Podcasts

40% of New Products Fail: AdaIQ’s AI Solution Might Change the Game

What if AI could transform product design by seamlessly integrating consumer insights and predictive analytics? How can startups and established companies alike harness AI to bridge the gap between creativity and data-driven innovation?

In this episode of Pioneers: The Siemens Startup Podcast, host Paul Musto is joined by co-host Tucker Marion from Northeastern University and special guest Liz Graham, CEO of AdaIQ. Liz discusses her journey from corporate law to startup leadership, her experience with hyper-growth companies like HubSpot and Wayfair, and her vision for AdaIQ—a company using AI to revolutionize product design.

The trio dives into the challenges of creating a culture of innovation, the opportunities AI offers in enhancing the product development process, and how startups can build resilient teams to weather the highs and lows of entrepreneurship. 

From tackling inefficiencies in product design to fostering a trust-centered company culture, this episode offers invaluable insights for founders, product managers, and innovators alike.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

  • How do companies keep the innovative spirit alive? (7:50)
  • Practical strategies for founders to navigate the rollercoaster of startup life (9:00)
  • Why 40% of new products fail or underperform and how Ada IQ aims to change that (11:30)
  • What does ADA IQ do? (12:30)
  • What drives the business model of ADA IQ (19:20)
  • How AI and design technology will evolve over the next few years ( 20:40 )

Siemens Xcelerator for Startups Program

At Siemens, we understand the struggles of early-stage startups. Let us remove the barriers on your startup journey by helping you transform your engineering ideas into real, marketable products with industry-leading software solutions. Join the Siemens Xcelerator for Startups Program to grow your startup to its full potential. Want to get in touch? Reach out here.

Host: Paul Musto

Host: Paul Musto

Paul Musto is a Portfolio Development Executive for Siemens Digital Industries Software focused on delivering design and simulation software solutions to small and medium sized businesses (SMB), including companies in the early startup stage. Prior to his current role at Siemens, Paul was Director of Marketing for the Electronic Board Systems segment at Mentor Graphics (now part of Siemens), responsible for driving product strategy, go-to-market solutions, and market development. Paul has over 30 years of electronics and software design experience. Prior to joining Mentor, Paul led a software development organization at Cadence Design Systems, responsible for Cadence’s electronic engineering implementation tools. Throughout his career, Paul has extensive experience serving in various technical, product marketing, and business development roles. Paul holds a B.S.E.E. from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, MA

Host: Tucker Marion

Host: Tucker Marion

Tucker Marion is an Associate Professor in Northeastern’s D’Amore-McKim School of Business and the College of Engineering, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department.  His interdisciplinary research is concentrated on new product development and engineering design.  He is currently the faculty director for the Master of Science in Management ‘X’ platform and the Partnership Innovation Director for the business school.  He has held product development and manufacturing positions in the auto industry and is a 3x venture founder. He is a graduate of Mechanical Engineering from Bucknell University, holds a Masters from the University of Pennsylvania and Wharton School in Technology Management, and a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from Penn State.  His work has appeared in books and journals including the Journal of Business Venturing, Journal of Product Innovation Management, R&D Management, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, Harvard Business Review, MIT Sloan Management Review, Research-Technology Management, Design Studies, Journal of Mechanical Design, and others.

Guest: Liz Graham

Guest: Liz Graham

Liz Graham, a proven leader in technology and operations, was appointed CEO of Ada IQ in July 2024. With extensive experience at companies like Wayfair, Proof (formerly Notarize), HubSpot, and Indigo Ag, Liz has earned a reputation for driving innovation and scaling organizations. At Indigo Ag, she successfully launched new technologies and pivoted the company toward a partner-led strategy. Now at Ada IQ, a Boston-based AI startup revolutionizing product design, Liz is leading efforts to integrate AI-driven insights into development processes, reducing time to market and enhancing decision-making.

AdaIQ is an AI-driven platform empowering product managers with data-driven insights for physical product design. Founded in 2022 with over $1 million in grant funding, AdaIQ integrates advanced AI models to provide insight reporting, generative design, and predictive scoring, helping companies create consumer-aligned products in real time. With a team boasting 80+ years of experience in product development and deep ties to Northeastern University and the University of Michigan, AdaIQ revolutionizes user-centered design by seamlessly merging data and AI-driven innovation. Learn more here. 

Pioneers: Startups from Dreams to Reality Podcast

Pioneers: Startups from Dreams to Reality

Ideas alone can’t change the world. It takes grit, and serious funding. In Pioneers, host Kevin Blevins sits down with startup founders to discuss the startup lifestyle- from concept to execution- and the big ideas that fuel these pioneers. From the future of farming to autonomous flight, there’s no frontier too far.

Listen on:

Katherine Cerrone
This article first appeared on the Siemens Digital Industries Software blog at https://blogs.sw.siemens.com/podcasts/startups/40-of-new-products-fail-adaiqs-ai-solution-might-change-the-game/