AMBS introduction from Mark Healey

29 May 2026

This week, Mark Healey, Head of Innovation Management and Policy Division introduces the e-bulletin.

Innovation is usually presented as a story about technology.

New tools. New products. New ventures. New policies.

But innovation is really about people. People spot possibilities. People change practices. People build capabilities. People make difficult choices under uncertainty. Innovation happens when people learn, adapt and work together in new ways.

And people are at the heart of three innovation-related events I want to highlight this week.

On 2 June, the Insights from the 2026 UK Innovation Report event will explore what the latest evidence tells us about UK innovation and industrial performance, including scale-up, value capture and the implications for regional growth in the North West. It is a chance to ask not just where the UK stands, but what kinds of leadership, investment and institutional support are needed to turn research strength into economic and social value. I’m especially interested in the value-capture question: if the UK is good at generating research, ideas and ventures, how do we ensure more of the resulting growth, jobs and capabilities are built and developed here rather than acquired or relocated elsewhere?

On 17 June, AMBS’s new Centre for Teaching, Learning and Innovation (CTLI) hosts our Teaching and Learning Colloquium, Setting the Stage for Innovation in Teaching and Learning. This event brings the human side of innovation closer to home. Generative AI has changed what students can do, what employers expect, and what meaningful learning looks like. So, the question is not simply how we respond to the technology but how we redesign assessment, feedback and skills development around the people at the centre of education: students, colleagues and the communities they will go on to serve. The question that intrigues me concerns the educational equivalent of value capture: if AI changes what students can produce, how do we ensure that the real value of learning — judgement, confidence, originality and transferable capability — is still being built?

Then, on 21 July, the AMBS Your Voice Matters update session will be an opportunity to remind ourselves that innovation in our own School often starts with listening. If we want to improve how we work, we need to understand colleagues’ experiences, act on what we hear, and keep building a culture in which people can do their best work.

Different events. Different audiences. Different questions.

But they point to a common underlying challenge: innovation requires more than technological novelty. It depends on people who can see what matters, change how they work, and turn new ideas into value—in the economy, in the classroom, and in our own School.

Mark Healey

Professor of Strategic Management

Head of Innovation Management and Policy Division