April 9, 2025
We’ve worked with dozens of large companies trying to build innovation into their culture. Many talk about experimentation. Few know how to actually do it.
That’s why we were excited to sit down with Leandro Balbinot, CTO at Whole Foods and VP of Technology at Amazon, for our latest episode. Leandro has held senior roles at Kraft Heinz and McDonald’s—and now sits at the intersection of tech and operations in one of the most complex organizations in the world.
His insights on experimentation, failure, and scaling innovation were some of the sharpest we’ve heard.
We opened the episode by asking Leandro how he decides when a problem calls for innovation versus just solving it with a simple fix.
His answer was direct: not every problem needs innovation. Sometimes a product tweak is enough. The key is knowing when to optimize—and when to rethink the model entirely.
Innovation teams waste too much time applying “big ideas” to problems that don’t require them. Leandro reminded us that great operators know when to hold back and when to swing big.
When we asked how he prioritizes experiments, Leandro didn’t hesitate:
It’s a framework we deeply believe in—and one that too many large companies ignore.
One of the best lines from the episode.
Leandro doesn’t see gut instinct as a replacement for data—it’s a complement. A way to fill in gaps when data is unclear or incomplete. It’s what helps you sense when a metric is misleading, even if it’s “green.”
This is the nuance most organizations miss: you need both instinct and information to make good bets.
Innovation doesn’t scale without organizational buy-in. And according to Leandro, you don’t get that buy-in by pitching a bold vision. You get it by doing the hard work upfront:
→ Showing your process
→ Backing it with evidence
→ Writing a clear, detailed plan
It’s not just about the idea—it’s about demonstrating that you understand the business and can execute within it.
Leandro made it clear: experimentation doesn’t work without the right infrastructure.
You can’t run weekly experiments in a company that ships code twice a year. You can’t run A/B tests if your tools don’t support them. The technical architecture, team model, and decision-making structure all have to support velocity.
Amazon didn’t stumble into speed—it built for it.
If you want to innovate inside a big organization, you need to stop romanticizing ideas and start operationalizing how you test, learn, and scale.
Leandro’s mindset is a masterclass in that.
We always enjoy conversations about innovation and startup building so please get in touch.
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