In the year of 2022, which falls during an age of transition towards sustainability, the United Nations’ seventeen global goals define the direction of development. Materials development is an important component of sustainable development and innovation. The latter is conventionally defined as the implementation of creative ideas that are introduced into society in the form of services or goods. However, in order for innovations to arise, innovators are required. An innovator is a person or a group who introduces something novel, e.g., a method, an idea, or a product, or does something for the first time. The term pioneer is frequently used to describe an innovator who creates a paradigm shift, but innovators are also those who contribute incremental ideas that eventually combine to produce innovations. This model of incremental and disruptive innovation draws a simple distinction, but we stress that both types of innovators are needed to drive sustainable development.