{"id":7961,"date":"2026-08-10T12:08:50","date_gmt":"2026-08-10T10:08:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leyton.com\/ca\/?post_type=article&p=7961"},"modified":"2026-08-10T12:08:51","modified_gmt":"2026-08-10T10:08:51","slug":"when-does-software-innovation-actually-become-sred","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/leyton.com\/ca\/en\/insights\/articles\/when-does-software-innovation-actually-become-sred\/","title":{"rendered":"When Does Software Innovation Actually Become SR&ED?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

“We developed a revolutionary AI platform. We\u2019re definitely doing SR&ED innovation, right?”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is probably the sentence we hear most often.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And yet\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The answer isn’t necessarily yes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, a company can invest several million dollars, mobilize a team of 30 developers for two years, and create a completely unprecedented product\u2026 without carrying out a single eligible SR&ED project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conversely, an 8-person SME can spend three months solving a very specific problem and carry out genuine experimental research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paradoxical?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not really.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Imagine two teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first develops a new management software. It assemble proven technologies, follows best practices, consults documentation, fixes bugs, and delivers an excellent product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The work is remarkable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, from a SR&ED perspective, there is nothing experimental about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second team seeks to run a real-time artificial intelligence engine despite contradictory constraints on performance, accuracy, and resource consumption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scientific articles don’t provide the answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Experts don’t know which approach will work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The initial architectures fail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The subsequent ones create new problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The team formulates hypotheses, experiments, measures, questions its own choices\u2026 until discovering an approach that finally works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therein lies the difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SR&ED does not begin when you start writing code.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It begins when no one knows how to solve the problem yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, this is the most common mistake we see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many companies think SR&ED is about creating an innovative product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In reality, it is about generating new technological knowledge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The final product is often just the visible consequence of a long series of trials, failures, and learnings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that is precisely where the value of SR&ED lies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, how do you know if your team might have found itself in such a situation?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ask yourself a few questions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n