- BCG’s Most Innovative Companies: 2023 report reveals what innovation leaders are doing to get ahead and how resilient they are in the face of economic uncertainty.
- Energy companies occupy five positions on the list, seeking innovative solutions to climate change.
- Apple ranks first, for the third year in a row.
Buenos Aires— Despite global economic uncertainty, innovation has become one of the top corporate priorities for 2023. According to a new report published by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) , 79% of companies around the world see innovation as one of the top three priorities for this year, and 66% plan to increase spending – 42% of them expect a 10% increase. This is in contrast to the last recession in 2009, in which less than two-thirds of companies ranked innovation as one of the top three priorities and only 58% planned to increase spending.
In the 17th Most Innovative Companies report, Reaching New Heights in Uncertain Times , BCG examines how leading companies are increasing their commitment to innovation and how it builds resilience in the face of economic uncertainty. The report is based on the firm’s annual survey of more than 1,000 global executives, which investigated innovation trends and its performance database.
“The ability to innovate in a sustained manner is increasingly important. Growth is found in new markets such as Artificial Intelligence, e-commerce, streaming media, cloud, mobility solutions and energy”, says Julián Herman Managing Director and Partner of Boston Consulting Group. “Today despite the economic downturn, 90% of leading innovators are increasing their spending on technology and innovation,” he notes.
The 50 most innovative companies of 2023
Despite the challenges that tech companies experienced in 2022, they continue to dominate the top 50, with five of them occupying the top ten spots. For the third year in a row, Apple ranks first on the list. For its part, Tesla climbs three positions reaching second place, and Amazon remains in third. Nine startups join the top 50.
On the other hand, international energy companies occupy five positions, possibly representing the respondents’ concerns about climate change and their quest towards making the energy industry part of the solution.
The 50 Most Innovative Companies for 2023 are a geographically diverse group, split roughly evenly between North America and the rest of the world. Europe and Asia have strong representation, with the Middle East joining the list for the first time.
“The relationship between innovation and financial results is indisputable. Over the past decade, the 50 Most Innovative Companies identified by BCG have consistently outperformed the broader market, earning an average of 3.3 percentage points more shareholder return per year,” Herman notes.
Companies are investing in AI, more than in any other technology
Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly expanding the possibilities to innovate, and the investment priorities of companies, which is reflected in the fact that 61% of them are investing in this technology and in machine learning by 2023. This represents a greater interest of 15 percentage points, compared to robotics and process automation, this being the second most attractive technology to invest in.
It is worth mentioning that 83% of these companies have systematically implemented AI to support innovation in one or more use cases; only 45% have managed to translate this into commercial impact. Those companies that have realized the impact of AI become idea generation powerhouses, developing five times as many ideas as others, and incubating more than twice as many minimum viable products.
You can download the full report here
