interviews

"I always tell young women to listen to the advice you’re inevitably going to get, but at the end of the day, follow your gut." Hi Heather, tell us about your journey into Demand-gen Marketing. What inspired you to start “Spark Your Channel”? My demand generation journey started before we had email. In high school, I worked for a one-person insurance agency after school. This woman was obsessed with demand generation (in a good way). Everyday I would mail merge (if you’re under 35, Google it!) lists of people into…

“The biggest challenge for any CMO today is that our role has fundamentally changed and evolved. We're no longer brand storytellers devoted solely to Outbound Marketing. We’re now stewards of the entire customer experience from awareness and acquisition to engagement and retention.” From majoring in English to leading some of the most prolific Marketing and Sales teams in the Subscription economy, could you walk us through your journey to becoming Zendesk CMO? I started my career as a Writer and Editor working in…

"Data ethics is doing the right thing with data, considering the human impact from all sides, and making decisions based on your brand values." Hi Barbara. Tell us about your journey into data protection and how you started at Looker. My journey into data security and privacy began more than two decades ago, where I previously served as Chief Privacy Officer for Intuit, Inc. and the Hewlett-Packard Company. In fact, I was Hewlett-Packard’s first-ever CPO, where I led a global team that drove global privacy policy and…

"As a business leader, I think it’s critical that you continue to assess how you leverage the mix of assets available to you to drive performance." Journey into Tech Hi Mark, tell us about your journey into Revenue Marketing? What inspired you to be part of a Marketing Technology company? A big gap in the market inspired me to start Demand Spring. We are a Revenue Marketing consultancy. We help B2B marketers optimize their practices for building pipeline and contributing to revenue. I was a marketing leader on the…

"Businesses must start to think smarter and better in order to establish a sustainable, long-lasting Marketing future – especially when it comes to the use of customer data." Journey into Tech Hi Ian. Tell us about your journey into tech and how you started at Silverbullet. I first entered the world of Advertising and Technology firmly on the direct brand side, where I was the first Global Head of Digital for Bacardi, the world's largest privately held, family-owned spirits company. During my time with Bacardi, I…

"With ride-sharing and gaming companies entering the financial industry, we will see an adoption of technology coming from various other industries, making for an exciting space to watch. Journey into Tech Hi Liam, tell us about your role and journey into Technology. What inspired you to take up the role at Singlife? My journey into technology was through Marketing. I began my career in an Advertising agency before joining a new AdTech start-up, which was my first professional exposure to technology. Through this…

"Business leaders should invest time understanding where AI works and where AI struggles." Hi Adam.You come from a very interesting background where you have managed vastly different portfolios. Could you tell us about this enriching journey and how you landed at Luminoso? I think of my career as a sequence of small steps in which I applied what I learned in the past to something new – that, combined with a difficulty saying "no" when asked to do something. When I graduated from college in 1991, we were in a recession;…

"We think email is still the king. In all seriousness, the reports of its death have been greatly exaggerated." Tell us a bit about Email Meter? Specifically, tell us how it can help team leaders gauge a pulse on employee productivity and engagement? Email is ubiquitous at work, but it’s still a black box. CRM or helpdesk ticketing solutions replace email for some use cases and have limited built-in KPIs; but the costs, customization and change management are high. And sometimes these solutions are just not a good…

" Aim for the stars or you will shoot your foot off. I made this up but I use this to get my team to think about breaking barriers and stretching themselves to achieve new heights." Sales Background Tell us a bit about yourself and how you prepared for a career in selling Sales Technology? To avoid having to get a proper job while pursuing university studies, I started playing poker. Several months into playing online and live, I realized I had a knack for it and was making more money in one tournament that I could…

"The rise of Voice search will change the way consumers search and find products, how ad campaigns are run and delivered, which will impact wider Marketing initiatives." Tell us about the major milestones in your career as a Marketing professional? I went from being a Product Marketing manager at a Marketing Cloud company to a CMO in under two years - something I would have never expected. Actually, to be the CMO of a rapidly evolving business like Zoovu is a milestone in itself, the past few months have been a…

"We believe that publishers have an opportunity to leverage user data in a way that enhances the user experience as long as they are transparent about its use." My Journey in Tech Hi Laetitia. Tell us about your journey into Marketing Technology and how you arrived at HEROW. I've always been passionate about tech. After my graduation from CentralSupelec, a French Graduate School in Engineering, I started working for a Telecom company in France (Orange). While there, I worked on the implementation of their mobile…

"AI and Machine Learning technologies are critical for being able to deliver this kind of cross-channel recognition and personalization at scale." Tell us about the technologies that brought seismic shifts in email monetization campaigns? The three biggest ones are: - The use of improved rendering technology to deliver better artwork appearance. This enabled the success of native campaigns by allowing the ads to blend seamlessly with content, and it just provides a better overall user experience. - Direct…

"We can get to personalization at scale through AI and ML, which can lead to better engagement with our customers and partners." Hi Cindy, tell us about your journey into Marketing and Sales technology. I’ve been in Marketing for longer than I want to admit and have held every role in Marketing — from Product Marketing to Corporate Marketing, and later Sales operations. I can genuinely say, “I’ve done that job!” The evolution of Marketing to a data-driven, revenue engine fueled the need to be a technologist. I love…

"The demise of the third-party cookie will lead to brands increasingly focusing on methods to acquire and leverage first-party data." Journey into Tech  Hi Matt, as the greater industry has continued to evolve, and you think about your particular journey with Technology, any new reflections on the role you have played? What inspires you most in your role at Pepperjam? 20+ years into my love affair with Digital Marketing, and yes it is still a love affair, whatever small role I may have played in its evolution is…

"Voice and Video technology have reached the point where it’s no longer mandatory to require everyone to be in the same office." Journey into Tech Hi Amy, please tell us about your role and journey into Technology. What inspired you to take up the role at Poly? It was an interesting route. For about 16 years I held various Marketing positions at Microsoft, eventually becoming a General Manager in their Server and Tools Marketing Group. I spent a couple of years as a Vice President at HP. Then in 2015, I began a…

"As AdTech grows, we will see an enhanced focus on not just placing an ad, but also knowing what is happening on the other side." Tell us about your Journey in Technology? What inspired you to start Anzu.io? Since I first dipped my feet into the AdTech industry, I was hooked. I saw in AdTech, a wide-open canvas for innovation and meaningful advancements. My mission was - and is - to create breakthrough products that have the power to change the way humans and advertisements interface with one another. A core…

"Product Managers don’t worry too much about robot overlords taking our jobs. It is so much more art than science." About Shawna You were part of the first Localization Product Management team at Salesforce. Today, you lead Product Management at Zendesk. How has your role evolved in the last few years? My career has never been a straight line, I’ve moved in and out of Localization, Marketing and Product Management roles for the last 25 years. I took a big step back in my career to join Salesforce as their Localization…

"As marketers get more clarity around the definition of personalization, I believe we will see more development of customer-centric approaches in marketing." Journey into Tech You come from a very interesting background. From Aeronautical Engineering to heading Marketing at Formation.ai - tell us about this enriching journey. I’m an Engineer by degree, but have now worked in the Marketing industry for more than 20 years. I have a very technical background -- I received my BS in Aeronautical Engineering from Cal Poly…

"Programmatic advertising is becoming a key driver of monetization for publishers across devices, with mobile apps and OTT publishers increasingly embracing programmatic strategies." My Journey in Tech Hi Johanna. Tell us about your journey into Marketing Technology and how you arrived at PubMatic.  I am a data-driven marketer at heart, and the tech industry gives me the opportunity to marry the analytical and artistic sides of my brain in order to tell engaging stories about our products and services. There are few…

"Customers don’t want brands snooping on them and inferring what they like. Brands must adapt to a new, non-invasive way of reaching consumers." Journey into Tech  Hi Richard, tell us about your role and journey into technology. What inspired you to take up the role at Cheetah Digital? Before Cheetah Digital, I started my career in Sales. Over time, success in Sales led me to other avenues of business including Marketing and Strategy. Learning from these experiences gave me the background and knowledge I needed to…