovation NewsletterSubscribe to the Activate Innovation LoungeSpotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube