About this Event
Most product failures do not happen because teams lack technical talent. They happen because teams make critical decisions too late. Too often, organizations spend months refining prototypes before they answer the questions that matter most: Does this solve a meaningful problem? Will customers value it enough to adopt it? Can we create an advantage that lasts?
By the time those questions are addressed, time, money, and momentum have already been spent. In this talk, Rolf Biernath draws on insights from his chapter in The Generative Organization and three decades of innovation leadership at 3M to show how AI is reshaping the economics of physical prototyping. What once took weeks can now happen in hours.
More important, prototyping is no longer just a development activity—it becomes a structured learning system that helps teams test assumptions, surface risk earlier, and make better bets. Rolf will share practical ways to use generative AI to create multiple design variations quickly, build disciplined feedback loops that capture meaningful insight from every iteration, and avoid one of the most common and costly traps in product development: perfecting the wrong thing.
Whether you are a CEO evaluating a high-stakes growth opportunity or an R&D leader navigating a crowded innovation pipeline, you will leave with a clearer framework for making prototyping faster, leaner, and more strategically useful.
Book chapter can be downloaded here.
Speaker
Rolf Biernath, PhD, is founder of Biernath Consulting, Inc. and creator of the Build What Wins™ method—an evidence-based framework that helps CEOs and leadership teams make smarter Go, Pivot, or Stop decisions before they commit meaningful development time, capital, and organizational energy. His work is built around a simple but critical idea: the most expensive mistake in innovation is not moving too slowly—it is building the wrong thing with confidence.
Before founding his consulting practice, Rolf spent three decades at 3M, where he served as a Senior Scientist and built a track record of turning complex technical possibilities into commercially relevant innovation. He holds 58 U.S. patents spanning materials, sensors, hardware, software, and AI-enabled systems, giving him a rare combination of deep technical range and strategic business judgment. He earned his PhD in Chemical Engineering from UC Berkeley and his BS from Georgia Tech.
Today, Rolf helps small and midsize manufacturers and hard-tech companies pressure-test product ideas across viability, defensibility, and feasibility so leaders can make better decisions earlier. He works with clients through Pressure-Test Audits, Sprints, Prioritization Workshops, and Fractional Chief Innovation Officer engagements. He has also embedded AI-powered tools directly into his methodology to help leadership teams evaluate opportunities faster, learn earlier, and reduce costly guesswork. Rolf is also co-author of Chapter 24 in The Generative Organization: AI Playbook for Exponential Leaders, an Amazon bestseller.
Agenda
🕑: 11:30 AM - 12:00 PM
Networking
🕑: 12:00 PM
Presentation
Info: Beverages and light refreshments will be provided by the host.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Kablooe Design, 8560 Cottonwood Street Northwest, Minneapolis, United States
USD 0.00
