In December 2024, in Paris, during the closed-door session of the ninth edition of the Corporate Startup Stars Awards – organized by Mind the Bridge and the International Chamber of Commerce – we had the privilege of engaging with the heads of innovation from several of the world’s top 100 most innovative corporations. This gathering provided an invaluable opportunity to exchange insights, assess which Open Innovation tools have proven successful, and explore future plans. In this brief report, we summarize the key outcomes of our discussions, supported by findings from a structured survey conducted at the end of the session.

Clear trends emerged.

The turbulence of 2024 serves as a reminder that innovation is rarely a linear process. While economic cycles inevitably influence corporate priorities, the core principles of Open Innovation – collaboration, adaptability, and leveraging external ideas – remain foundational to long-term success.
As we step into 2025, a few messages resonate strongly:

• The commitment to Open Innovation endures, even as methods evolve.
• Open Innovation is shifting from “back to basics” to embracing new, more “hybrid” and “sophisticated” approaches.
• The era of “isolated innovation” is over. Ecosystems and collaboration define the future.

2024 may be remembered as a year of realization.

It underscored the need to cut ties with outdated approaches and to redesign more effective models. These new models must reflect the complexities of modern business, which demand greater cooperation and adaptability. As Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s concept of antifragility suggests: organizations must learn to thrive, improve, and grow stronger under stress and volatility.