Artificial Intelligence at the Front End of Innovation: Systematic Literature Mapping

The Front End of Innovation (FEI) is considered a critical point in the innovation process, as the choices made in the FEI will determine which innovation options should be considered for new product development and commercialization. Studies indicate that Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be used in the FEI and, although the literature suggests that AI may not be ready to fully take on highly creative tasks within the innovation process, it appears much promising as a support for managers and can play a key role in the innovation process. This research seeks to present these potentialities by systematically collecting and analyzing available studies in the literature with the aim to (I) gain a comprehensive understanding of the interconnections between Artificial Intelligence and Front End of Innovation, (II) provide an overview of the current state of the research in this field, and (III) identify important gaps in existing approaches as well as promising research trends. To achieve these goals, a systematic mapping was performed covering articles published in journals from three relevant databases. Initially, 494 primary studies were selected and subjected to a screening and review process, which resulted in the election of 53 articles whose models and solutions for using AI in FEI were classified and summarized. The results of the research point to the increasing use of AI in FEI. The Identification of Opportunities stands out for having the highest concentration of articles with use of AI, followed by areas of Analysis of Opportunities and Generation and Enrichment of Ideas.