What Veetika Joshi Deoras teaches about AI in marketing

Digital to me at some level is omnipresent and at the same time it's faceless. So you have been working in various roles across the Tata group, right? Which has been your most challenging role till now? From Tata Capital to you know you've just donned a new avatar at Taj. Which has been the most challenging role and why? So yes, I think I've been extremely fortunate to be attached to a group which is not just as large as the Tata's but also extremely true to its values.

I've had a fantastic journey. I have worked across different industries and each of them have been very challenging. But maybe if I was to pick one I would say financial services. Right. And this was largely because all brands in the financial services space cut across all kinds of customer segments. So we would look at B2C customers, we would look at B2B customers, we would look at customers who belong to different segments.

And yet, so while your target audience is so diverse, you have a monolithic parent brand which needs to not only cater to all of them but also serve their needs. So I think yes, so for me financial services has been most exciting thus far. The other bit of course is that with the advent of digital, I think digital financial services lies at almost the core of it. Right. So it's an industry which has been very, very positively I would say but very, very deeply positively impacted by digital. So that I think added its own bit of excitement.

Given the constant evolution of digital, what is your approach to AI as a marketer? Do you think it's too much noise at the moment? Is it one of your pet peeves or what is your approach right now? So I think, forget AI but when we talk about digital per se, it's very important to isolate the signal from the noise. I think digital is something that all of us as marketers have to embrace and embrace fully. I remember we used to earlier talk about digital strategies and but even those days are gone now.

There's nothing called a digital strategy. It's all about today. It's all about having a strategy which helps you operate and succeed in a digital age. So digital to me at some level is only present and at the same time it's faceless. AI of course is one manifestation of this. Right. And I believe there's immense potential in AI. It just needs to be used right. And the trick with AI is that the first time you use it, the first version is actually always the worst version.

Because it needs a lot of constant working and reworking and iterations for it to really reach its potential. Right. But otherwise I think as a technology, it's perfectly suited for roles which are repetitive in nature, roles which need a lot of information assimilation and then reproduction of the same, or roles which need a high level of dynamism and real time actionability. So, you know, while we kind of agree on the fact and it's, you know, spoken about that we need more women leadership in management roles across the board in corporates, etc.

What are the one or two things you think, you know, at a senior management position and a leader, business leader today, that organizations need to do to kind of help? What are the two things that you think, you know, organizations need to do? And this will really help women, um, take, don these roles confidently. Great. So, um, AI, I think the world is changing and, and I'm very, very thrilled to see those changes. Yes. Uh, one concept would be the concept of equality versus equity.

And, uh, you know, we speak a lot about it and I think, uh, what we are really looking for is, uh, providing a balance such that women are actually given the same level of opportunity and the same level of preparedness that sometimes they don't land up getting. And therefore, uh, this little bit of an extra push or this little bit of an extra support or help that women need to actually even come to an even playing field is, I think, what a lot of organizations are working for. Right.

And then once, uh, they're brought to that even playing field, then of course it is up to individual talent and that's where individual talent takes over. But I think there is a little bit of support and assistance that, uh, women need to be given to be brought to that level where they're standing on the same pedestal. And then yes, it's everyone's individual talents that take over. So tell us something about the Vithika outside your workplace. Where do you find your inspiration form on a daily basis as a marketer? Oh, lovely.

So, um, I think as a marketer, our role needs us to keep our eyes and ears open all the time and keep looking for inspiration no matter where it comes from. Uh, it could be a morning walk next to the beach or it could be in the middle of a bustling street when you're sitting alone in your car. Uh, but I think one place which has constantly given me inspiration and ideas is actually the place where the brand actually fructifies and actually interacts with the customers. Right.

So for a retail brand, it's typically their stores, uh, for a financial services brand, it was again, mostly where customer interactions happen. This could be a call center, for example. So often I've realized that when I'm at the place where customers are interacting with the brand and by share observation, there is tons and tons of ideas and inspiration that can come to you. So malls typically would be the best place for you as well, right? Absolutely. Oh yeah.

Just, just keep observing customers and, uh, there's so many, uh, nuances that, uh, they keep throwing at us and it's just for us to catch them and convert them into great strategic ideas. Yeah.