Innovation Management Watch Summary: “AI and New Product Development” by Robert G. Cooper and Tammy McCausland (RTM)

Source: Image created using AI for illustrative purposes only.

This week’s Innovation Management Watch Summary highlights a Research-Technology Management article by Robert G. Cooper and Tammy McCausland on how AI is reshaping the entire new product development (NPD) process—from idea generation to launch. 

The authors map more than 40 AI applications across the NPD lifecycle and show how early-adopter companies are using AI to accelerate development, strengthen decision-making, and uncover customer needs that would be impossible to detect manually. 

The key insight for innovation leaders: AI is no longer just a support tool. It is becoming a strategic engine for discovery, design, and commercialization—reducing development cycles, improving accuracy, and enabling entirely new forms of innovation. 

Source: Image created using AI for illustrative purposes only.

Key Findings 

AI is transforming the front end of innovation. 

Machine learning now analyzes tens of thousands of user comments to surface unmet needs, generate concepts, and shape early product direction (e.g., analyzing 21,000+ customer comments to identify 117 unmet needs for a snowplow redesign). 

AI strengthens business case development. 

Tools support market sizing, competitor tracking, financial modeling, and risk assessment—helping teams build stronger, data-driven business cases. 

AI accelerates development and testing. 

Examples include generative design, digital twins, AI-driven simulations, and virtual prototyping—cutting development time dramatically. 

Notable case: GE evaluating 1 million design variations in 15 minutes. 

AI supports commercialization and launch. 

Marketing, pricing, customer insights, sales content, supply chain optimization, and campaign design are now heavily augmented by AI—creating faster, more targeted market entry. 

The adoption window is shrinking. 

AI’s innovation cycle is accelerating. Delayed adoption will make it increasingly difficult for organizations to stay competitive. 

Why It Matters for Innovation Leaders 

Cooper and McCausland argue that AI is changing not just how products are developed—but who wins. 

Companies that integrate AI across the NPD lifecycle gain a compounding advantage: more ideas, faster iterations, better decisions, and stronger product-market fit. 

Lagging organizations risk falling behind as AI becomes a core capability for innovation teams. 

This summary is based on the article “AI and New Product Development” published in Research-Technology Management by Robert G. Cooper and Tammy McCausland. All rights to the original content remain with the respective copyright holders.