Bridging R&D and Innovation Management through AI-Augmented Organizational Memory
Participant profile. This study is open to anyone who has held — or currently holds — a role in R&D, Innovation, or Knowledge Management within the past 5 years, in a Saudi Arabian RDI organisation. Your current seniority and tenure don’t matter: if you stepped out of an innovation role two years ago, or if you just started one last month, your perspective is equally welcome. Exposure to three or more innovation or R&D projects (past or present) is the only other prerequisite. If you don’t match this profile but have relevant cross-cultural innovation experience, The Innovation Meridian questionnaire is likely a better fit for you.
An invitation to R&D and Innovation Management professionals in Saudi Arabia’s Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) organisations to contribute to a doctoral study exploring how AI-augmented organizational memory can close the gap between discovery and delivery.
Why this research matters
Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 places Research, Development and Innovation at the heart of the Kingdom’s transition to a knowledge-based economy. Yet practitioners inside RDI organizations consistently report the same friction: ideas and insights generated on the R&D side rarely translate into the innovation pipeline on the commercial side. Organizational memory — the tacit and explicit knowledge accumulated across projects, people, and partnerships — is fragmented, under-documented, and lost in transition.
This study investigates whether AI-Augmented Organizational Memory can act as a structural bridge between R&D outputs and Innovation Management decision-making, and whether a measurable framework — the Return on Innovation Investment (ROI²) — can make that bridge visible to decision-makers.
The framework in brief
AI-Augmented Organizational Memory
A human-in-the-loop memory architecture in which large language models, retrieval systems, and structured knowledge graphs continuously ingest, contextualize, and surface R&D and innovation artifacts (reports, meeting notes, experiments, decisions, patents, partnership records) so that institutional knowledge survives team rotation and becomes actionable across the innovation pipeline.
ROI² — Return on Innovation Investment
A measurement framework that extends classical ROI to capture the compounding, delayed, and non-financial returns specific to innovation work — learning value, optionality, pipeline velocity, and knowledge-recombination effects — and ties them back to the quality of organizational memory.
S4IL — Strategic System for Innovation Leadership
The operational reference model that connects organizational memory, ROI², and governance into a single leadership loop. S4IL serves as the practitioner-facing instantiation of the research framework and is used to structure the participant interviews.
How to participate
There is one entry point for this study: the Innovation Memory Pulse survey. It takes about 10 minutes and contributes directly to an independent practitioner report. Within the survey, you are asked whether you would be open to a follow-up interview — this is how interview candidates are identified.
Start here. The Innovation Memory Pulse survey is the single way in.
10 minutes · anonymous by default · contributes to the practitioner report regardless of your interview decision.
If, within the Pulse survey, you indicate interest in a follow-up interview — and your profile matches the participant criteria — I will contact you personally within 48 hours with the Participant Information Sheet, the Consent Form, and a scheduling link. The interview itself lasts 60–90 minutes and includes a 15-minute demonstration of the S4IL research prototype.
The short form at the bottom of this page is an optional second channel: use it only if you want to leave your details on record without taking the Pulse survey first. I will still reach out within 48 hours, but the Pulse survey remains the recommended path.
Who we are looking for
We welcome participants who match one or more of the following criteria:
- R&D, Innovation, Knowledge Management, or Digital Transformation professionals currently working inside a Saudi RDI organization (public, private, or academic)
- Relevant experience in innovation, R&D, or knowledge management in Saudi Arabia
- Involvement in decisions about innovation portfolios, R&D-to-commercialisation handoff, or AI adoption
- Willingness to share candid reflections on organizational memory gaps in your context
Participation is entirely voluntary. There is no financial compensation, but every participant receives a complimentary copy of the forthcoming book The Innovator’s Compass and is acknowledged in the thesis (unless they prefer to remain anonymous).
Ethics, consent & data protection
Ethical approval. This study has received formal ethics clearance from the Research Ethics Committee of Universidad Católica San Antonio de Murcia (UCAM). The signed Ethical Clearance Form is provided to every participant prior to the interview. Student ID: ON901L2411A07. Supervisor: Dr. Vimala Sanjeevkumar.
Data protection: Your data is processed in compliance with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Saudi Arabia’s Personal Data Protection Law (PDPL). You may withdraw your consent at any stage before the thesis is submitted for defence; upon withdrawal, your data is deleted within 30 days.
Confidentiality: Interview transcripts are stored on encrypted infrastructure, accessible only to the principal researcher and his supervisor. Names of individuals and organisations are pseudonymised in all published outputs.
Study documents. The Participant Information Sheet, the Consent Form, and the 27-question Interview Protocol are sent by email — in English and Arabic — only to participants who indicate interest in a follow-up interview. This keeps the documents outside of open web distribution and ensures every recipient is a verified, consenting participant.
Transparency statement
This is an independent academic study. It is not commissioned, funded, or directed by any employer, client, or third party, including the researcher’s current employer. Participation will not be disclosed to any third party and will not appear in any commercial, consulting, or advisory deliverable. The study exists to advance knowledge — nothing more.
This page and its registration form are part of a doctoral research study. The diagnostic tools, the Innovation Meridian questionnaire, and any commercial or advisory activities on this website are separate initiatives and are not part of this study. If you have questions about the study before registering, please contact the researcher directly at research@yrp.me.