Every big company has one now. A room. Glass walls. Post-it notes. Bean bags. Maybe a 3D printer nobody uses.
The innovation lab is where ideas go to be celebrated and then ignored. A small team is told to “think big” while the rest of the company operates exactly as before. The lab produces prototypes. The prototypes produce presentations. The presentations produce nothing.
If the innovation lab actually produced innovation, it would threaten the core business. And the core business signs the checks. So the lab stays contained. Impressive enough to mention in the annual report. Harmless enough to never change anything.