How intrapreneurs can drive innovation in AI and digital

Social enterprise founder, Julian Hall, describes intrapreneurship as like learning to ride a bicycle. You don’t just get on your bike and off you go – you have to keep trying and failing until you can do it. “You're probably going to fall off the bike. Then it's about getting back on the bike and ‘okay, what did I learn there?’ Balance a bit more, bit more confidence… And you apply it. It's the same thing in business.”

Hall is the founder and CEO of Ultra Education, an organisation that teaches entrepreneurship to 7-18 year-olds, and an Entrepreneur in Residence at The Open University (OU). He was speaking as part of a panel on the webinar Making a difference – digital and AI, the third in the OU’s recent The Intrapreneurship series: Driving innovation from within.  

Josh Valman, an innovation adviser and CEO of engineering consultants RPDK, hosted the webinar, and there were two other speakers on the panel - Darren Campbell, Global Head of Startup Catalyst at technology providers Capgemini and Jane Dickinson, Digital Skills Lead at the OU. 

Julian doesn’t actually like the word ‘fail’ – “Lots of entrepreneurs in the growth mindset community have reframed the word ‘fail’ to be ‘first attempt in learning’.”

The role of leaders

Darren thinks intrapreneurship needs to be championed and facilitated by senior management, so that innovation and change can happen throughout the organisation. “Change is not easy. It’s uncomfortable. You’re putting tension in the system.” He also said leaders need to acknowledge that the best ideas don’t always come from the top. “A good leader will recognise that they’re not the fountain of knowledge. If they have good team members who are aligned with the vision, then perhaps the team will have other ways to help meet that vision.”

When it comes to digital and AI, people immediately think of start-ups, but innovation can and does come from within larger organisations as well. Change is happening so quickly now, all the time, that organisations need employees to be innovators too. Darren specialises in bringing larger organisations and more agile smaller businesses together so use the strengths of both to drive change and innovation.

Technology as an enabler

Jane said intrapreneurship is key to using technology to improve existing products, services and processes. “It starts with a focus on the problem or the opportunity - how you can improve the experience for your customer or your colleague. And then you go away and look at ways in which the technology can do that.”

She sees technology as an enabler, rather than the solution.

People are the agents of change. It’s about understanding how people work and always keeping your eye on the problem you are trying to solve.

Jane Dickinson, The Open University

Host Josh agreed with Jane that soft skills are just as important as technical skills when it comes to innovation: “We're not just talking about computers, we’re talking about people skills. We're talking about developing the skills yourself or within your organisation for people to be able to understand and articulate ideas, communicate them and tell the story of how change can come about.”

However, there is a lack of digital skills in the UK, something that the OU is trying to address through its courses. It also recently launched Click Start with The Open University, a free programme for 18-35 year-olds to develop digital and professional skills in areas such as cybersecurity, AI and coding. And in 2026, the OU is launching a new undergraduate degree focusing on AI. 

Watch webinar

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