Discuss Your Challenge

Turn Innovation Into Business Impact

We help corporate innovation leaders, R&D teams and deep-tech founders turn promising ideas and technologies into viable business opportunities — from strategy and business models to implementation.

Discuss Your Challenge

Experience Across Industry, Innovation and Deep Tech

Bringing together corporate innovation, technology, business models and implementation — across industry, startups and European innovation programmes.

Corporate innovation at scale
Deep-tech and commercialisation expertise
From strategy to implementation
Birgit combines a rare breadth of knowledge — from scientific methods and strategic systems thinking to hands-on corporate industry experience. Her adaptability and sharp focus consistently led to pertinent and actionable results.
Dr. Jan Baur
Innovation Manager, TotalEnergies, Geneva
The workshop was extremely helpful and perfectly tailored to our needs. The customised cookbook gave us a strong foundation to develop the topic further independently and turn it into tangible business value.
Alfons Schräder
Advisory Board Member at Heise Medien GmbH & Co. KG
I can warmly recommend Dr. Thoben as an excellent initiator of creative and innovation processes, a very versatile and experienced guide and leader.
Franz Fehrenbach
Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Robert Bosch GmbH (at the time of reference)
Birgit is able to create new connections between people, but also between problems, issues and facts. Her intuitive use of lateral thinking makes her an expert in guiding and shaping discussion processes.
Dr. Andrej Heinke
Vice President Corporate Foresight, Robert Bosch GmbH

Who We Help

We work with corporate innovation leaders, deep-tech founders and R&D teams facing one common challenge: turning promising ideas and technologies into viable business opportunities.

Corporate Innovation Leaders

Build innovation structures that connect strategy with execution — across portfolios, teams and business units.

Discuss Your Challenge

Deep-Tech Founders & Scale-ups

Strengthen your business model, corporate readiness and commercialisation strategy — from first market validation to scale-up.

Discuss Your Challenge

R&D & Technology Teams

Turn technical expertise into business opportunities by connecting technology, customer needs and commercial priorities.

Discuss Your Challenge

How We Work

From Clarity to Implementation

We start by understanding your challenge, define a focused path forward and stay involved through implementation — adjusting as evidence emerges and building lasting capability within your team.

Selected Work & Results

Inspiring Innovation from the Outside In

A global tech corporation (250,000+ employees) invited me to deliver a motivational keynote series designed to energise their innovation teams across time zones. Each live session was followed by an in-depth Q&A, where we shared real-world examples and helped participants explore what success could look like in their own context. Feedback highlighted the value of hearing from someone outside the organisation — someone who understands both the challenges and the opportunities of driving innovation at scale.

Tokyo, Japan
Industrial and technology sector
Building Innovation Leadership from Scratch

A leading European manufacturer (100,000+ employees) needed to equip their newly appointed innovation manager. We supported them in shaping a clear innovation strategy, navigating internal hierarchies, and understanding what their “innovation customer” truly needs. Together, we explored out-of-the-box thinking, strategic positioning, and how to turn intuition and serendipity into structured action.

Geneva, Switzerland
Energy sector
Investor Readiness for a Scaling Startup

A deep-tech startup preparing for their C-Round funding sought clarity and traction. Through targeted mentoring, we helped them refine their value proposition, understand what corporates look for when investing, and sharpen their pitch for VCs. When possible, we also connected them with relevant contacts in our networks — always with confidentiality and alignment in mind.

Lausanne, Switzerland
Technology sector
Reframing Innovation Management at Bosch

As Global Senior Innovation Manager in Corporate Research, Birgit Thoben developed and led “Innovation Management Global” and its flagship initiative Platform 12. The work helped shift Bosch’s traditional innovation mindset towards a more open and experimental approach and influenced innovation processes beyond the Renningen research site across the wider Bosch innovation network.

Renningen, Germany
Corporate Innovation/Technology

Our Team

Two complementary perspectives on innovation — combining corporate experience, deep-tech expertise and ecosystem building.

Dr.-Ing. Birgit Thoben

Innovation Strategy · Deep Tech · Commercialisation

Birgit helps organisations turn complex technologies and innovation ambitions into focused strategies, viable business opportunities and implementable action. With more than 25 years across corporate R&D, innovation management, deep tech and European innovation programmes, she connects technology, business and implementation — from portfolio decisions and commercialisation to stakeholder alignment and capability building.

Global Innovation Manager, Bosch – innovation management across 1,600+ researchers and 1,000+ projects per year

EIC Scaling Club Mentor (Energy sector)

Innovation Expert for Innosuisse and the European Commission

Honorary Associate Professor in the School of Chemical Engineering within the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences

Dr.-Ing. Birgit Thoben, innovation and deep-tech consultant
Dr.-Ing. Robert Giezendanner-Thoben, innovation strategist and ecosystem architect

Dr.-Ing. Robert Giezendanner-Thoben

Innovation Strategist & Ecosystem Architect

Robert helps organisations create the structures, partnerships and ecosystems that allow innovation to scale. His experience spans research, industry and academia, including EPFL and Bosch, with a focus on innovation systems, collaboration models and translating technical expertise into business value. He works particularly where complex organisations need alignment, structure and a pathway from ideas to implementation.

Former Co-Director ad interim, CGES – building a national platform to accelerate the energy transition

Former Director of Industry Affairs, EPFL – led deep-tech partnerships and strategic programmes

Board Member, EPFL Innovation Park Foundation and Bluefactory SA – guiding innovation infrastructure and governance

Initiated pioneering collaboration environments (CGES, KNOVA at EPFL; Atelier130 at Robert Bosch GmbH)

FAQs

Find answers to common questions about working with us.

Getting Started
How do we begin working together?

Book a free 30-minute Discovery Call. We’ll discuss your challenge, clarify what you need and determine whether and how we can support you.

What happens after the Discovery Call?

If there is a good fit, we define the appropriate scope, format and next steps. Depending on the challenge, this may be focused advisory support, a workshop or a broader consulting engagement.

Do you work on-site?

Yes. We work both online and on-site. For in-person engagements, travel and accommodation costs are agreed separately in advance.

Logistics & Payment
What are your payment terms?

Payment terms depend on the engagement. Advisory services can be paid by card or invoice; consulting projects are normally invoiced according to the agreed proposal and schedule.

Which currencies do you invoice in?

We can invoice in CHF, EUR or USD, depending on the engagement. Bank transfer and SEPA payments are available where applicable.

Can I pay by credit card?

Yes. Credit-card payments are available for selected services and are processed securely through Stripe. Consulting engagements are generally invoiced.

Invoice before payment

Yes. Corporate and consulting engagements are normally invoiced. For selected services, upfront or partial pre-payment may be agreed.

Trust & Confidentiality
Is our work confidential?

Absolutely. We treat all client information with strict confidentiality and are happy to sign an NDA at the beginning of an engagement.

How do you handle confidential information during an engagement?

All work is treated with full discretion. Notes and materials are stored securely and never shared without explicit permission. We routinely work with sensitive innovation topics and understand the importance of confidentiality, privacy and non-disclosure — whether or not an NDA is in place.

Do you ever reference client work publicly?

Only with explicit permission. Where confidentiality is required, we anonymise the organisation and remove identifying details. Client names, project information or results are never published without prior agreement.