Forward to new heights of ignorance

During its activity, Intel has generated and brought to life a huge number of innovative ideas, starting with the pioneering technologies in processors and memory of the 60s - 70s and ending with promising developments of today. The key to these achievements is a powerful and carefully cultivated within the company culture of advancing and perceiving new ideas. Under the cut is an abridged translation of an interview with the senior architect of the Intel Software and Services Group at Ylian Saint-Hilaire about the difficult but fascinating life of pioneering developers, who have a special task for Intel to generate and promote new ideas.

Tell us about the process of generating ideas in Intel. How is it maintained and managed?
Intel supports idea generation in a variety of ways, for example, through company classes. Developers have access to Intel University, where classes are held on various topics. Including on the topic of creating innovation. Encouraged the arrival of employees with their ideas and saying them. Another option is to listen carefully to people working on specific projects and encourage them to share their thoughts with others. The idea is often easier to pass upwards than vice versa. A person deeply immersed in the process is able to give a tremendously valuable idea, and besides him, no one will generate it. The main thing is to be able to notice it.

You work in a pioneer group. What is its task at intel?
The work of the pioneer begins with the realization of what is important for the company. With this knowledge, we single out several “building” technological units and several options for their use based on the realities of the market. We study existing developments and create prototypes.
Take, for example, the topic of cloud computing and interaction with cell phones and mobile devices. What can we do in this area? We invent a dozen different prototypes; let's say, sensor sharing between the phone and the PC or the phone and the cloud. We need to find the most user friendly option. Something will burn out, something will not. One of the principles of our division: failure is normal. If the prototype has not reached the market, we will come up with even more prototypes.

How do pioneers help the process of generating and perceiving ideas?
Every time you release a new series of prototypes, you learn something, especially if it reaches the real user. One of the problems of the pioneers is that engineers sit as if in their own bubble and look at the world through their promising developments. If we sit inside and do not go outside, we will never know what exactly the real user wants.
The prototype allows us to learn more about technology. And if a lot of engineers are working on different concepts next to each other, they will definitely find points of contact. Further, the concepts give us the opportunity to interact with users who are outside of Intel and give invaluable feedback: what they like and what does not.
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What are some examples of products that have come about through the process of generating ideas?
One of the big projects is MeshCentral, a site that allows people to remotely manage their computers through a network. It's like a mail server, only instead of emails you manage your computers, regardless of their architecture, operating system, or location. It's great that with this site we can test new Intel technologies, such as Intel Active Management Technology (Intel AMT), Intel Remote Wake Technology (Intel RWT) and Intel Privacy Technology (Intel IPT).
Curiously, the same technology is now used to control vending machines. It turns out that the technology of remote control of computers from the cloud developed in our group is also used to control the sale of soda.

What is the role of consumers in promoting ideas? And who else is involved in this process?
To begin with, two years ago, when we started developing software for managing from the cloud, we didn’t assume that it would be used in vending machines. This is because users and other interested parties are involved in the development process.
Intel has a powerful team working directly with users - it also participates in the process. There can be a lot of meetings with users, so our team is very good at what they need. People in the field, as well as the commercial service, provide us with a huge amount of information, their value in the development cycle of the idea is very great.
Speaking about users, I want to note one feature concerning foreign languages. People who speak different languages ​​have different ideas. It is curious to observe how the processes of generating ideas in different parts of the world, starting from one point, arrive at completely different results. That is why it is important to conduct them in several geographically separated areas.

Are local teams involved in the process of generating ideas, from a formal point of view?
With these teams, the situation is very informal. It is very dangerous to formalize this part of the process, because technologies change very quickly, and with them the relationships between the participants change: markets shift, new products are released, etc. Therefore, the process is free and informal, but it takes place all the time.
The essence of the pioneering work is to find new applications for existing technologies or the creation of fundamentally new conceptual products?
Both. Our very important task is to promote existing products on the market, increasing their consumer value. If we take Intel Active Management Technology and Intel Remote Wake Technology, we will add additional software and thus quickly increase the value of the resulting platform - this will be our success. On the other hand, for many years we have been working on sensors and contextual computations and we have a great start here. And we continue to work on some of these ideas.

What tools do you use to generate and promote ideas?
Our team has an internal Wiki where people can post articles on any idea. Intel regularly holds contests for products and business ideas, one of which I won. In this particular case, about 160 ideas participated in the competition, including the most insane. We can say that every 3-6 months in various divisions of the company competitions are held to identify good ideas.

How do you evaluate the ideas born during the generation process?
This is not an easy task, it is sometimes difficult to put together promising ideas from teams on the ground. Sometimes a group of researchers gets an excellent result, but it is difficult for engineers to understand where it came from. But usually we manage to connect with each other teams in the field, users and researchers.
It so happens that the concept receives powerful negative feedback from users. In this case, the manager is hard not to notice the negative feedback and do it his own way.

Last question. Generating ideas can be fun?
Yes of course. Of course you we love success. Therefore, driving along the road leading to nowhere seems unattractive to many. But even in this case, you constantly learn something and invent something - and this is important. If you work hard, pick up new perspectives and try to get out of your bubble, your work will not be useless.
You need to constantly learn in order to be able to ask the right questions. The better questions you ask, the tighter you approach new horizons of ignorance and the more you approach the new idea.