20 years ago today, I started an internship at Mercedes-Benz’s USA hydrogen fuel cell program. Today, I’m responsible for crafting and delivering innovation strategy across emerging battery technologies. 

These technologies are now mainstream, no longer “alternative energy,” but the fundamentals for success haven’t changed.  Focus on the user. Make innovation boring. Simple principles, not easy execution.

Here are reflections from two decades: from fuel cell engineering and high-voltage battery lab operations to innovation management and pre-development engineering where we’ve scouted over 800 organizations and built partnerships with universities, national labs, and startups.

Boring Excellence: The Foundation Determines the Outcome

Breakthrough innovation is sexy. But it’s built on unglamorous work that never makes headlines.  A strong foundation provides insight up front with clear proof points and accelerates what matters.

Innovation succeeds when it starts with clarity.  With fundamental questions up front, projects build momentum instead of chasing moving targets. Brutal truth: speed matters. Delays guarantee irrelevance. Know why the customer cares. Know what you’re actually trying to achieve. Know how you’ll measure success.

I learned this when commissioning our HV Battery Lab with an entirely new team.  We succeeded through boring basics: bulletproof processes, clear objectives, and relentless documentation.  Our result: zero incidents in 3 years, templates that became company standards, and industry-leading throughput.

This discipline works everywhere. The same rigor that ensures safety in high-voltage work accelerates and focuses innovation. Both require knowing exactly what you’re doing and why before you start.

From Lab to Product: Finding Signal in Noise

This philosophy shapes how we evaluate emerging technologies. Managing innovation means solving a complex equation: technology readiness, manufacturing readiness and product roadmap timing.  The right technology thrives when it marries the product. 

There are critical proof points along the way:

  • “technically possible” (works in lab)
  • “product applicable” (integrates into our systems)
  • “manufacturing ready” (can be built at scale with working unit economics)
  • “supplier ecosystem mature” (supplier landscape can support it)

These stages often run concurrently, not sequentially.  Each requires different evidence, different partners, and different resources. The real opportunity? Orchestrating the different clock speeds. For example, battery chemistry evolves quickly but infrastructure builds over years. Product cycles are fixed.  

The organizations that win track technology readiness against product roadmaps and supplier maturity. Success is jazz, not a metronome.

Building Ecosystems

Perfect timing accelerates when industries work together. Emerging technologies thrive when we build shared ecosystems. I’ve spent years in the unsexy work of technical standards and industry alignment.

I’ve chaired SAE Working Groups, represented the US in international standards workshops, and host stakeholder workshops.  When industry aligns on standards and shares fundamental challenges, customers win.

Take EV charging, customers want to plug in anywhere and charge quickly. They care that it works. Same charging port. Same payment. Same high safety standards. Removal of all friction makes or breaks adoption.

When we harmonized hydrogen fueling standards globally, we created guaranteed future compatibility. When we share pre-competitive battery safety methodology, we all reach the market faster with better products.

The work happens in conference rooms with bad coffee, arguing about test procedures and measurement protocols. It’s not glamorous. But it’s the ingredient that transforms lab experiments into industry changers.

Okay, when I host, there’s better coffee.

20 Years: Simple, Not Easy

Every topic has taught me something new. Every negotiation. Every late night. Every workshop. Change is constant, and momentum is everything.

I haven’t done it alone. Thank you to the leaders who let me fail fast and learn faster.  To my mentors who provided candor when encouragement would have been easier. To my team who inspires me every day with wild ideas and dedication across 3 time zones. To partners who trust us with their innovations.  To the competitors who join us in solving shared challenges, lifting all boats.

A former boss once observed that I “couldn’t sit still.” 20 years later, still true. 

The work is simple: make emerging technology boring, reliable, scalable. The execution? Not easy. But that’s what makes it interesting.

Here’s to the next wave.