Nils Fonstad, Academic Research Fellow, MIT Center for Information Systems Research (CISR)
- Nils was educated at Cornell and MIT Sloan and earned his PhD from MIT.
- He has held senior research roles at INSEAD/eLab in Paris and MIT, publishing widely, including in Harvard Business Review.
Podcast
Overview
In this episode of The Brand Called You, MIT researcher Nils Fonstad unpacks digital innovation as a disciplined, impact-focused process. From end-user centricity to improvisation, modularity, and learning at scale, the conversation reveals how organizations can innovate without wasting resources—and turn digital from hype into measurable value.
00:35- About Nils Fonstad
- Nils was educated at Cornell and MIT Sloan and earned his PhD from MIT.
- He has held senior research roles at INSEAD/eLab in Paris and MIT, publishing widely, including in Harvard Business Review.
- He co-founded the European CIO of the Year Awards with CIO Net and is currently based in Madrid.
19:40- How have lessons from baking and film shaped your approach to digital innovation?
- They reinforced a strong end-user focus, emphasizing design thinking, constant listening, and solving real needs rather than falling in love with solutions.
- They taught him to expect change and adapt continuously, recognizing that user needs and solutions evolve over time.
- They shaped his interest in improvisation as a disciplined framework for innovation, balancing structure with flexibility at scale.
26:16- How often are you asked to predict the next big trend in digital innovation?
- He is often asked to predict future digital trends, but reframes the question away from guessing outcomes toward designing the right test-and-learn processes.
- He emphasizes shared resources and reuse to avoid duplication, reduce complexity, and maximize impact across initiatives.
- He highlights continuous prioritization and portfolio management, where leaders regularly reallocate resources based on learning and shifting strategic priorities.
RESOURCES:
Learn more about Nils Fonstad: LinkedIn
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Profile
- Nils was educated at Cornell and MIT Sloan and earned his PhD from MIT.
- He has held senior research roles at INSEAD/eLab in Paris and MIT, publishing widely, including in Harvard Business Review.
- He co-founded the European CIO of the Year Awards with CIO Net and is currently based in Madrid.
