AI Accelerates Innovation
More than 80% of engineers and executives agree that AI enables faster innovation.
That increase in innovation speed comes in part from growing comfort with the use of emerging technologies. Nearly half of respondents (49% of executives, 45% of engineers) say they want to experiment with new technology as soon as possible. Unsurprisingly, younger executives are particularly bullish: 56% of Gen Z/Millennial executives say they want to experiment with new technology immediately, vs. 38% of Gen X and older executives. And across executives and engineers, 54% of Gen Z/Millennials in China are eager for technology experimentation, the highest share of any country surveyed.
Yet executives and engineers diverge again on how they expect their businesses to capitalize on AI-powered innovation. Similar to prior editions of the Industrial Technology Index, the majority of executives define innovation as iterative improvements rather than total transformation (61% vs. 52% of engineers).
This gap in the definition of innovation could create additional challenges for companies seeking to prioritize future AI efforts, particularly in defining their objectives. Businesses that drive alignment across functions through shared definitions and success metrics could improve their odds of success.
TE Takeaway
To help unite the generational differences, companies should connect deep engineering experience with the way the next generation works by using AI as the bridge, not the replacement. Within my team at TE, we record key training sessions led by our most experienced engineers, so their knowledge is captured and turned, with AI’s assistance, into practical training material that younger engineers can learn from in their natural way of working. This approach protects and documents the hard‑earned engineering judgement that cannot be learned from tools alone. At the same time, it helps the more experienced generation adopt AI gradually by seeing it used to amplify their own expertise rather than compete with it. A core part of our mission is to build a more resilient business by reducing single‑point knowledge dependency and making critical expertise accessible across generations. The result is a shared learning loop where experience provides direction and AI provides speed.
Kasia Kuta-Winczura
Senior Manager of Engineering
Aerospace, Defense and Marine