I’m often asked about the role of AI in innovation. To explore this, I went back to the Rumsfeld Matrix, a concept that breaks down knowns and unknowns. So much of innovation happens across all the quadrants. This got me thinking: where and how do humans and AI each play to their strengths within these quadrants? Humans excel at uncovering latent opportunities, creativity, and framing the problem space. AI, on the other hand, thrives at data analysis, identifying gaps, and surfacing patterns we might overlook.

Here’s a framework I developed to articulate how humans and AI complement each other in driving innovation across the knowns and unknowns.

Human + AI: Innovating Across the Knowns and Unknowns

… that we know

… that we don’t know

What we know…

Assumptions / Explicit Knowledge

Humans: Establish parameters and priorities.

AI: Organize and analyze existing data to identify known user behaviors and patterns.

Gaps

Humans: Ask the right questions for further investigation.

AI: Identify trends, anomalies, or performance gaps in existing data.

What we don’t know…

Instinct / Tacit Knowledge

Humans: Identify latent needs and opportunities that aren’t expressed or articulated.

AI: Present analogous industry case studies, best practices, and previous outcomes to assist in surfacing parallels.

Discoveries

Humans: Define and frame the problem space.

AI: Surface unexpected patterns or correlations across disparate and previously unrelated data sources.