The Fast Company Survey of Innovation Excellence

For 16 years, Fast Company has produced an annual list of the world’s Most Innovative Companies (MICs), highlighting organizations whose high-impact innovations set them apart from their competitors. The program has recognized startups and multinational corporations alike, and has presaged major business trends, such as generative AI, social commerce, and inclusive health services.

This year, Fast Company set out to understand the processes and cultures that enable MICs to continuously innovate—and identify obstacles that even acclaimed innovators face. Our editors, in collaboration with Deloitte, surveyed hundreds of innovation leaders at companies named MICs in 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023.

We found that the world’s Most Innovative Companies prioritize innovation in their words—nearly two thirds (65%) of respondents include innovation language in their mission, vision, or value statements—and in their reporting structures: Almost half (49%) of those polled say their CEOs are responsible for driving innovation, and 60% say their top innovation executive reports directly to the CEO.

They’re also unwavering in their commitment to innovation, even when faced with potential financial uncertainty. Some 69% of respondents say an economic slowdown would not have a chilling effect on investment spending, and three-quarters prioritize in-house R&D to advance their innovation agendas.

Still, MICs encounter challenges to sustained and consistent innovation. Smaller companies, in particular, worry about their ability to scale innovation, while larger companies often struggle to identify disruptive technologies and processes.

Driving innovation and embracing new technology has never been more critical, especially with the rise of consequential applications, such as generative AI. Interviews with MIC innovation leaders and other case studies show how companies can increase their innovation readiness—preparedness to develop and launch breakthrough products and services and the ability to understand and incorporate technological advancements—by forging broader coalitions, partnerships, and communities to help them accelerate change.

“In this new era of convergence, standing still is the fastest way to move backwards,” says Deborah Golden, Deloitte’s U.S. chief innovation officer. “Leaders must look beyond their immediate horizon, viewing technological transformation through the lens of open innovation and broad collaboration. Innovation requires organizations to harness diverse perspectives and capabilities of a wider ecosystem, including startups, academic institutions, or even competitors.”

Innovation is intentional and indispensable

Innovation is more than a concept or framework for Most Innovative Companies—it is core to their businesses, and reflected in their investments. Nearly a quarter (23%) of respondents say their research and development budgets represented 15% or more of their annual revenue for 2023, and more than half (54%) plan to increase their R&D spend this year.

MIC leaders say they are intentional about the way they weave an innovation mandate into their operations. “If you want to do innovation in your company, in your business, particularly once it starts to scale, you need to make the space for it,” says Rob Horler, CEO of Whalar (a 2023 MIC in the social media category). “You need to make it clear that in your DNA and your culture, innovation is part of what you do.” Indeed, 63% of respondents say one of their key tactics for maintaining innovation readiness or overcoming impediments to innovation is by articulating innovation goals to the entire organization.

J.M. Smucker Co. (a 2022 MIC in the branding category) adheres to a philosophy of “introducing meaningful innovations that deliver on real needs,” says Gail Hollander, the company’s chief marketing officer. “Often, this takes the form of building from our existing brands to deliver new solutions,” she says, citing examples such as Jif Squeeze—a new form factor for peanut butter—and Dunkin’ brand liquid coffee concentrates, which allow consumers to create coffee drinks at home.

A culture of innovation

At Most Innovative Companies, a culture of innovation starts at the top—49% of survey respondents say their CEOs are responsible for driving innovation—but quickly spreads to the entire organization. Nearly half (49%) of respondents say they hire specifically for innovation skills, and 48% say they leverage technologies, such as generative AI and Blockchain, to inspire ideas and innovation from employees. When asked to supply examples of how their organizations create innovation cultures, several survey respondents wrote in some version of the phrase: “Everyone has a seat at the table.”

Pfizer (named with BioNTech as the No. 1 Most Innovative Company in 2021), acknowledges that it has had to evolve its culture to stoke innovation. “In the last few years, we’ve transformed Pfizer into an agile, scientific powerhouse capable of addressing the world’s most devastating diseases,”
says Payal Sahni Becher, executive vice president and chief people experience officer. “To do this, we needed to change the company’s culture.
We needed to become more comfortable with risk, and to move boldly to live up to our purpose and our promise to patients. The result of this effort is a more nimble organization, powered by colleagues who are not bogged down by bureaucracy but instead are empowered to innovate at every turn.” She says last year the company had had more medicines and vaccines approved by the FDA than ever before in a given period. (The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved nearly 50% more novel drugs in 2023 than 2022.)

Employee engagement also plays a critical role in fostering an innovative culture. Canva (a 2022 MIC in the enterprise category) provides employees with stipends for mental or physical health services and offers professional advancement programs for women engineers and early-career workers.

MICs prioritize diversity in their workplaces: 83% of respondents say they actively recruit diverse voices; with 56% saying diversity has unlocked conventional thinking, which has led to innovation; and 43% saying diverse employees have led respondents to consider new markets.

Even robust innovation cultures face hurdles: Only 25% of MICs say their boards of directors include an innovation specialist, which could impact board support for R&D and other innovation spending; and 40% report talent constraints as an impediment to innovation readiness. Half (51%) say financial limitations also stand in the way of innovation readiness.

Innovation ecosystems

One antidote to innovation limitations that MICs have deployed successfully is to leverage ecosystems. A third (34%) of respondents say they are assessing or expanding partnerships as a way to maintain innovation readiness, with colleges and universities topping the list of external institutions MICs are not currently leveraging but that they wish to add to their innovation ecosystems.

Deloitte has seen firsthand the way universities can be a catalyst for innovation. It has collaborated with Wichita State University to launch the Smart Factory, an experience center that showcases advanced technologies, such as the Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence, and helps companies accelerate innovation by allowing them to tap into a network that includes university resources, startups, technology partners, and others. Collaborators at the Smart Factory include Siemens (a 2023 Most Innovative Company in manufacturing), SAP, and Amazon Web Services.

Zoetis (a 2022 MIC in the corporate social responsibility category) initiated an incubator at Colorado State University. The incubator has identified novel biopharmaceutical substrate that has entered Zoetis’s R&D pipeline for products that may lead to alternatives to antibiotics in food-producing animals.

Ecosystems also create opportunities for small companies to scale and for large enterprises to access cutting-edge technology or processes. Pharma giant Pfizer and boutique biotech company BioNTech (jointly named as MICs in 2021) collaborated to deliver a COVID-19 vaccine based on BioNTech’s messenger RNA technology.

Swedish fintech Doconomy (a 2022 and 2023 MIC in corporate social responsibility) recently teamed up with Mastercard to provide members of a credit cooperative with a tool for measuring their carbon footprint.
Johan Pihl, Doconomy cofounder and chief creative officer, says the firm routinely collaborates with established banks. “It turned out that the banks were a lot more receptive to new concepts than we initially expected,” he says. “It’s a balancing act of having great respect for the kind of traditional side of banking and at the same time pushing the envelope in finding new solutions.”

Measuring Innovation

While MICs tend to profess a long-term commitment to innovation, survey respondents tend to measure success through financial metrics, such as revenue from innovation projects (60%), profits from such projects (31%), and market share (32%).

Deloitte’s Golden cautions that a hyper focus on revenue could hurt creativity and deter companies from making transformational potential investments. She urges a more balanced portfolio inclusive of “pre-monetary” measures.

A long-term focus that extends beyond revenue can prevent stagnation in innovation, increase competitive advantage, and enable adaptability to market shifts and technological advancements, she says.

Forward-thinking businesses are championing new metrics, such as focusing on their innovation funnel and consumer experience. Bookshop.org (a 2021 MIC in the small-and-mighty category) facilitates e-commerce for some 1,900 independent bookstores, and in three years has distributed nearly $30 billion to local shops—a number it proudly trumpets atop its website. CEO Andy Hunter says the site is working on a new feature that will allow customers at checkout to designate their purchases to directly contribute to indie booksellers. Hunter acknowledges that the innovation is relatively small, “but will make people feel more tied to the brand and make them more likely to come back and buy again.”

Says Golden: “A comprehensive understanding of innovation’s strategic impact asks leaders to balance diverse metrics, such as innovation pipeline, pace of transformation, and customer-centric adoption—in addition to financial rationales—as they pave the way for sustainable growth and enduring competitive advantage.”

Embracing technology

Most Innovative Companies don’t fear new technologies. Asked to characterize their organizations’ response to adopting new technologies, 43% of respondents said they are enthusiastic and try to be early adopters, and 28% said they were slightly cautious but willing to experiment with anything new. None said they were overwhelmed or unsure how to proceed. ChatGPT and equivalent tools topped the list of technologies that MICs are embracing, with 72% saying they are actively incorporating generative AI bots into their business’s processes or finished products.

For many MICs, technology adoption facilitates their innovation agendas. Terran Orbital (a 2023 MIC in the space category) says its use of 3D printing—along with an assembly line and other manufacturing components—is a competitive advantage for the company, which makes satellites and spacecraft. (Roughly a third, or 30%, of survey respondents named 3D printing as one of the technologies they are incorporating.)

“It used to cost a billion dollars and take a decade to build a satellite,” says CEO Marc Bell. Thanks to 3D printing and robotics, “I can do it for millions and I can do it in months.” He adds: “I believe if you can control your supply chain, you can control your destiny. We control 85% of our supply chain, and [we’re] working toward 100.” 

Conclusion

The MICs surveyed by Fast Company, in collaboration with Deloitte, have shown a deep commitment to innovation that should serve as an inspiration for any company seeking to grow and evolve sustainably during this period of rapid technological change. Leading organizations have made innovation a thruline of their cultures and their operations. They are looking to accelerate innovation through internal talent and R&D, but also through partnerships and a robust ecosystem. In short, they think holistically about making sure their organizations are prepared to pounce on innovation opportunities.

“Innovation readiness isn’t just about adopting new technologies, tracking a certain metric, or embracing the latest buzzword,” says Deloitte’s Golden. “It’s about creating a dynamic environment grounded in strategic agility and questioning long-held assumptions—thinking differently, so that ideas can flourish, whereby calculated risks are incentivized, and the future is responsibly shaped, not passively faced.”

For 16 years, Fast Company has produced an annual list of the world’s Most Innovative Companies (MICs), highlighting organizations whose high-impact innovations set them apart from their competitors. The program has recognized startups and multinational corporations alike, and has presaged major business trends, such as generative AI, social commerce, and inclusive health services.

This year, Fast Company set out to understand the processes and cultures that enable MICs to continuously innovate—and identify obstacles that even acclaimed innovators face. Our editors, in collaboration with Deloitte, surveyed hundreds of innovation leaders at companies named MICs in 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023.

We found that the world’s Most Innovative Companies prioritize innovation in their words—nearly two thirds (65%) of respondents include innovation language in their mission, vision, or value statements—and in their reporting structures: Almost half (49%) of those polled say their CEOs are responsible for driving innovation, and 60% say their top innovation executive reports directly to the CEO.

They’re also unwavering in their commitment to innovation, even when faced with potential financial uncertainty. Some 69% of respondents say an economic slowdown would not have a chilling effect on investment spending, and three-quarters prioritize in-house R&D to advance their innovation agendas.

Still, MICs encounter challenges to sustained and consistent innovation. Smaller companies, in particular, worry about their ability to scale innovation, while larger companies often struggle to identify disruptive technologies and processes.

Driving innovation and embracing new technology has never been more critical, especially with the rise of consequential applications, such as generative AI. Interviews with MIC innovation leaders and other case studies show how companies can increase their innovation readiness—preparedness to develop and launch breakthrough products and services and the ability to understand and incorporate technological advancements—by forging broader coalitions, partnerships, and communities to help them accelerate change.

“In this new era of convergence, standing still is the fastest way to move backwards,” says Deborah Golden, Deloitte’s U.S. chief innovation officer. “Leaders must look beyond their immediate horizon, viewing technological transformation through the lens of open innovation and broad collaboration. Innovation requires organizations to harness diverse perspectives and capabilities of a wider ecosystem, including startups, academic institutions, or even competitors.”

Innovation is intentional and indispensable

Innovation is more than a concept or framework for Most Innovative Companies—it is core to their businesses, and reflected in their investments. Nearly a quarter (23%) of respondents say their research and development budgets represented 15% or more of their annual revenue for 2023, and more than half (54%) plan to increase their R&D spend this year.

MIC leaders say they are intentional about the way they weave an innovation mandate into their operations. “If you want to do innovation in your company, in your business, particularly once it starts to scale, you need to make the space for it,” says Rob Horler, CEO of Whalar (a 2023 MIC in the social media category). “You need to make it clear that in your DNA and your culture, innovation is part of what you do.” Indeed, 63% of respondents say one of their key tactics for maintaining innovation readiness or overcoming impediments to innovation is by articulating innovation goals to the entire organization.

J.M. Smucker Co. (a 2022 MIC in the branding category) adheres to a philosophy of “introducing meaningful innovations that deliver on real needs,” says Gail Hollander, the company’s chief marketing officer. “Often, this takes the form of building from our existing brands to deliver new solutions,” she says, citing examples such as Jif Squeeze—a new form factor for peanut butter—and Dunkin’ brand liquid coffee concentrates, which allow consumers to create coffee drinks at home.

A culture of innovation

At Most Innovative Companies, a culture of innovation starts at the top—49% of survey respondents say their CEOs are responsible for driving innovation—but quickly spreads to the entire organization. Nearly half (49%) of respondents say they hire specifically for innovation skills, and 48% say they leverage technologies, such as generative AI and Blockchain, to inspire ideas and innovation from employees. When asked to supply examples of how their organizations create innovation cultures, several survey respondents wrote in some version of the phrase: “Everyone has a seat at the table.”

Pfizer (named with BioNTech as the No. 1 Most Innovative Company in 2021), acknowledges that it has had to evolve its culture to stoke innovation. “In the last few years, we’ve transformed Pfizer into an agile, scientific powerhouse capable of addressing the world’s most devastating diseases,”
says Payal Sahni Becher, executive vice president and chief people experience officer. “To do this, we needed to change the company’s culture.
We needed to become more comfortable with risk, and to move boldly to live up to our purpose and our promise to patients. The result of this effort is a more nimble organization, powered by colleagues who are not bogged down by bureaucracy but instead are empowered to innovate at every turn.” She says last year the company had had more medicines and vaccines approved by the FDA than ever before in a given period. (The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved nearly 50% more novel drugs in 2023 than 2022.)

Employee engagement also plays a critical role in fostering an innovative culture. Canva (a 2022 MIC in the enterprise category) provides employees with stipends for mental or physical health services and offers professional advancement programs for women engineers and early-career workers.

MICs prioritize diversity in their workplaces: 83% of respondents say they actively recruit diverse voices; with 56% saying diversity has unlocked conventional thinking, which has led to innovation; and 43% saying diverse employees have led respondents to consider new markets.

Even robust innovation cultures face hurdles: Only 25% of MICs say their boards of directors include an innovation specialist, which could impact board support for R&D and other innovation spending; and 40% report talent constraints as an impediment to innovation readiness. Half (51%) say financial limitations also stand in the way of innovation readiness.

Innovation ecosystems

One antidote to innovation limitations that MICs have deployed successfully is to leverage ecosystems. A third (34%) of respondents say they are assessing or expanding partnerships as a way to maintain innovation readiness, with colleges and universities topping the list of external institutions MICs are not currently leveraging but that they wish to add to their innovation ecosystems.

Deloitte has seen firsthand the way universities can be a catalyst for innovation. It has collaborated with Wichita State University to launch the Smart Factory, an experience center that showcases advanced technologies, such as the Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence, and helps companies accelerate innovation by allowing them to tap into a network that includes university resources, startups, technology partners, and others. Collaborators at the Smart Factory include Siemens (a 2023 Most Innovative Company in manufacturing), SAP, and Amazon Web Services.

Zoetis (a 2022 MIC in the corporate social responsibility category) initiated an incubator at Colorado State University. The incubator has identified novel biopharmaceutical substrate that has entered Zoetis’s R&D pipeline for products that may lead to alternatives to antibiotics in food-producing animals.

Ecosystems also create opportunities for small companies to scale and for large enterprises to access cutting-edge technology or processes. Pharma giant Pfizer and boutique biotech company BioNTech (jointly named as MICs in 2021) collaborated to deliver a COVID-19 vaccine based on BioNTech’s messenger RNA technology.

Swedish fintech Doconomy (a 2022 and 2023 MIC in corporate social responsibility) recently teamed up with Mastercard to provide members of a credit cooperative with a tool for measuring their carbon footprint.
Johan Pihl, Doconomy cofounder and chief creative officer, says the firm routinely collaborates with established banks. “It turned out that the banks were a lot more receptive to new concepts than we initially expected,” he says. “It’s a balancing act of having great respect for the kind of traditional side of banking and at the same time pushing the envelope in finding new solutions.”

Measuring Innovation

While MICs tend to profess a long-term commitment to innovation, survey respondents tend to measure success through financial metrics, such as revenue from innovation projects (60%), profits from such projects (31%), and market share (32%).

Deloitte’s Golden cautions that a hyper focus on revenue could hurt creativity and deter companies from making transformational potential investments. She urges a more balanced portfolio inclusive of “pre-monetary” measures.

A long-term focus that extends beyond revenue can prevent stagnation in innovation, increase competitive advantage, and enable adaptability to market shifts and technological advancements, she says.

Forward-thinking businesses are championing new metrics, such as focusing on their innovation funnel and consumer experience. Bookshop.org (a 2021 MIC in the small-and-mighty category) facilitates e-commerce for some 1,900 independent bookstores, and in three years has distributed nearly $30 billion to local shops—a number it proudly trumpets atop its website. CEO Andy Hunter says the site is working on a new feature that will allow customers at checkout to designate their purchases to directly contribute to indie booksellers. Hunter acknowledges that the innovation is relatively small, “but will make people feel more tied to the brand and make them more likely to come back and buy again.”

Says Golden: “A comprehensive understanding of innovation’s strategic impact asks leaders to balance diverse metrics, such as innovation pipeline, pace of transformation, and customer-centric adoption—in addition to financial rationales—as they pave the way for sustainable growth and enduring competitive advantage.”

Embracing technology

Most Innovative Companies don’t fear new technologies. Asked to characterize their organizations’ response to adopting new technologies, 43% of respondents said they are enthusiastic and try to be early adopters, and 28% said they were slightly cautious but willing to experiment with anything new. None said they were overwhelmed or unsure how to proceed. ChatGPT and equivalent tools topped the list of technologies that MICs are embracing, with 72% saying they are actively incorporating generative AI bots into their business’s processes or finished products.

For many MICs, technology adoption facilitates their innovation agendas. Terran Orbital (a 2023 MIC in the space category) says its use of 3D printing—along with an assembly line and other manufacturing components—is a competitive advantage for the company, which makes satellites and spacecraft. (Roughly a third, or 30%, of survey respondents named 3D printing as one of the technologies they are incorporating.)

“It used to cost a billion dollars and take a decade to build a satellite,” says CEO Marc Bell. Thanks to 3D printing and robotics, “I can do it for millions and I can do it in months.” He adds: “I believe if you can control your supply chain, you can control your destiny. We control 85% of our supply chain, and [we’re] working toward 100.” 

Conclusion

The MICs surveyed by Fast Company, in collaboration with Deloitte, have shown a deep commitment to innovation that should serve as an inspiration for any company seeking to grow and evolve sustainably during this period of rapid technological change. Leading organizations have made innovation a thruline of their cultures and their operations. They are looking to accelerate innovation through internal talent and R&D, but also through partnerships and a robust ecosystem. In short, they think holistically about making sure their organizations are prepared to pounce on innovation opportunities.

“Innovation readiness isn’t just about adopting new technologies, tracking a certain metric, or embracing the latest buzzword,” says Deloitte’s Golden. “It’s about creating a dynamic environment grounded in strategic agility and questioning long-held assumptions—thinking differently, so that ideas can flourish, whereby calculated risks are incentivized, and the future is responsibly shaped, not passively faced.”