Table 4. Additional illustrative quotes for significant statements.

Theme	Quote
Collaboration evolves with time, relationships, funding, and evidence	“They [industry] were busy with their own stuff. So it was initially hard to crack, in terms of getting into the organization getting all the approvals for partnership.” (Participant 1001)
	“We [academic collaborators] really had to walk him [industry collaborator] through and allow questions, super in-depth conversation on our actual project. We were rolling our eyes actually, but it was so great to overelaborate and follow an Excel spreadsheet. And we walked through everything, and again we were like ‘this is so overkill and annoying’. But it was so great. And then from there, we kept building mutual trust in each other and respect” (Participant 2009)
	“It’s the challenge you face anytime you’re working in a very transdisciplinary space, is that everybody’s coming in with perspective on a different part of the elephant. That’s a major challenge to overcome and I also think, because these are relational things, building relationships is good. It requires effort and intention and getting to a place where everybody is assuming best intent and I think both folks in industry and folks in academia, have a bit of a learning curve over how to make these partnerships work.” (Participant 2010)
	“The landscape is changing a little bit, they [AIC] are more accepted now, digital health technologies are more accepted. It’s just part of what we do. It’s becoming less of a barrier over time because, I think, if I had to start from scratch now, I think it wouldn’t take me kind of as long to kind of get into it as it did five years ago, because I think that people just really see this as a part of [daily life] and so many aspects like why is helping each valuable.” (Participant 1002)
AIC demands strong relationships and interpersonal dynamics	“Oftentimes we have the most amazing, incredible, or inspiring collaborators and they’re just unequipped at communicating. And that’s just part of it, understanding whether this person will be a good fit to partner with or collaborate with others.” (Participant 2002)
	“What I’ve really appreciated about this partnership and, a lot of credit goes to a woman [industry collaborator], a cardiologist by training, who developed this partnership. It’s a really respectful collaboration, there is an appreciation that we [industry] have a commercial responsibility-and I think that’s an important distinction-commercial responsibility versus commercial interests.” (Participant 2010)
	“You’re investing a lot in a partnership up front. And if both parties have not done what needs to be done to cultivate that relationship, that’s a lot of lost effort.” (Participant 2010)
	“We believe in having a good working relationships. So it’s really helpful to have a relationship where, you know, there can be a bit of healthy tension, and everyone’s okay with that. Because we have that relationship, we’re able to have those frank conversations.” (Participant 2006)
Operational process vary across AIC	“[Startups] are pretty busy…scattered. They got a lot done. But they kind of turned it over to us [academic partner] and said, you guys figure this out.” (Participant 1003)
	“at least every company that I’ve been involved with so far, they have given us a lot of leeway in developing the project.” (Participant 1005)
	“Every school is different. Unfortunately, our joke is ‘once you know one school, you know one school’” (Participant 2006)
Collaboration climate and context matters	“she’s [industry collaborator] pushed and pulled a lot more than we [academic collaborators] are. Bu, we communicate very well. That mutual respect means that when we do have competing values, competing ideas, or competing priorities, the team has been effective at listening. And considering, you know, everyone’s viewpoints and coming to a consensus decision.” (Participant 1007)
	“The one thing that we’ve learned over time is that even if we identify a good partner and have a great relationship there with a good study design, if the setting that they’re implementing in doesn’t culturally support the study, and from a technical stance, then it’s not going to work. So really just having a cultural support system almost to ensure that the success in a project.” (Participant 2002)
	“…when the interdisciplinary group recognizes each other’s value and knows how and where to plug into each other. I think that was one of the most satisfying and wonderful experiences.” (Participant 2012)
Shared expectations lead to a better understanding of success	“[Success] really depends on who’s initiating the project. If the project is initiated by academia, then success looks different than if a project is initiated by industry.” (Participant 2008)
	“Both the parties have clear cut deliverables like this is what is being expected of you this will be expected of us.” (Participant 1001)
	[Success looks like] “Asking them [collaborators] about the project and they would both be able to speak to it with the same level, tandem knowledge, it would probably sound extremely different.” (Participant 2009)
	“Success looks like ‘we would do this again’ …everybody walks away and feels like, ‘you know what, sure there were some bumps along the road but overall, this was a good thing. I [industry] came away with something that I need. I feel like they [academia] went away with something that they need.’ (Participant 2010)
	“those are the two biggest things, I think, the communication and trust piece. And then from that productivity comes.” (Participant 1002)
Overcoming challenges with AIC recommendations	“We [academia and industry] just give to lip service to collaboration but it’s never really fully executed.” (Participant 2013)
	“I think they (industry) threw up their hands, just like, ‘Forget it. We can’t work with these people. They’re so slow’. I think it was very frustrating for them. And they almost like, are you guys still doing it? What happened? It was definitely a different cultural timeline.” (Participant 1003)
	“Clear, clearly defined roles and then awareness, self-awareness within those roles” (Participant 1007)
	“The biggest thing is-a lot of communication upfront. And that needs to be in writing too” (Participant 1005)
	“There’s some terminology differences that become challenging between the research and the industry side of things. We’ve been posed with that issue a few times. You know, can you ask them about this? And, you know, it just winds up being back and forth multiple times until you realize what they’re really asking for. And sometimes what they’re asking for is unrealistic. And you have to you have to explain that as well.” (Participant 1005)
	“There definitely challenges but there are ways to address them to mitigate them to some degree …you have to be very clear from the beginning, what’s the goal for that academic program institutions group, whatever. And what’s the goal, and how do they align. There has to be alignment in terms of what you’re hoping to get out of the collaboration. I think there has to be a cultural shift.” (Participant 2002)
	“The best partnership has been people who are experienced with this situation. I’d say it’s either academia or industry, people that conversely do this sort of relationship with each other. They just recognize they know the process. They know the facts, they know that there’s going to be time on both sides of certain points of the process.” (Participant 2005)
	[To avoid barriers, “I’ve done my due diligence with my dealership that they’re comfortable with this timeline. And the academic partner is, you know, scoped it out and decided, yeah, we can make it work. And I can work with this timeframe and these resources. So let’s craft the scope of work together, agree on the deliverables, a payment schedule, and then we give that to the lawyer and then they include that in the greater legal agreement” (Participant 2003)