Innovation doesn’t come from staring at a blank page and hoping your muse shows up. If anything, the muse usually shows up late, holding a coffee, apologizing and offering nothing useful.
This is why conversational AI is such a gift. ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and the rest of the AI family tree help you think in ways you wouldn’t normally think. You still bring the context, judgment and taste. AI brings the speed and range, like an overeager intern who really wants you to like their work.
Here are seven fresh ways to use AI to spark practical innovation across any industry. They’re fun, fast and easy to apply.
“Innovation is about thinking differently and AI gives you more directions to explore.”
1. Back to Basics
Impose limits that seem impossible
If you really want new ideas, give your AI intern constraints so tight they squeak. Strange things happen when you force it to get scrappy.
Try this prompt: “Invent a new partner or customer onboarding experience using only SMS, a $200 budget and one human hour per day.”
Why it works: AI can’t fall back on the predictable solution. It has to MacGyver its way to something useful. And yes, it sometimes thinks your 200 dollars will stretch a bit further than reality, but the point is the idea spark.
Industry examples:
Insurance: A claims follow up sequence built entirely with text message gifs.
Hospitality: A concierge-style welcome flow delivered through timed SMS nudges.
Professional services: A simple, friendly onboarding drip that never uses a PDF.
Constraints are creativity’s version of espresso shots. They wake up the good stuff.
2. Opposites Attract
Ask AI to create the reverse of your usual approach
One of the quickest ways to surprise yourself is to flip your standard playbook and ask AI to build around the opposite.
Try this prompt: “Design a product pitch or demo where the sales rep never speaks.”
Why it works: You strip away autopilot. Suddenly AI is offering interactive demos, clickable flows and FAQ driven experiences. You start thinking, why do we talk so much anyway.
Industry examples:
B2B tech: A silent self guided demo that leads with interaction instead of narration.
Retail: A product match experience that starts with customer choices instead of sales chatter.
Healthcare: A treatment overview delivered entirely through visuals and captions.
Opposites reveal the assumptions you’ve been following without noticing.
3. Make a Combo Meal
Merge two or more ideas that don’t normally hang out together
If you’ve ever combined foods that shouldn’t work but absolutely do, you already understand this principle. Same logic, fewer calories.
Try this prompt: “Invent a luxury, low impact container for wine with cool tech features.”
What AI often comes back with is something like a refillable glass decanter with an NFC chip that tracks refill history and authenticity. Heritage mixed with future. Fancy, but not useless.
Industry examples:
Education: Microlearning plus community challenges plus sustainability.
Events: Packaging plus personalization plus RFID.
Consumer goods: Convenience plus smart tech plus eco friendly design.
Idea mashups create interesting friction and friction creates innovation.
4. From Routine to Ritual
Turn everyday tasks into culture building moments
Rituals are what routines wish they could be. They create shared meaning and give people something to look forward to. Think of it as the difference between “here’s your onboarding checklist” and “here’s a moment that makes you feel seen”.
Try this prompt: “Brainstorm 20 ways that we could help our employees share who they are that are fun, friendly and reinforce our values.”
Why it works: Rituals make culture visible. And when done right, they’re memorable for all the right reasons, not the “oh no here comes the forced fun” kind.
Examples:
A new hire creates a signature mocktail that reflects their values.
A monthly spotlight moment where people share something that matters to them.
A shared playlist that grows on milestone days.
If your culture feels a bit flat, rituals add the sparkle.
5. Dig Deeper, Not Wider
Use small data sets to uncover hidden insights
Big data gets all the attention, but small data often gives you the truth. Give AI a tiny set of comments and ask it to find the patterns.
Try this prompt: “Here are 10 consumer reviews. What hidden insights recur?”
Why it works: AI is brilliant at spotting emotional themes, repeated frustrations or quiet delights you might miss. Big dashboards often drown nuance. Ten reviews don’t.
Industry examples:
FMCG: Ten product reviews reveal metaphors around flavor or packaging you can build a campaign around.
Travel: Ten complaints reveal expectations no guest is saying out loud.
Real estate: Ten showing notes point to features buyers value more than they admit.
Small data whispers. AI listens.
6. Tell Me a Story
Turn data, strategy or product attributes into a story
Data makes sense. Stories make meaning. Ask AI to help you bridge the gap.
Try this prompt: “Turn this performance report into a story about human connection and progress.”
Why it works: Stories compress emotion, motivation and context into something people can actually remember. They also help the team picture where you’re heading, which is always better than a 27 line spreadsheet in Arial 9.
Industry examples:
Leadership: A quarterly review becomes a momentum story.
Sales: A pipeline report becomes a resilience story.
Manufacturing: A quality audit becomes a craftsmanship story.
If you want alignment, tell the story before you show the chart.
7. Look between the cushions
Find the small moments and forgotten opportunities hiding in your processes
Every process has crumbs in it. Tiny forgotten moments. Awkward pauses. Steps that made sense three years ago but now feel like the business version of carrying a fax machine around. AI is brilliant at spotting these gaps and finding opportunities you didn’t even realize you were stepping over.
Try this prompt: “Take this list of customer journey steps. What are 50 moments we’ve missed or opportunities we could add?”
Why it works: Humans get used to their own processes the way we get used to our own furniture. After a while, you stop noticing the weird squeak or the missing button. AI doesn’t have that problem. It scans the entire journey with fresh eyes and zero sentimental attachment to “how we’ve always done it”.
Industry examples:
Hospitality: Identify micro moments between booking and arrival that could surprise and delight guests.
Real estate: Spot follow up gaps in the window between viewing and offer, where rapport often slips.
Retail: Surface friction points between browsing, checkout and post purchase communication.
Professional services: Highlight overlooked touchpoints between onboarding, delivery and renewal.
You will be surprised by how many wins live in the cracks of a journey. They’re invisible until AI lights them up.
The Real Point
Innovation isn’t about genius. It’s about using better thinking tools. Conversational AI is one of the easiest ways to open up new possibilities without adding more hours to your day.
You bring the clarity and the taste. AI brings the range and the volume. Together, you move faster.
Pick one of these prompts and try it today. Innovation likes momentum, not perfection.
The 7 Innovation Tips (Cheat Sheet)
1: Constraints create better ideas
- Limit the budget, limit the tools, limit the time. The smaller the sandbox, the more inventive the ideas.
2: Flipping your defaults breaks autopilot
- Ask for the opposite of what you usually do. It exposes assumptions and opens new paths.
3: Mashups spark new possibilities
- Blend two or three unrelated concepts. Innovation loves a collision.
4: Rituals beat routines
- Turn everyday tasks into meaningful moments that reinforce values and identity.
5: Small data reveals big insight
- You don’t need a mountain of data. Ten reviews or ten comments can tell you a lot.
6: Stories make ideas stick
- Translate dry documents into narratives that carry emotion, context and momentum. People remember stories, not tables.
7: The good stuff hides between the cushions
- Every journey has forgotten moments, awkward gaps or missed chances. AI surfaces the small wins that add up to big value..
About Julie: A Hall of Fame AI keynote speaker, tech founder and innovation strategist, Julie works with associations, real estate professionals and corporate sales teams to help them lead smarter, sell more, serve better, and save time with AI. She delivers highly actionable and engaging keynotes on becoming AI-empowered, leading in an AI-driven world and transforming work and customer relationships.
FAQs About Using AI for Innovation
Upload or paste the journey steps and ask AI to highlight missed moments, friction points or opportunities to add value. This works especially well for onboarding, customer service and renewal processes.
Give it constraints, context and tone. For example: “Give me ten bold ideas using only SMS and a 200 dollar budget.” Constraints stop the generic answers.
Yes. Ask it to analyze your workflow or customer path and surface micro moments you’ve missed. These small improvements often deliver big wins.
Put boundaries in the prompt. Be specific about budget, timeline, skill level and required tools. AI behaves better with guardrails.
Use the seven prompts in this blog during team meetings, brainstorms or planning sessions. AI speeds up idea generation and helps quiet voices contribute.
Absolutely. Give it your data, strategy or performance report and ask for a story that captures progress, emotion and direction. Humans understand stories faster than spreadsheets.
Give AI examples of your tone and style and ask it to match them. You stay in charge of oversight. Think of AI as the intern, not the editor in chief.
Yes. Every major model handles these prompts well. You’ll get different flavors of creativity, but the structure works everywhere.
Pick one process or journey in your business, paste it into AI and ask: “What opportunities, improvements or surprises could we add here?” It takes five minutes and always delivers something useful.
Weekly is ideal. Treat AI like a brainstorming partner. Use it whenever you need fresh angles, better options or faster thinking.