A New Innovation Framework for the Natural Resource Industries
Jul 27, 2026
For most of my career, I’ve worked alongside operators in the energy, mining, waste, and industrial sectors. Over the years, I’ve watched billions of dollars invested in innovation through internal R&D, Corporate Venture Capital, service providers, startups, and acquisitions.
These models have created tremendous value and will continue to play an important role. But I’ve come to believe we’ve been starting innovation in the wrong place. As artificial intelligence makes ideas increasingly abundant, the scarce resource is no longer the idea itself, but the right industrial problem.
Problem Capital™
Every operator owns an extraordinary asset that almost never appears on a balance sheet. Its most important operational challenges. But not just the problem itself. The combination of:
A strategically important challenge
Proprietary operational data
Physical assets and infrastructure
Deep domain expertise
Real operating environments
The ability to validate solutions at industrial scale
These create something much more valuable. I call this Problem Capital™. In the AI era, I believe Problem Capital will become one of the most valuable strategic assets an industrial company owns.
From Customer to Design Partner
Today, innovation often follows a predictable path. An operator identifies a problem. A service company develops a solution. A startup contributes technology. The operator ultimately purchases the finished solution. The operator benefits operationally, but rarely participates in the long-term value created by solving its own problem.
What if that changed?
Instead of being only the customer, the operator becomes the Design Partner for Innovation™. The operator contributes Problem Capital. Technology companies contribute discovery. Implementation partners contribute engineering, manufacturing, and deployment. Each participant contributes a unique asset. Each participant creates value. Each participant shares in the success.
The Quantum Innovation Model™
This leads to a simple but powerful workflow.
Problem Capital™ → Discovery → Validation → Deployment → Scale
The discovery engine may be powered by AI, biology, robotics, materials science, or technologies we haven’t imagined yet. Some discoveries become internal capabilities. Some become licensed technologies. Some become joint ventures. A few may become entirely new companies. The commercialization model should follow the opportunity, not dictate it.
Why Natural Resources?
Natural resource industries operate some of the world’s most complex physical systems. They also possess some of the world’s richest collections of industrial problems. Reducing methane emissions. Recovering critical minerals. Improving drilling performance. Converting waste into valuable products. Lowering water consumption. Restoring ecosystems. Each challenge represents an opportunity to create entirely new technologies—and potentially entirely new businesses. I believe operators shouldn’t simply fund those innovations. They should help originate them.
A Different Question
Corporate Venture Capital asks an important question: “Which companies should we invest in?” The Quantum Innovation Model asks a different one: “Which of our problems are valuable enough to become the foundation of the next great company?”
Looking Ahead
This paper is not intended to present a finished framework. It is the first working thesis in an ongoing exploration of the future of industrial innovation. Over the coming months, I’ll expand on these ideas, including:
Problem Capital™
Design Partner for Innovation™
Discovery-to-Deployment™
Industrial BioSolutions
The future of AI-enabled innovation in natural resources
I believe the next generation of industrial innovation will begin with a different assumption:
The companies that own the world’s most valuable problems may also hold the keys to creating its most valuable solutions.