The world’s best innovation consulting companies don’t just suggest ideas, they engineer entire ecosystems where innovation thrives continuously, not occasionally.
Here’s what they all have in common:
- They push businesses to go digital—because sticky notes and spreadsheets don’t drive breakthroughs.
- They leverage AI, not just for automation, but to generate, predict, validate, and prioritize ideas with the highest potential.
- They make innovation a self-sustaining process through structured idea management and invention disclosure systems—because ad-hoc ideation doesn’t scale.
- They promote intrapreneurship, treating employees as innovators, not just executors.
- They democratize innovation, ensuring bold ideas don’t get lost in hierarchy.
- They consistently turn problems into opportunities, embedding innovation into the company’s DNA, not just a once-a-year workshop.
Now, consider this:
- If 98% of leaders say innovation is a top priority, why do so few companies have a system to track, refine, and implement ideas?
- How many of your company’s best ideas turn into actual products or patents?
- If your employees had a game-changing idea right now, would they even know where to submit it—or would they just move on?
- Do you treat innovation as a department’s job, or is it embedded into your organization’s culture and daily operations?
- When was the last time a frontline employee’s idea disrupted how your company operates? If you can’t recall, why is that?
The difference between companies that innovate once and those that innovate repeatedly is a structured system that makes idea generation, evaluation, and implementation effortless.
The best innovation consultants understand this—and you don’t have to hire one to start thinking like them. Let’s break down how they do it.
What Do Innovation Consulting Companies Do?
Innovation consulting companies drive business growth.
These firms assess a company’s needs, challenges, and potential, then provide expert consultants to guide them through every stage of the innovation process, from ideation to implementation.
Any company that is consistently staying ahead of the innovation adoption curve, there’s a good chance they have an innovation consultant guiding them.
But what exactly do innovation consulting companies do? And more importantly, do businesses even need them as much anymore?
Their mere existence is to help businesses generate, refine, and implement new ideas that drive growth.
All this by providing structured methodologies, frameworks, and strategic direction to turn innovation from a buzzword into tangible business results.
Here’s what they typically do:
- Idea Generation: Consultants facilitate brainstorming and ideation sessions to uncover new opportunities.
- Strategy Development: They create actionable innovation roadmaps with clear goals, timelines, and resource allocation.
- Collaboration Facilitation: Breaking down silos, they encourage cross-departmental teamwork for effective innovation.
- Prototyping & Testing: Helping businesses validate ideas before full-scale implementation, reducing risk.
- Change Management: They guide companies through the cultural and operational shifts required for innovation.
- Data-Driven Insights: Using market analysis and trends, they assess the feasibility and impact of innovation efforts.
However, the traditional consulting model is changing.
While innovation consulting firms provide valuable expertise, businesses today have access to innovation technology replacing the long-term need for external consulting.
Related Read: Why Outsourcing Invention Disclosure Management Is a Cost-Effective Solution?
Common Traits of the Best Innovation Consulting Companies
#1 They Drive Digital Transformation, Not Just Digitization
Going digital isn’t just about moving files from cabinets to a system or replacing paper with spreadsheets. True digital transformation rethinks how innovation happens.
If your team still digs through folders, sifts through endless chat threads, or relies on email chains to track an idea’s progress, you’re just organizing chaos.
The best innovation consulting companies don’t just digitize, they redesign processes for efficiency, accessibility, and collaboration.
It matters because companies that prioritize digital innovation grow 1.8 times faster than those that don’t (McKinsey, 2023).
LEGO serves as the best use case.
In the early 2000s, they were on the brink of bankruptcy.
So instead of just selling toys, they transformed their approach. They brought customers in by introducing LEGO Ideas, a platform where fans submit and vote on new designs.
This digital shift helped drive their billion-dollar resurgence.
So, how to apply this within your organization?
Ask yourself:
- Where are manual processes slowing down innovation in my company?
- Are key ideas getting lost in emails and meetings?
- How could cloud-based tools, AI-driven idea management, or real-time collaboration software accelerate your innovation process?
You go Cloud and enjoy version control over everything.
#2 They Leverage AI to Innovate Smarter, Not Harder
While the world is divided into AI-cautious and AI-forward, best innovation consultant companies are championing an AI-first approach.
They are leveraging AI to amplify its human creativity within organizations.
How?
By enabling AI brainstorming, evaluation, idea prioritizing, to prior art searches and filing.
Leading innovation firms integrate AI to analyze trends, forecast market shifts, and assist in problem-solving.
You just need to review what tasks in your innovation process could AI handle more efficiently than a human?
Are you still relying on gut instinct when AI could provide data-driven insights?
#3 They Make Innovation a Continuous Process (Not Just a One-Time Event)
Great innovation consultants teach companies that innovation is more than a one-off brainstorming session, it’s a system.
Consider Google’s 20% rule, where employees get time to work on passion projects.
That’s how Gmail and Google Maps were born.
They enable companies to use advanced systems, for example, idea management systems or invention management systems to submit, track, and develop ideas in real time.
They believe in introducing a generational innovation concept where innovation becomes a live and proactive repository internally.
How to apply this: Does your organization only discuss innovation during annual meetings? What if every employee could contribute ideas year-round?
#4 They Promote an Intrapreneurship Culture
Why do some companies have a high average tenure of their employees while others see quick churns?
Intrapreneurship culture has a very important role in all this. The companies who treat employees as innovators, not just workers, are mostly always ahead.
Take Adobe’s Kickbox. It is a toolkit that gives employees funding and resources to test their ideas.
The result?
Hundreds of internal startups and new product developments.
Best innovation consulting companies help businesses embed intrapreneurship into their DNA.
By giving employees the freedom, resources, and support to think like entrepreneurs within the organization, they make it a reality:
- Structured Innovation Programs: Consultants design frameworks that enable employees to pitch, test, and develop ideas within a structured system.
- Resource Allocation: They help set up dedicated funds, innovation challenges, and cross-functional teams to support internal ventures.
- Cultural Shifts: By implementing training, incentives, and leadership buy-in, they create a fail-fast, learn-fast environment that encourages experimentation.
Read On: Benefits of an Intrapreneurship Culture
#5 They Democratize Innovation—From Ground Level to Leadership
Most companies still rely on top-down innovation, where leadership dictates ideas, and employees simply execute them.
But that’s a missed opportunity. The best innovation consulting firms help businesses tap into ideas from every level of the organization, from the factory floor to the C-suite.
How They Make It Happen:
- Hackathons: Consultants set up structured hackathons, so employees across departments can submit ideas.
- Innovation Management Systems: They implement tools that capture, track, and develop ideas from all employees, not just leadership.
- Flattening Hierarchies: They help shift company culture from rigid chains of command to open collaboration, ensuring that good ideas don’t get lost in bureaucracy.
#6 They Turn Business Challenges Into Employee-Led Solutions
The best innovation consultants help companies turn problems into opportunities by enabling employees to contribute solutions.
For instance, GreyB launched internal innovation challenges where every single employee came together to make their workplace better, fitter, and healthier.
Case Study: How InspireIP helped GreyB create a successful innovation program?
In a Nutshell
All the best innovation consulting companies have one thing in common.
Their understanding of combining innovation strategy with innovation technology to help growing companies really make a difference.
How about we show you how innovation technology works in real time?
