One of the biggest shifts in technology transfer over the past decade isn’t just the pace of innovation. It’s the realization that value isn’t created at a single moment. It builds over time, shaped by how well research, intellectual property, and real-world application stay aligned. The challenge isn’t only generating strong ideas. It’s understanding how those ideas evolve, how they’re protected, and whether they ultimately solve problems people care enough about to adopt and pay for.

My guest today is Ram Krishnan, Senior Director of Engineering in Qualcomm’s Government Affairs Group, where he focuses on global IP ecosystem development. Ram's career has taken him across engineering, business, and intellectual property in standards-driven industries such as wireless communications, AI, XR, and autonomous driving. Now he works with universities, startups, and government organizations around the world, focused on how innovation gets taught, protected, and turned into real products and technologies that can actually scale.

We talk about what it means to think about innovation as a full lifecycle rather than a single breakthrough, how strong IP portfolios are built over time, and why the most durable technologies consistently solve meaningful, “pay-for” problems. Ram also shares how industry approaches long-term university partnerships, what signals a tech transfer office is thinking beyond a single transaction, and why early education around IP can change the trajectory of entire ecosystems. It’s a grounded look at how ideas move from research labs into global standards and what makes that journey successful.

In This Episode:

[02:30] How wireless R&D runs on long innovation cycles, where each generation from 3G to 5G builds over time through continuous problem-solving.

[04:15] Ram describes his current work at Qualcomm, focusing on global IP ecosystem development and engaging universities, students, and startups around innovation and entrepreneurship.

[05:55] What successful technologies have in common early on, centering on solving real problems that people are willing to pay for.

[06:57] Looking back at 3G, we reflect on how bringing internet access to mobile phones once felt groundbreaking, even if it seems routine now.

[07:35] We discuss 4G and 5G, and how video, content creation, and network demands evolved with each wave.

[08:25] A look ahead to 6G, where AI and wireless technologies are expected to become increasingly intertwined.

[09:21] IP strategy, with an emphasis on building strong portfolios across the lifecycle rather than relying on single patents.

[11:05] Universities come into the picture, especially their strength in foundational research and the growing need to translate that into commercially useful IP.

[12:35] A deeper look at university relationships shows why long-term, trust-based partnerships tend to outperform one-off engagements.

[14:10] Programs like the Inventors Patent Academy come up as examples of how early education around IP is being built into the pipeline.

[15:45] The balance between standards and proprietary innovation is explored, showing how both play a role in scaling technology globally.

[18:00] In areas like AI and 6G, universities are engaging more deliberately, including increased participation in standards development.

[20:05] Internal alignment across engineering, legal, and business teams is highlighted as a key factor in making external collaborations run smoothly.

[21:30] Strong university partners tend to stay aligned on outcomes and connect their research to real-world problems, even as projects and people change.

[23:03] Expanding a single invention into adjacent use cases comes up as a practical way to build a more valuable and durable IP portfolio.

[24:10] When universities reach out, things like entrepreneurial culture, maker spaces, and spinout track records signal whether there’s real alignment.

[25:45] Ram reflects on lessons learned, especially the importance of being disciplined about IP disclosure before sharing ideas in collaborative settings.

[26:43] Tech transfer works best when it takes a full, 360-degree view from early education all the way through commercialization.

Resources:

AUTM

Ram Krishnan - LinkedIn

Qualcomm

The Inventor’s Patent Academy