Restoring the Soul of Business: Staying Human in the Age of Data by Rishad Tobaccowala
From page xviii of Restoring the Soul of Business: Staying Human in the Age of Data by Rishad Tobaccowala:
Lest you think I’m an anti-tech zealot who believes we should go back to a kinder, gentler, analog time, let me tell you a little about myself. I grew up in Bombay, India, receiving a degree in economics and advanced mathematics from the University of Bombay. I came to the United States and received an MBA in marketing and finance from one of the most quantitative schools in the world: the University of Chicago.
Over a thirty-seven year career at the companies of the Publicis Groupe, an eighty-thousand-person global marketing and business information transformation firm, I helped found or cofound some of the first digital agencies and future-oriented strategic consultancies As well as contributing to the shaping and growth of one of the two largest buyers of digital, data-driven media in the world.
I have served as chairman of major global digital- and e-commerce-oriented firms such as Digitas for Publicis and served as a chief strategist and chief growth officer for a publicist group, while also serving as a trusted advisor to many of our clients’ reinventions and reimaginings.
I relate this short story to establish my credentials in the data-driven, digital space. I am obviously someone who believes in digital change. Not so obviously, I also believe in the power of people to make transformation work. As much as I value data, devices, and software, I value empathy, innovation, and relationships.
My career has been about change. Seeing it, managing it, and adapting to it. Change requires adopting the latest technology, but it also requires maximizing the best qualities of people.
My career has also been about reinvention–reinventing companies as well as myself. Reinvention involves implementing state-of-the-art software and digital processes that produce something new, but it also involves getting people to embrace the new and enhance it with their ideas and actions.
I’ve led transformation efforts both in the US and in countries throughout the world and earned a reputation as a digital pioneer, while also being known as someone who has helped inspire and grow talent. The two roles are not incompatible.
Listen to the Interview:
Show Notes
Restoring the Soul of Business: Staying Human in the Age of Data by Rishad Tobaccowala
Non Obvious Megatrends: How to See What Others Miss and Predict the Future (Non-Obvious Trends Series) (Non-Obvious Series Book 10) by Rohit Bhargava
Rohit Bhargava’s Marketing Book Podcast Interview
Marketing Book Podcast Author Twitter List
Flights by Olga Tokarczuk
Strategy Beyond the Hockey Stick: People, Probabilities, and Big Moves to Beat the Odds by Chris Bradley, Martin Hirt, and Sven Smit
Principles of Marketing (17th Edition) by Philip Kotler
White Teeth: A Novel by Zadie Smith
Feel Free: Essays by Zadie Smith
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