Tanja Eschberger Friedl

About the Expert

Tanja Eschberger Friedl is the Chief Operating Officer at Lead Innovation, an Austrian innovation consultancy working globally across industries. With a strong background in innovation management, agile frameworks, and organizational transformation, she helps companies—from financial institutions to consumer brands—rethink how they approach change, technology, and sustainable growth.

The Future of Business Belongs to Those Who Build Innovation Culture

True innovation doesn't start with technology—it starts with people. In this insightful interview, Tanja Eschberger Friedl, COO of Lead Innovation, shares how companies can create lasting change by building the right mindset and culture. Drawing on her work across finance, automotive, FMCG, and construction industries, she explains how even the most traditional businesses can thrive in a world shaped by AI and emerging technologies.

For Tanja, innovation culture beats strategy every time. Companies often focus on tools and processes, but without empowered employees, open-minded leadership, and a safe space to experiment, no strategy will succeed. Innovation flourishes when people feel trusted to drive change.

Agility plays a critical role in helping businesses adapt to fast-changing customer needs. Methods like Scrum aren't just frameworks—they're mindsets that keep organizations close to their customers and responsive to new opportunities.

But technology alone isn't enough. Tanja warns that too many companies use AI to make existing processes more efficient, missing the bigger picture. The real opportunity lies in using AI to reinvent products, services, and even business models—creating entirely new value for customers and society.

The organization of the future will be one that never stops learning, welcomes change, and uses AI not just to optimize, but to imagine what's possible. It's a company where innovation isn't an initiative—it's how business gets done.