What happens when everyone in an organization claims to support innovation, but each person has a different idea of what innovation means?
In this episode of the Innovation Storytellers Show, I speak with Iffat AlRowaithy, Corporate Innovation and Innovation Center Unit Head at a globally recognized bank in Saudi Arabia. Iffat has spent more than a decade building innovation functions, developing employee capabilities, and connecting new ideas with corporate strategy and measurable business value.
We begin with a problem many innovation leaders will recognize about how people define innovation. One department may view innovation as a new product, another may focus on customer experience, while others see a system update as progress. Iffat explains why leaders must establish a shared language before asking people to innovate, including clear expectations around purpose, ownership, timelines, and outcomes.
Iffat also shares what she learned while building innovation centers across the public and private sectors. A creative space may look impressive, but it cannot succeed if the organization has not developed the culture, sponsorship, and capabilities required to use it. Her current center was designed around the five senses, creating an experience that helps employees think differently, contribute ideas, and participate in building solutions.
We discuss why open calls for ideas can produce large volumes of suggestions without solving the problems business units actually face. Iffat describes how her team reversed the process by asking departments to submit one real challenge and inviting employees across the organization to propose solutions. This approach allowed an IT employee to solve an HR communication problem and helped turn employee insight into an implemented broadcast capability.
Our conversation also examines the relationship between AI and human creativity. Iffat shares how employees used AI to move from ideation to a working prototype in around two hours, while emphasizing that human judgment, context, and empathy must remain part of the process.
Perhaps the most powerful lesson is that people respond to experiences, participation, and being heard far more readily than they respond to promises. Innovation becomes part of the culture when employees can see their contribution, understand its connection to strategy, and feel included in creating what comes next.
Can a shared language, a clearly defined challenge, and greater empathy help your organization turn innovation from an ambition into everyday behavior? Listen to the conversation and share your thoughts.
Name: Iffat AlRowaithy
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Iffat AlRowaithy is a Innovation curator, and culture architect with more than a decade of experience driving innovation, transformation, and future-focused growth across the financial and public sectors. As Head of Corporate Innovation at SAB, she leads strategic initiatives that accelerate experimentation, build innovation capabilities, and create measurable business impact. Passionate about shaping the future of banking, she champions collaboration, emerging technologies, and a culture where innovation becomes everyone’s responsibility.