Simplifying Complexity with Dot Foods’ Head of Innovation Jeff Barry.

Jeff Barry is simplifying complexity inside one of the most operationally demanding supply chains in the country. As Head of Innovation at Dot Foods, the nation’s largest foodservice redistributor, Jeff shares how enterprise innovation moves faster and more accurately when it’s centralized, CEO-aligned, and always tied to real business outcomes. Jeff breaks down innovation as a four-lap relay race—where innovation runs the first laps through insight, experimentation, and guidance, then hands the baton to the business to deliver ROI. We explore why experiments beat pilots, how running 20–30 tests a year accelerates learning without heavy resource deployment, and why truly understanding a problem means living it—on the docks, in the trucks, and with customers. Jeff also explains why innovation can’t be done to or for the business, but only with it, how external perspectives unlock progress inside complex organizations, and why the real challenge isn’t technology—it’s learning faster than your environment is changing.