In this episode of The Committed Innovator, Major League Baseball’s Chief Operating and Strategy Officer Chris Marinak speaks with McKinsey innovation leader Erik Roth about how the league is using fan feedback, experimentation, and data to change a game steeped in tradition and culture to reach the next generation of fans. This season, MLB implemented rules changes that fundamentally altered the pace and action of the game and continues to embrace innovation and technology to improve the game and the overall fan experience.

https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/inside-the-strategy-room-podcast/innovation

In this episode of <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/inside-the-strategy-room-podcast/innovation">The Committed Innovator</a>, Major League Baseball’s Chief Operating and Strategy Officer Chris Marinak speaks with McKinsey innovation leader Erik Roth about how the league is using fan feedback, experimentation, and data to change a game steeped in tradition and culture to reach the next generation of fans. This season, MLB implemented rules changes that fundamentally altered the pace and action of the game and continues to embrace innovation and technology to improve the game and the overall fan experience.
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https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/inside-the-strategy-room-podcast/innovation

Unsung heroes of innovation and deeply experienced innovators discuss their triumphs, trials, and lessons learned with Erik Roth, the global leader of McKinsey's Growth and Innovation practice.

The Committed Innovator

How Major League Baseball built an innovation machine

McKinsey holds an innovation competition every year; compelling evidence shows that most organizations can benefit from doing same. 

 

McKinsey & Company regularly holds an internal competition, the Innovation Olympics, in which our own teams bring their best business ideas to an internal competition. In the most recent cycle over 2,000 McKinsey colleagues competed, with the goal of creating a bottom-up innovation mechanism that surfaces great ideas and put them to work for our clients. In this episode, McKinsey innovation leader and senior partner Erik Roth speaks with our current winners about the process. Part of the team joins us—Iris Roelens, John Law-Lund, and Suryansh Soni—to describe how and why they decided to use machine learning to draw on McKinsey knowledge and create digital agents that could serve as virtual consultants. This is an edited transcript of their conversation. You can follow the series on your preferred podcast platform.

The Committed Innovator: Why innovation competitions work

Adopting AI remains a challenge for most, and the fact that the world of AI is advancing so
incredibly rapidly doesn’t help. Nathaniel Whittemore aims to make both adoption and
keeping up with change a lot easier. He is the founder and CEO of Superintelligent, the AI
enablement platform that offers interactive tutorials that provide practical AI education and
clear paths to business solutions. And is also the host of the podcast, AI Daily Brief, that
seeks to keep its listeners up to date with AI as it evolves. In this episode of The Committed
Innovator, McKinsey innovation leaser and senior partner, Erik Roth, speaks with Whittemore
about the intersection between Whittemore’s two companies, the challenges of adopting and
scaling AI for enterprises, and what he sees in store for AI in 2026. This is an edited
transcript of their conversation. You can follow the series on your preferred podcast platform.

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Taking fear out of innovation

The essentials of innovation

Reconfiguring work: Change management in the age of gen AI

Adopting AI remains a challenge for most, and the fact that the world of AI is advancing so incredibly rapidly doesn&rsquo;t help. <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanielwhittemore">Nathaniel Whittemore</a> aims to make both adoption and keeping up with change a lot easier. He is the founder and CEO of <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/superintelligent/">Superintelligent</a>, the AI enablement platform that offers interactive tutorials that provide practical AI education and clear paths to business solutions. And is also the host of the podcast, AI Daily Brief, that seeks to keep its listeners up to date with AI as it evolves. In this episode of The Committed Innovator, McKinsey innovation leaser and senior partner, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/erik-roth-868534/">Erik Roth</a>, speaks with Whittemore about the intersection between Whittemore&rsquo;s two companies, the challenges of adopting and scaling AI for enterprises, and what he sees in store for AI in 2026. This is an edited transcript of their conversation. You can follow the series on your preferred podcast platform.
Related content
<a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/taking-%20fear-out-of-innovation">Taking fear out of innovation</a> <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/the-%20essentials-of-innovation">The essentials of innovation</a> <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/quantumblack/our-insights/reconfiguring-work-%20change-management-in-the-age-of-gen-ai">Reconfiguring work: Change management in the age of gen AI</a>

The Committed Innovator: Keeping up with AI and deploying it as it evolves 

Miro founder and CEO Andrey Khusid discusses the inspiration behind what started as a digital whiteboard and has evolved to become an AI innovation workspace.

Of the many challenges of innovation, enabling members of a team to share and capture their new ideas so they can build on them collaboratively, quickly, and easily is a perennial source of drag. The need to do so remotely inspired Miro founder and CEO Andrey Khusid to start the online whiteboard platform used for brainstorming, planning, and team collaboration. Today the company has evolved into an AI-driven innovation workspace. In this episode, McKinsey innovation leader Erik Roth speaks with Khusid about the problem Miro seeks to solve, the process of scaling the business, and what is next for the company in the age of generative and agentic AI.

 

Related reading:

The eight essentials of innovation 

Taking fear out of innovation

Fear factor: Overcoming human barriers to innovation

Miro founder and CEO Andrey Khusid discusses the inspiration behind what started as a digital whiteboard and has evolved to become an AI innovation workspace.
Of the many challenges of innovation, enabling members of a team to share and capture their new ideas so they can build on them collaboratively, quickly, and easily is a perennial source of drag. The need to do so remotely inspired Miro founder and CEO Andrey Khusid to start the online whiteboard platform used for brainstorming, planning, and team collaboration. Today the company has evolved into an AI-driven innovation workspace. In this episode, McKinsey innovation leader <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/our-people/erik-roth">Erik Roth</a> speaks with Khusid about the problem Miro seeks to solve, the process of scaling the business, and what is next for the company in the age of generative and agentic AI.
&nbsp;
Related reading:
<a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/the-eight-essentials-of-innovation">The eight essentials of innovation</a>&nbsp;
<a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/taking-fear-out-of-innovation">Taking fear out of innovation</a>
<a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/fear-factor-overcoming-human-barriers-to-innovation">Fear factor: Overcoming human barriers to innovation</a>

Miro founder and CEO Andrey Khusid discusses the inspiration behind what started as a digital whiteboard and has evolved to become an AI innovation workspace.

How Major League Baseball built an innovation machine

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