BlackRock

Despite being a large company—with over 13,000 employees worldwide—BlackRock continues to push the envelope across its various businesses. Whether it's combining risk analysis, trading, and operational tools into one platform with Aladdin, or enabling socially responsible investing with BlackRock Impact, the firm is always focused on solving the world's most complex financial challenges with the smartest technology. Just one of the ways they do that is through an annual hackathon that gives engineers, designers, and non-tech employees the opportunity to collaborate across the firm and transform their ideas into a working prototype.

"One of the best things about BlackRock is we don’t think too much about what the rest of the industry is doing. We’re purely focused on how we can innovate, how we can leverage technology, and how we can deliver for our clients," says Chris Morris, Vice President, ETF's and Index Investments, BlackRock UK.

Unruly

Founded in 2006, Unruly provides value to brands and publishers by getting their videos seen, shared, and loved. The company brings emotional intelligence to digital advertising, helping 91% of Ad Age 100 brands to inspire their audiences. Unruly believes in the power of emotion in marketing campaigns to drive consumer response and maximize impact.

Unruly embraces their startup vibes with a culture of transparency and collaboration. Since they work in an always changing industry, they emphasize employees working together and being creative. “The video advertising and technology space is changing constantly. Even if you think you’re an expert, something can change the next day. That kind of growth in the industry gets me excited about coming to work at Unruly,” says Ken Suh, EVP, Global Business Development.

Cree

Cree is a market-leading innovator of lighting-class LEDs, LED lighting, and semiconductor solutions for wireless and power applications. This company is uniquely positioned to innovate new ways in which lighting will serve as a platform for emerging technologies and capabilities that will enrich lives, improve society, and safeguard the planet.

Micromanagement isn’t something you’ll find at Cree. Once employees understand the fast pace and mission of building a more efficient, sustainable future, leaders step back and operate like any other team member—moving about the production floor, bouncing ideas around, and sharing managerial wisdom. This facilitator-like relationship allows people to think beyond their job titles so major achievements are truly group efforts.

Bionic

Bionic is an army of entrepreneurs igniting growth revolutions inside the world’s largest companies. With the belief that enterprises can grow like startups again, Bionic created a unique approach to enterprise innovation called the Growth OS. This platform combines the mechanics, tools, and mindsets of entrepreneurship and VCs that creates sustainable growth capability.

How do people describe what life is like at Bionic? &nbsp;“It's a place full of individuals, makers, thinkers, and explorers who want to discover and share in the experience of work—and not just to come in to do a 'job,' " says J. Alex Dalessio, Entreprenur. The team definitely has an entrepreneurial spirit, and a passionate and intellectually curious vibe courses throughout the company.

Philips

Philips is a leading health technology company focused on improving people’s health and well-being. For over 125 years, Philips has leveraged advanced technology and deep clinical and consumer insights to deliver integrated solutions. The company is a leader in consumer health, home care, diagnostic imaging, image-guided therapy, patient monitoring, and health informatics. Philips employs over 17,000 employees across 50 offices in North America, all working to help create a healthier society.

And with a brand promise of "Innovation and You," Philips doesn't just think of innovation as fun, they use innovation to change lives. Whether that's creating new products based on the latest technology or using unique marketing tactics, Philips takes innovation seriously.

ecobee

The organization was founded in 2007 with the goal of helping consumers save money, conserve energy, and improve the environment. Realizing that heating and cooling represent the largest portions of home energy usage, ecobee responded by creating its iconic smart thermostat. Since then, ecobee has continually refined its product and is now a leader in the burgeoning connected home marketplace.

“The common thread of culture that weaves its way through ecobee is the belief that good ideas come from everywhere,” shares Alan Hietala, Lead Front-end Architect. Yes, the company definitely values collaboration. Whether it’s the common sight of a co-founder discussing solutions with technicians, the ease of finding test volunteers, or the open-ended yearly stipend for self-improvement, employees at ecobee are empowered by a system of teamwork and support.

Illumio

Illumio, the leader in micro-segmentation, prevents the spread of breaches inside data centers and cloud environments. Enterprises such as Morgan Stanley, BNP Paribas, Salesforce, and Oracle NetSuite use Illumio to reduce cyber risk and achieve regulatory compliance. Illumio’s Adaptive Security Platform® uniquely protects critical information with real-time application dependency and vulnerability mapping coupled with micro-segmentation that works in any data center, public cloud, or across hybrid cloud deployments on bare-metal, virtualization machines, and containers. With a global presence in nine countries and counting, Illumio continues to grow in a new and thriving industry. For more information, visit www.illumio.com/what-we-do or follow @Illumio.

At Illumio, employees are motivated by the fact that their work and opinions have a big impact on the outcome of the finalized product and the success of the business. But, beyond that, team members appreciate that they’re given the opportunity to work cross-departmentally to learn new aspects of the product. “To be successful here, you have to have a willingness to constantly learn and adapt to new technologies,” says Anand Ghody, Solutions Architect.

Label Insight

Label Insight aims to assist consumers in understanding what’s in the products they use and consume on a daily basis. By providing software solutions that create complete product transparency through data science, the organization is able to transform the way brands and retailers interact with and share important product data.

As a company, Label Insight arms leading research with necessary data to drive change across the food industry. But, as much as the organization values transparency for consumers, it applies that same value to its employees. Every Friday, Label Insight hosts a company-wide 360 meeting. Teams video conference between both offices to talk about the successes and challenges of the week, as well as goals for the future.

TrackMaven

Founded in 2012, TrackMaven is a competitive intelligence platform, aiming to provide competitive intelligence data that helps digital marketers create amazing content. By analyzing trends across 15 different content platforms, TrackMaven gives marketers the insights that will lead to brand success—counting big brands like Cisco, The Marriott, AOL, and the NBA among its hundreds of clients.

According to its team, TrackMaven offers a lot of great perks and work benefits (don’t get us started on the adorable office Corgi), but the thing that keeps employees coming back everyday is the inspiring work itself. TrackMaven is a collection of employees who are all working together to shatter the perception of marketing technology—and create true innovation in the world of marketing.

CSAA Insurance Group

CSAA Insurance Group, a AAA insurer, creates AAA Members for life by fulfilling its promise to be there when members are in need. It’s one of the top personal lines property and casualty insurance groups in the United States, offering automobile, homeowners, and other lines of insurance to over 17 million people. CSAA Insurance Group employees are deeply committed to exceptional customer service. Frontline claims and service insurance professionals dedicate their careers to helping AAA Members with caring and personal service. During catastrophes—from devastating wildfires to severe storms across the nation—employees from every department get involved.

Don't think innovation and insurance go hand in hand? Think again. With the advent of self-driving cars and the popularity of ride sharing programs, CSAA Insurance Group is tasked with the duty of pushing the envelope and changing the traditional ways providers insure against risk. “We’re really pushing innovation. It’s our goal to stay ahead of the game so we can anticipate what our customers will need,” says Caitlin Ceglowski, Senior Casualty Specialist.

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

The Federal Bureau of Investigation was formed in 1908 as the nation’s premier federal law enforcement agency. Today, the organization is one of 17 government agencies that comprise the U.S. intelligence community, protecting millions of Americans around the clock. The FBI also consists of several departments—including counterterrorism, counterintelligence, criminal investigation, and cybersecurity. The mission of the FBI is to protect the American people and uphold the Constitution of the United States.

Don't worry, they're not all super serious like the reputation that precedes them. In fact, employees come from all different backgrounds, and the agency works to fit each person with the branch that will best fit their unique skill set.

Samsung NEXT

Samsung NEXT is a global team of entrepreneurs, engineers, investors, strategists, and business development leaders working together to empower entrepreneurs and startups around the world. Samsung NEXT provides tech innovators with capital, resources, expertise, and connections they need to build, grow, and scale products through Samsung’s unparalleled resources and global reach.

Samsung NEXT is a catalyst for innovation. By empowering startups and entrepreneurs worldwide with resources, capital, and expertise they are constantly surrounded by the next big thing. “I feel like I’m getting paid to learn—if you love the freedom to think, create, and fund solutions, then this is a really cool place for you,” says Lily Chen, Global Strategy and BizOps.

Symphony

Symphony is the cloud-based messaging and collaboration platform that connects markets, organizations, and individuals—securely. Powered by an open and growing app ecosystem, and protected with customer-owned encryption keys, Symphony's communication platform increases workflow productivity while maintaining global regulatory compliance. Already the platform of choice for the financial services industry, Symphony eliminates inefficient workflows to boost productivity in information-driven businesses.

At Symphony, each employee is encouraged to take ownership of their particular vertical, giving each and every team member the freedom to work in an entrepreneurial environment. Symphony employees take pride in knowing each and every contribution is key to reaching the office and company-wide goals. “If you feel up for building influential software for influential companies, give Symphony a try,” adds a Symphony Front-End Software Engineer.

BRPH

BRPH designs the buildings and structures of tomorrow. The company offers all of its engineering, architectural, and design services in-house as means to reduce costs to the client and better collaborate internally. Whether it’s a complex manufacturing facility, a 21st century elementary school, or a physics-defying feat of engineering, BRPH conceives, designs, manages, and delivers a service that goes beyond clients’ expectations.

BRPH provides clients a higher level of collaboration because of their in-house team. And it seems to make quite the difference, as a majority of their projects are with repeat clients. “What I really love about BRPH is that our work really speaks for itself. Over 80% of our projects come from repeat clients, which speaks a lot about our team. We always strive to become the trusted advisors for all of our clients," says Diana Cheung, Project Manager.

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BlackRock’s purpose is to help more and more people experience financial well-being. As a global investment manager and a leading provider of financial technology, our clients—from grandparents, doctors, and teachers to large institutions—turn to us for the solutions they need when planning for their most important goals. We are building a culture of innovation, curiosity, and compassion, one that enables every employee to make an impact.

BlackRock’s purpose is to help more and more people experience financial well-being. As a global investment manager and a leading provider of financial technology, our clients—from grandparents, doctors, and teachers to large institutions—turn to us for the solutions they need when planning for their most important goals. We are building a culture of innovation, curiosity, and compassion, one that enables every employee to make an impact. <a href="https://www.themuse.com/companies/blackrock">Learn more about working at BlackRock</a>, and <a href="https://www.themuse.com/jobs/c-blackrock-jobs">check out open jobs</a>.

20 Companies Where You Can Innovate Like Crazy

1. BlackRock

2. Unruly

5. Cree

6. Bionic

9. Philips

11. ecobee

12. Illumio

13. Label Insight

14. TrackMaven

16. CSAA Insurance Group

17. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

18. Samsung NEXT

19. Symphony

20. BRPH