German Sarmiento’s experience of working across cultures and markets has strongly influenced how he approaches innovation inside large organisations. Growing up in Colombia in a family that ran its own business, he was exposed early to the realities of building value, taking risk and making things work in practice.  

That background carries through into his professional career, where he has focused on driving innovation from within large B2B organisations by creating small, semi-autonomous teams that can experiment, learn and eventually deliver commercial impact.

This episode of The B2B Experience, produced by leading B2B digital design agency Biglight, centres on German’s experience of successfully delivering disruption in large B2B organisations. It is a grounded and practical exploration of how disruption actually happens inside large B2B organisations. Rather than focusing on theory or innovation frameworks he tells Steve Borges real stories about creating small semi-autonomous teams inside much larger businesses and the long uneven path from idea to value.

At the centre of the episode is a simple but uncomfortable truth. Large organisations are designed for efficiency stability and risk reduction. Disruption requires almost the opposite. Germán’s experience shows that meaningful innovation rarely comes from changing the core all at once. Instead it emerges from creating protected space for experimentation and learning and then patiently proving value over time.

Why large B2B organisations struggle to innovate

Germán begins by describing the structural tension inside successful B2B organisations. As businesses grow they optimise around scale predictability and repeatability. Processes incentives and governance evolve to protect what already works.

While this stability is necessary it also makes innovation difficult. New ideas are judged by the standards of the existing business. Early-stage concepts are expected to perform like mature offerings. When they do not they are often shut down before they have a chance to evolve.

Germán explains that this environment creates a bias towards incremental optimisation rather than genuine disruption. Innovation becomes something organisations talk about but struggle to execute.

Creating a small semi-autonomous team

The response to this challenge was not to force change across the whole organisation but to create a small team with a different mandate. This team was deliberately separated from existing structures incentives and ways of working.

Autonomy was critical. The team needed freedom to move quickly test assumptions and make decisions without being constrained by the priorities of the core business. At the same time it needed just enough connection to the organisation to eventually reintegrate if value could be proven.

Germán is clear that this separation was not about rebellion. It was about creating conditions where experimentation was possible without threatening the stability of the core.

Early failure and the absence of value

One of the most important parts of Germán’s story is that the early phase did not deliver success. Despite energy focus and belief the initiative did not generate sales at first.

This moment matters because it reveals how organisations typically respond to innovation. Lack of immediate value is often interpreted as failure rather than feedback. In Germán’s case persistence mattered. Instead of shutting the initiative down the team treated the absence of sales as a signal that their assumptions were wrong.

This reframing turned failure into learning. The goal shifted from proving the idea right to understanding why customers were not responding.

Learning through rapid experimentation

What followed was a period of rapid experimentation. The team tested different approaches refined their proposition and challenged their original beliefs. Small experiments replaced large bets. Learning cycles shortened.

Germán describes this phase as uncomfortable but essential. It required humility and openness to change direction. It also required protection from organisational pressure to deliver results too quickly.

This experimentation-led approach aligns closely with RAPID and SEED principles. Progress did not come from planning harder but from learning faster. Each experiment reduced risk and increased understanding even when it did not produce immediate value.

Iterative innovation and incremental change

Over time experimentation led to iteration. The team began to connect what they were learning to what customers actually needed. Incremental improvements replaced grand designs.

Germán emphasises that innovation did not arrive as a breakthrough moment. It emerged gradually through a series of small changes. Each iteration improved clarity fit and relevance.

This incremental approach made innovation more credible. As evidence accumulated confidence grew. What initially looked risky began to feel grounded.

Delivering value and proving impact

Eventually the work began to deliver value. Sales followed but they were the outcome of learning rather than the starting point. By the time value appeared the solution had been shaped by real-world feedback rather than internal conviction.

Germán highlights that this phase changed the internal conversation. What had once been viewed as an experiment became something the organisation could recognise and support.

Delivering value was not about winning an argument. It was about demonstrating impact through results.

Resistance from the core organisation

Throughout the journey tension with the core organisation remained. Established teams questioned the approach priorities and pace. This resistance was not malicious. It reflected legitimate concerns about risk distraction and consistency.

Germán’s experience shows that resistance is a natural response to disruption. The challenge is not to eliminate it but to manage it. Clear boundaries evidence of learning and eventual proof of value helped reduce friction over time.

Disruption succeeded not by replacing the core business but by complementing it.

What B2B leaders can take from this story

Several lessons stand out from Germán Sarmiento’s experience.

First disruption inside large B2B organisations requires structural separation. Small autonomous teams create space for experimentation without destabilising the core.

Second early failure is part of the process. Lack of immediate value should be treated as information not proof of failure.

Third rapid experimentation and iteration reduce risk rather than increase it. Learning quickly is safer than committing too early.

Fourth value is delivered through persistence and incremental change not through big-bang launches.

Finally leadership matters. Protecting teams giving them time and allowing learning to unfold are essential conditions for innovation.

Together these lessons illustrate how making change happen in B2B is less about bold announcements and more about disciplined experimentation.

How this episode connects to key B2B transformation themes

This episode focuses on making change happen in B2B by showing how innovation is executed rather than imagined. It also connects to overcoming organisational resistance to change through its honest treatment of internal tension and scepticism.

The story strongly supports incremental experience-led digital transformation focused on experimentation iteration and early learning. It demonstrates how value can be delivered without betting the entire organisation.

Topics related to this episode

Disruptive innovation in large B2B organisations

Building small semi-autonomous teams

Rapid experimentation and learning

Iterative innovation and incremental change

Delivering value after early failure

Rapid experimentation in B2B

Iterative innovation models

Incremental change in large organisations

Scaling innovation after early failure

Experimentation-led transformation  

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