The thing that surprised Sabaa Quao most wasn’t AI. It was something far less glamorous: the electrical grid.

After spending days reviewing some of the world’s most ambitious ideas, the founding president of PlusCo Venture Studio and a Canadian juror for Innovation Lions realized that energy had quietly emerged as one of the category’s defining themes.

“This is the category where we see things we’ve never seen before, and it often means assessing technologies that are still in development,” Quao tells strategy.

One example was Renault Group’s “Utrecht Energized” vehicle-to-grid (V2G) car-sharing initiative, developed by Publicis Amsterdam, in partnership with MyWheels, We Drive Solar and the Municipality of Utrecht in the Netherlands. The project, which won a gold in the category, turns electric vehicles into mobile energy storage units that can both charge and return electricity to the grid during peak demand. Starting with 50 Renault 5 e-tech vehicles and set to expand to 500, the initiative helps balance Utrecht’s renewable energy network while accelerating the transition to shared electric mobility.

Another contender that sparked discussion, according to Quao, was “Sparc,” developed by Commonwealth Fusion Systems. Shortlisted in the early-stage technology category, the project aims to build the world’s first commercially viable compact nuclear fusion reactor. Because it’s still under development, it became an interesting debate for jurors tasked with weighing early-stage innovation against technologies that are already fully realized and scaled.

Energy was also at the core of “The Faroe Islands Space Program,” created by SKF and the agency Nord DDB. The initiative uses underwater “tidal kites” to harness energy generated by the moon’s gravitational pull in an initiative to bring 100% renewable energy to the Faroe Islands.

Closer to home, Quao says the Innovation Grand Prix winner perfectly embodied what the category is all about: creating solutions with an impact that extends far beyond a single brief or market.

Adidas’ “Supernova Adaptive,” created by TBWA\Canada, earned the Innovation Grand Prix on Thursday night. Originally designed with people with Down syndrome in mind, the adaptive running shoe quickly revealed a much broader application for people with a range of physical needs.

“All of a sudden, you jump to the billions of people who could benefit from it,” Quao says. “That’s what innovation does. It affects humanity on a scale that’s much bigger than a brief and much bigger than our borders.”

Quao spoke with strategy about the themes that defined this year’s Innovation Lions, why energy emerged as a dominant focus and what Canadian marketers can learn from the category’s biggest ideas.

What defined true innovation among this year’s winners?

The creativity and ingenuity in the submissions showed considerable patience. That patience sharply contrasts with the relentless pace most of us operate at day-to-day.

The best work reminded me of how we were trained as creative thinkers and practitioners. Some of the work we juried and shortlisted took years to execute. Early-stage technologies, for example, required collaboration with operations and manufacturing teams well outside the typical marketing organization. That kind of stakeholder reach takes time, and the work that honoured that practical reality truly grabbed my attention.

One of the most interesting patterns we saw was around energy. So many entries touched on it in different ways, whether through bi-directional charging of the grid, a fusion reactor or using tidal energy to generate power in the Faroe Islands.

It’s an interesting connection to AI. There’s so much discussion about AI’s energy and water consumption that it has raised broader awareness around energy needs in general. Since when did ordinary people talk about the grid? That heightened sensitivity definitely showed up in the work.

How did the strongest entries balance technological innovation with real consumer or business impact?

The strongest solutions required thinking “upstream.” Deeply understanding a problem sometimes means challenging early assumptions about a business or an entire category.

The teams doing that kind of critical work arrived at fundamentally different conclusions about what to pursue. On several occasions, I found myself thinking that the technology followed the thinking, rather than the other way around. That’s what delivered real depth of impact.

We also saw solutions that transcended the brief, the company and even the country they originated in. Everyone has an energy problem, so seeing an idea from the Faroe Islands become relevant to other countries was powerful. That’s the point of innovation: creating solutions that humanity actually needs.

Even with “Supernova,” the work began with Down syndrome, but quickly expanded into a much broader conversation about prosthetics and accessibility, affecting billions of people. Innovation creates impact at a human scale that extends far beyond borders.

Were there any emerging technologies or approaches marketers should be paying closer attention to?

The most interesting technological applications were embedded in broader operational and institutional relationships. Marketers who treat creativity, technology and innovation as a department-level pursuit will keep getting department-level results.

This category is where we see things we’ve never seen before, and it often means assessing technologies that are still in development. We looked at a fusion reactor that was only 80% complete, but we understood the significance and ambition behind it.

That creates an interesting tension because you’re comparing early-stage innovations with fully realized products like “Supernova,” which is already operating in 27 countries. We had to imagine a few years ahead and ask whether these technologies could have a significant impact on people and society.

What’s one thing the global creative industry understands today that Canada should be paying closer attention to?

The best work delivered industry impact beyond the immediate client brief. Some solutions redefined category conventions and may change how entire industries operate. Canadian creative culture has traditionally measured success against the brief, but the global benchmark increasingly measures innovation against entire market categories.

I also think Canada should pay more attention to owning equity in innovation because that’s where real economic value is created. When we think about companies like Google or Amazon, we see how small ideas can become transformative businesses. Canada can do that too, but we need more of those creative starting points.

Being a smaller country is not a disadvantage. We already punch above our weight, but we can dial up our ambition. Canada is very much in the spotlight right now, and the idea of leadership from middle powers shouldn’t only apply politically: it can apply creatively and to innovation as well.

Finally, a lot of the Innovation shortlist never felt like campaigns. Nothing was fleeting about the best work. These were long-term ideas designed to create lasting change, reshape industries and generate value well beyond the original brief.