Digital servitization (DS) enables manufacturing firms to transition from product-centric offerings to digitally enabled product-service systems (PSSs). Despite its strategic potential, DS represents a challenging transformation for incumbent manufacturers, characterized by technological, data-driven, and business model uncertainty. While prior research conceptualizes DS as a strategic and organizational shift, limited attention has been paid to the process mechanisms through which firms generate and leverage knowledge to navigate this transformation. In particular, the role of Intelligent Knowledge (IK) and the mechanisms through which firms act remain insufficiently understood.
This study investigates how IK evolves throughout the DS journey and how the Lean Startup approach helps firms manage uncertainty during this process. To do so, the research draws on a longitudinal multiple-case study of four global B2B manufacturing firms undergoing DS transformations.
Our findings reveal a three-stage pathway through which firms progressively develop and mobilize IK. In the first stage, experimentation enables firms to identify relevant customer problems and achieve problem-solution fit. In the second stage, accumulated insights support refinement and the achievement of PSS-market fit. In the third stage, IK expands to ecosystem-level knowledge, enabling outcome-based services and problem-solution fit.
The study contributes to the DS literature by introducing a knowledge-based perspective on the transformation process and by showing how Lean Startup experimentation functions as an adaptive mechanism to navigate the journey. For managers, the findings provide a structured roadmap for DS, highlighting how staged experimentation and progressive IK development can guide the transition toward scalable PSSs.