Please tell us about your journey into technology and how you started in the industry?

I always knew I wanted to go into technology.

I graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi, which is one of the top technology schools globally. I came to the US and got my Ph.D. at MIT, building algorithms for assembly sequence analysis and supply chain management.

I started working in product management, product strategy, and R&D for software companies, building products to optimize supply chains, enable cross-channel commerce, and industrial IoT. From there, I joined SAP for an 8-year period, eventually leading its vision, strategy, roadmap, and go-to-market execution for its supply chain products. During my tenure, SAP ranked #1 in supply chain management.

Since then, I’ve held senior product executive roles at First Data and Medallia, helping guide both companies through IPOs in 2015 and 2019, respectively. I am looking forward to applying the learnings from my experience and customer-centric approach to build rapid and highly scalable products at Seismic. This company is on a tear and is on track to change the world of sales and marketing as we know it.

Recommended: MarTech Interview with Doug Winter, CEO and Co-founder, Seismic

If not a Chief Product Officer, which other business domains would we most likely found you — or some other profession?

I’m right where I’m supposed to be – product, engineering, design, and scaling products for companies across verticals and geographies – this is where my passion lies, and I am fortunate to be able to follow my passion.

If I could choose a different profession entirely, I think I’d be a professional tennis player.

Sales enablement technologies have evolved with lead gen content and monetization capabilities. How do you see Seismic transforming the global sales industry?

Sales has changed so much over the past 5-10 years, especially when it’s powered by technology like Seismic. The success of a sales team can be largely affected by how timely, relevant and personalized the content is to the buyer. Today’s environment – where these interactions have become increasingly digital – has made tech like Seismic become critical to any business. Modern, data-driven platforms like Seismic will transform the global sales and marketing industry by empowering both sellers and buyers at every step of the journey.

Please share your experience in working with advanced AI/ML models and how you see deep learning capabilities further disrupting the SaaS / Cloud platforms.

During my time at Medallia as CPO and EVP, I oversaw the Medallia Experience Cloud, which uses powerful AI to detect patterns, anticipate needs and predict behavior for smarter experience decisions.

At Seismic, our storytelling platform also uses AI to identify patterns and trends of how content is consumed by the buyer, how sellers are using content from marketing, what they’re searching for before a call or meeting, and other insights. These insights help increase productivity, close deals faster and lead to happier customers and bigger deals. One of my responsibilities at Seismic will be to continue innovating on our products, including our AI capabilities, to provide even more value for our customers.

Tell us about your favorite marketing campaign you came across in 2020.

Gillette’s “Made of What Matters” is by far my favorite campaign of 2020.

A lot has been written about how Gillette used the campaign to inspire young men with positive versions of masculinity that highlights injustices in society, promotes positive behavior and challenges men to be the best version of themselves. This campaign not only addressed a sensitive topic head-on but also highlighted Gillette’s commitment to the cause, where they committed to donate $1M per year for next three years to the #MeToo movement. The campaign was a resounding success for Gillette in terms of brand awareness, generating over 1.5M social media mentions in the first week of its launch.

An added bonus for me was picking Rahim Sterling as the brand ambassador – he has been very vocal about his experiences of racism and is using his platform to fight injustices both on and off the field. Manchester City is my favorite football team and Rahim one of my favorite players.

Recommended: Seismic is Named to the 2020 Forbes Cloud 100

Any advice to all product marketing professionals gearing up for 2021?

Your goals should include keeping the customer experience front and center. In today’s “Experience Economy,” customers choose who they want to do business with based on their experiences and interactions from day one. Product managers, and business leadership overall, should aim to see the “experience” through the eyes of the customer. This will ensure that their product and messaging are relevant, personalized and mutually beneficial.

Thank you Krish for answering all our questions!