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Rick Eagar

Partner Emeritus

Rick advises large companies and public organizations on innovation, R&D and technology management, including strategy, organization and performance improvement.

Areas of Focus

Education

University of Bristol
BSc (Hons), Mechanical Engineering

Past Experience

Shell International Petroleum Company
Project Manager, Head of Planning and Cost Engineering Netherlands (N.A.M) / Oman (Petroleum Dev Oman)

Rick is Partner Emeritus at Arthur D. Little and Chairman of the editorial board of ADL’s management journal, PRISM

Rick has over 28 years of consulting experience in technology and innovation management, R&D strategy and organization, and 10 years of industrial experience in capital projects. His sector focus included transport, oil & gas, energy, chemicals, food & drink, nuclear, government, and consumer goods.

Examples of his work included R&D, organizational and process redesign, transformation of national research institutes, new growth strategies, innovation strategies, technology strategies, and benchmarking.

Before becoming Partner Emeritus, Rick was Chief Innovation Officer and Global Leader of the Technology & Innovation Management Practice, responsible for the firm’s functional expertise in innovation, R&D, and technology management.

Rick published on innovation and R&D management and is a regular speaker at international conferences. 

He speaks fluent Dutch in addition to his native English.

Navigating AI: Challenging the north star
Navigating AI: Challenging the north star
AI adoption by companies is gathering pace, but initial use cases naturally tend to focus on optimization and efficiencies around internal use cases instead of novel AI-enabled products, services, and business models. In this Viewpoint, we use examples from a range of industries, exploring why companies should ensure they are positioned to seize long-term, revolutionary, and client-centric AI opportunities.
Find out more
Beyond systems
Beyond systems
Digitalization has become embedded within large businesses, with recent advances in AI accelerating the process even further. While we still need more progress, the fusion of business and IT functions is ever present, as “softwarization” of companies proceeds apace. IT functions need to recognize this pace of change and evolve toward being true strategic advisers to the business, driving innovation. In this Viewpoint, we examine some practical approaches for CIOs to bring about change.
Find out more
Be careful out there
Be careful out there
By now, business executives are well aware that using artificial intelligence (AI), especially generative AI (GenAI) such as ChatGPT, brings with it certain risks as well as benefits. Apart from the commonly cited existential risk of a future artificial general intelligence posing a threat to mankind, there are plenty of less severe but more likely risks. Those that most people have read about already are possible biases in GenAI’s outputs, as well as its propensity to “hallucinate” on occasion.
Find out more
Embedding climate financing with net zero focus
Financial services
Embedding climate financing with net zero focus
One of the biggest challenges for delivering on the world’s climate change commitments is how to finance the huge costs involved. As climate-tipping points approach ever closer, there is a pressing need to embed climate change–related issues into investment and funding decision-making, both public and private. In this Viewpoint, we look at what this entails and set out some priorities for businesses, financial institutions, and government — working collaboratively — to narrow the funding gap.
Find out more
The Industrial Metaverse
The Industrial Metaverse
Find out more
Web3 & metaverse — The rise of the new Internet & the India opportunity
Web3 & Metaverse — The rise of the new Internet & the India opportunity
Metaverse and Web3 are often used as umbrella terms for the next generation of the Internet, and the transformation they signify presents both a challenge and an opportunity for India. While some remain skeptical, we believe Metaverse and Web3 will lead the frontiers of the next wave of digital adoption for Indian industries. This Viewpoint explores the market potential of this next version of the Internet across different industries in India and gives an overview of the early use cases tested by industries in India and across the globe.
Find out more

Rick is Partner Emeritus at Arthur D. Little and Chairman of the editorial board of ADL’s management journal, PRISM

Rick has over 28 years of consulting experience in technology and innovation management, R&D strategy and organization, and 10 years of industrial experience in capital projects. His sector focus included transport, oil & gas, energy, chemicals, food & drink, nuclear, government, and consumer goods.

Examples of his work included R&D, organizational and process redesign, transformation of national research institutes, new growth strategies, innovation strategies, technology strategies, and benchmarking.

Before becoming Partner Emeritus, Rick was Chief Innovation Officer and Global Leader of the Technology & Innovation Management Practice, responsible for the firm’s functional expertise in innovation, R&D, and technology management.

Rick published on innovation and R&D management and is a regular speaker at international conferences. 

He speaks fluent Dutch in addition to his native English.

Navigating AI: Challenging the north star
Navigating AI: Challenging the north star
AI adoption by companies is gathering pace, but initial use cases naturally tend to focus on optimization and efficiencies around internal use cases instead of novel AI-enabled products, services, and business models. In this Viewpoint, we use examples from a range of industries, exploring why companies should ensure they are positioned to seize long-term, revolutionary, and client-centric AI opportunities.
Find out more
Beyond systems
Beyond systems
Digitalization has become embedded within large businesses, with recent advances in AI accelerating the process even further. While we still need more progress, the fusion of business and IT functions is ever present, as “softwarization” of companies proceeds apace. IT functions need to recognize this pace of change and evolve toward being true strategic advisers to the business, driving innovation. In this Viewpoint, we examine some practical approaches for CIOs to bring about change.
Find out more
Be careful out there
Be careful out there
By now, business executives are well aware that using artificial intelligence (AI), especially generative AI (GenAI) such as ChatGPT, brings with it certain risks as well as benefits. Apart from the commonly cited existential risk of a future artificial general intelligence posing a threat to mankind, there are plenty of less severe but more likely risks. Those that most people have read about already are possible biases in GenAI’s outputs, as well as its propensity to “hallucinate” on occasion.
Find out more
Embedding climate financing with net zero focus
Financial services
Embedding climate financing with net zero focus
One of the biggest challenges for delivering on the world’s climate change commitments is how to finance the huge costs involved. As climate-tipping points approach ever closer, there is a pressing need to embed climate change–related issues into investment and funding decision-making, both public and private. In this Viewpoint, we look at what this entails and set out some priorities for businesses, financial institutions, and government — working collaboratively — to narrow the funding gap.
Find out more
The Industrial Metaverse
The Industrial Metaverse
Find out more
Web3 & metaverse — The rise of the new Internet & the India opportunity
Web3 & Metaverse — The rise of the new Internet & the India opportunity
Metaverse and Web3 are often used as umbrella terms for the next generation of the Internet, and the transformation they signify presents both a challenge and an opportunity for India. While some remain skeptical, we believe Metaverse and Web3 will lead the frontiers of the next wave of digital adoption for Indian industries. This Viewpoint explores the market potential of this next version of the Internet across different industries in India and gives an overview of the early use cases tested by industries in India and across the globe.
Find out more

More About Rick
  • University of Bristol
    BSc (Hons), Mechanical Engineering
  • Shell International Petroleum Company
    Project Manager, Head of Planning and Cost Engineering Netherlands (N.A.M) / Oman (Petroleum Dev Oman)