Aruna Ravichandran leads advertising for Webex at Cisco with a 99% distant staff, lower than 1% attrition and what she calls “maniacal execution.”
We caught up along with her on the latest Webex One conference in San Diego to find out about her philosophy on thriving within the AI period and the way she sees the way forward for work, advertising and tech evolving.
How has AI essentially modified how your staff works?
I take into consideration AI in three layers. Layer one: individuals who really feel AI will take their job. Layer two: individuals who fear somebody higher at AI will take their job. Layer three: folks embracing AI to alter how they function. I’m in layer three, and 95% of my staff is just too.
Right here’s an instance: For our keynote [at Webex One], I didn’t just like the design of the animation. This was Sunday [two days before the presentation]. Historically, that animation would take a number of days. My artistic director and I discovered a picture on Shutterstock, and he used AI to create the simulation in about 10 minutes. What you noticed within the presentation was created in minutes as a substitute of hours.
What’s the road between AI augmentation and human creativity?
The human mind can by no means get replaced by AI, however you’ve acquired to place it within the immediate. With AI, it’s enter to output — rubbish in, rubbish out. Take your intelligence and put it within the immediate. It doesn’t matter in the event you’re a developer, a marketer or a strategist — the way you craft the immediate issues. AI saves you hours, so spend time refining your prompts. You’ll save great time whereas getting output with velocity you might by no means obtain earlier than.
Your staff is 99% distant with lower than 1% attrition. How did you obtain that?
This staff was born through the pandemic. We got here along with the mentality that we’re not challengers, we’re winners. The basic factor that can not be taught is ardour. Both you’ve got it otherwise you don’t. We search for ardour and hustle.
There’s talent and can; you might need talent with out will, and also you’re not the appropriate match. However when you’ve got will with out talent, talent might be taught — will can’t. Once you’re having enjoyable, innovating, taking dangers, that’s when innovation occurs. Threat-averse cultures kill innovation, and our attrition proves it really works. Folks don’t go away our staff due to the tradition we’ve constructed.
How has AI modified what CEOs count on from advertising leaders? How do you stability being revenue-driven with model stewardship?
AI is having a really constructive affect. All of the advertising automation instruments are innovating in unbelievable methods with income advertising and progress advertising. We now have a possibility leveraging AI to actually residence in in your ICP: your very best buyer profile. I take advantage of ICP as a substitute of “audience” since you’re laser centered on who you’re truly promoting to. AI offers you the flexibility to grasp your looking floor, the place your ICPs are working.
I’ve truly lowered my spend with Google search considerably. OpenAI hasn’t created a monetization angle for advertising but, however my staff’s purpose is to put in writing long-form blogs in order that when AI programs crawl the web, you get listed. Search is essentially altering. The whole lot is turning into intent-based. You may give AI a immediate: “I’m bringing a brand new product to market, my goal market is X, Y and Z. How are my opponents concentrating on that viewers?” You get a lot intel that makes you laser centered on the way you go after prospects.
What expertise matter most now?
In case you suppose AI will take your job, or that somebody higher at AI will take your job, you’ll get stale quick. Having an open mentality that AI will uplevel your expertise and understanding how one can leverage AI to make your life simpler is essential. In case you’re in layer one or two, it’s going to be powerful.
How do you keep forward in quickly evolving markets?
I wake at 6 a.m. and spend 6 to 7 studying: what’s taking place globally, how LLM instruments are working, what Nvidia and others are doing. I even have dinner as soon as a month with folks in several industries, to be taught from them. Studying ought to develop into a part of who you’re.
How would you redesign advertising for 2025?
I’d revamp each operate to function within the AI world. For product advertising, don’t spend hours researching the competitors — leverage AI. Construct your advertising plan with AI, however vet it as a result of AI hallucinates. Get suggestions from clients, analysts, the press, then execute with velocity. Occasion advertising is completely different. You possibly can solely do higher, not exchange it. AI can’t exchange placing an occasion collectively.
I’ve additionally discovered one thing essential from Jeetu [Patel, president and head of product marketing at Cisco]. He says to pour your coronary heart and soul into the product. He jokingly says he doesn’t even want advertising as a result of a product turns into the most effective advertising software. Construct merchandise the place clients will share them with different clients or relations. Phrase-of-mouth advertising is the most effective type of advertising. Once you construct merchandise folks love, it turns into simpler to create consciousness at scale and activate it across the planet.
You mentioned “Technique with out execution is hallucination.” Clarify that.
Folks ask how I do all of it. I’m a mom of two, with a demanding job. I’ve one other saying: I outsource all the pieces however love. You possibly can have the most effective technique on this planet, however in the event you don’t execute, it means nothing. It’s all about hustle, finesse and maniacal execution.
This dialog has been edited for size and readability.
