How U.S. Bank’s innovation team gets a read on the future for ideas to incubate
Why would bankers get excited about 'drone nests,' smart mirrors that recommend skin care treatments, and dump trucks bigger than a house? For the innovation team at U.S. Bank, it’s because of the kaleidoscope of ideas sparking in their minds about how the banking business might evolve in the future. Join Don Relyea, the bank’s chief innovation officer, and his colleagues as they scour the Consumer Electronics Show for inspiration.
The quintessential American inventor, Thomas Edison, once said, “To invent, you need good imagination and a pile of junk.” There’s a story, perhaps apocryphal, that he paid employees to bring in unusual items for his laboratory’s inventory, in the belief that someday something might be the key ingredient of some invention.
Where can bank innovators find the raw material for their “pile of junk”? After all, it’s hard to think of much that lumps of carbon or bamboo filaments — key parts of two important Edison inventions — could do for a savings account or a mobile banking app.
For Don Relyea and Todder Moning of U.S. Bank’s innovation team, one of the places to find useful bits and pieces is the annual Consumer Electronics Show, which takes place in Las Vegas every January.
The vast trade show — CES 2023 boasted more than 3,000 exhibitors — showcases advances in electronics, transportation, sustainability, the metaverse and more.
continue reading »
