Jason (00:44)
Hi, I'm here with Priti Mehra for this week's Wise In Five Priti, welcome to our podcast.

Priti Mehra (00:51)
Thank you, Jason. Excited to be here.

Jason (00:52)
Well, I'm excited to have you. I'm thrilled. you have this amazing background at these huge companies. I think one we kind of heard of Google, you've done brand strategy, you've done research, you've done insights. And I think would be great for our listeners to just learn a little bit more of your background before we jump into the Wise In Five Are you okay with that?

Priti Mehra (01:16)
Yes, absolutely.

So I often try to kind of talk about my background in terms of my career journey starting from India, which is where I am from, to now in San Francisco in the Bay Area But it's always been in this area of strategy and insights. I started on the vendor side, on the agency side, spent a few years there, joined Electrolux, spent some time figuring out washing machines and microwaves and all of those wonderful things. And then I decided I wanted to get back to the agency side. So spent about

16 years of my career in various agency roles and then I joined Google as their global head of brand and reputation insights. been a career spanning India, South Africa, Singapore, and now I'm in the Bay Area. I worked with so many Fortune 500 companies. I have probably done research in about 50, 60 markets around the world.

Jason (02:06)
Wow.

Priti Mehra (02:07)
I personally call myself more of a mixed methodology kind of research. I've been in qualitative, quantitative, but overall I kind of like to call myself as a storyteller. I do believe you can get those stories from any method, any source of data.

Jason (02:22)
Well, that's terrific. And I think we're going to have a couple of stories to share as we go through this and also want to dive in probably out of most of our advisors. You have some of the most global experience that I can think of leading offices in all different countries. I want to talk about that, especially when we think about for our midsize business executives, the members who probably are being impacted.

Priti Mehra (02:37)
Mm-hmm.

Jason (02:45)
with tariffs and some of the other things that are being imposed. So before we get deep into that, I'm going to go with my first question, which is, where do you find inspiration just in daily life?

Priti Mehra (02:57)
well, that's a great question to kick off the session.

I've often thought of inspiration sort of as a continuous process. I don't think of it as, you know, a single source. And I find it in my travels. I think I mentioned to you before, I love traveling and, observing, being in different cultures, just observing how people interact with each other is a huge source of inspiration. And I think it speaks to my chosen career as well in insights. But specifically when I think about strategy and insights,

I found a lot of inspiration in those moments of tension, of friction, where you're trying to understand what sort of the think-feel do part of the consumer behavior, where things are just not easily explained by conventional thinking.

when you are faced with some of those complex challenges and you're trying to wrap your head around it and see how does that actually translate into business growth, those have been the moments which have been so inspiring and they've actually led to ways in which we think solving for problems differently and sometimes even organizing teams differently because that's when something that you've often always done doesn't work.

And so you really need to think out of the box. So that's kind of where I find inspiration, but also some of the brilliant people that I've worked with, people around me, people I follow on LinkedIn, people like yourself. mean, people who are sort of things which reinventing careers today, this moment. And I find that very, very inspirational.

Jason (04:23)
Well, thank you. I love when you're talking about essentially getting into the messy part of things, right? Things that are complex, that change, they transform, especially in today's world and just how do you find that path forward, right? How do you find simplicity through it?

Priti Mehra (04:41)
Absolutely, because I feel especially today, nothing is obvious. You have so much data, you feel like you can just put a prompt and the answers are all going to appear magically. And still people are like, I just don't know what to do. And so when you have all that messiness, all of that friction and tension, think those are truly the moments of inspiration because they challenge us. They challenge us to do and think,

Things differently

Jason (05:07)
Absolutely.

So chatgpt you just input something and magically the answers come? Not yet.

Priti Mehra (05:11)
Yes.

Not yet. I was at a TEDx recently and one of the speakers, said, in when the answers are all around you, it's the questions that you ask which becomes the most important thing. What are the questions you're asking? And I think that is so, so important.

We need to be more clear about the questions today than ever before.

Jason (05:35)
I'm gonna drink a cup of wisdom to that.

Priti Mehra (05:37)
Ha ha.

Jason (05:38)
Thank you for that, Priti. So why don't we dive into some of your background. So at Kantar, you led their offices and major clients that they had, I would guess a lot of Fortune 500, Fortune 1000, as well as getting down to mid-size businesses. And at Google, you were the client, right? So I always look at it as offense versus defense. But what were some of the learnings you had, both as a client and as a provider to those businesses?

Priti Mehra (05:42)
Mm-hmm.

Yes.

Yeah, having built my career on the provider side of things, I found that we tend to get sort of very ensnared in the whole execution aspect of it. You're focusing so much on the what and the how that sometimes the why gets missed. At the same time, being on the provider side, helped me understand the importance of being a trusted advisor,

building those relationships where clients can talk to you and tell you exactly what they're looking for. It's not just a research brief, it goes beyond that.

On the provider side of things, it's all about anticipating what the client needs. How do you provide value? How do you work with resources which are never enough? Whether it's people, whether it's budgets, you're working in a very resource-constrained environment and you have to get creative to make sure that you're providing the kind of value that your clients need.

At Google, I discovered and I really came to appreciate the life of insights. It's not about what you deliver at that presentation. It's the life the report takes and those insights take once you've delivered them. Whether it is to different stakeholders, how they get combined with different data sources, how they help solve the different business problems.

So to me, that was a huge insight because I feel like on the provider side of things, you get so particular about that presentation that you've delivered.

my time at Google and now that I consult with many agencies, I tell them that start to think about your client servicing journey as really delivering what the client is looking for then from there anticipating how those insights might travel. Because that's not the end of it. That's actually delivering that report is the beginning of the journey of that insights roadmap.

Jason (07:46)
Totally, completely agree.

I know we're going to talk about AI later, but there's something that you said before, which is the why. And understanding the why not only gets you to that point of decision, but also something you go back to as you're executing. To make sure that you're staying within that framework because there's a lot of wisdom that came out of the why.

Priti Mehra (08:07)
Yes, absolutely. And you know, the why becomes this overarching sense of purpose because there are various ways that can translate into the what and the how. But the why should be your North Star.

Jason (08:16)
What do I?

I love that. So we've had a couple of amazing female leaders and you're one of them. You're our latest. and you've been at the highest levels, for some of the largest brands, the largest firms. Where did you go for guidance throughout your journey? Are there people that you point to that you went to for advice and guidance.

Priti Mehra (08:22)
Mm-hmm.

Jason (08:35)
as something new came along or you just needed a validation of a path you were going.

Priti Mehra (08:39)
It's been a tapestry of sorts, say, mentors, allies, sponsors. There were times when I found I was the only woman in the room. And I became the managing director in Singapore. And I remember going in for some of the WPP meetings. And at that point, Sir Martin Sorrell, and there was other agency leaders. And here I was, the one woman in the room, and that's at many a time. And also,

the one Asian woman in the room. So sometimes it's trying to figure out how to navigate, how to also land my perspective, my point of view in a way that doesn't get overlooked. I would also say something which my mentors also taught me over the years is the ability to listen.

I found that to be one of the most valuable lessons because you can fall in love with the sound of your own voice. And I've learned not to do that.

the power of listening, the power of suspending your own agenda, I think is something that has also been one of the most powerful advices that I've received in my life. How do you suspend your own agenda? And I think that served me really well, especially when I was on the provider side and suspending my own agenda when I walk into a meeting with clients.

It's about who are the people who are going to lift you up? Who are the people who are going to be your voice when you're not in the room? I think it's really important to find those people. Over the years, I'm also gonna say that having experienced amazing mentors and sponsors in my life,

I've tried to do the same for others and especially for women and women, but especially for women who are navigating the earlier stages of their careers where they are sometimes trying to make a decision between, can I continue working? Do I need to step away? And of course, if you need to step away, please do, but how can I help you if it's a decision you're making because you don't feel you can do both.

And so supporting others just the way I was supported at different stages in my career is something that I really try to do at this point.

Jason (10:37)
Well, that's a wonderful thing. And obviously, I am so honored that you're doing that as part of The Wisory. So thank you for being an amazing advisor in that regard. So being this incredible leader, as you've built and applied research and insights to grow business and brands your own, as Google and for others when you were Kantar and other providers,

We have this world we touch on it of AI. I think that's how you pronounce it is AI. How do you see what you've been working on evolve now that AI keeps growing in prominence and usage?

Priti Mehra (11:12)
In the world of insights I often say there is that there have been a lot of shifts which have all been very vertical shifts. Sometimes it was about how we collect data, sometimes it was about how you're reporting.

This is the first time where it's across the value chain. Everything is getting impacted the way you collect. I mean, we're talking about synthetic data, synthetic samples. We are talking about storytelling, which is getting influenced. There's so many ways you can query data. So to me, it's the entire value chain which is getting impacted. Personally, for me, I've gone back into the student mode.

I took an exec course at Berkeley last year on the strategies and applications of AI. I try and do as much of hands-on learning with, Gemini, I'm on Claude, I'm on ChatGPT, I'm on Perplexity, you name it, I'm there. As soon as their new tools come in, the first time I'm on GitHub, trying to figure things out. It feels like a back-to-school moment.

where I feel professionally I need to learn and I need to embrace this new way of learning and in the process, hopefully help others as well. Because if I can use the word, it's like a tsunami. It just hits you and you're trying to figure out is it about my talent, it's about the processes, it's about the product and it's all happening at the same time.

And I honestly I love it because I feel it's a disruption that we need and I think it's a disruption which is going to transform this insights from being something which is very reactive to very proactive something which can influence rather than just inform. So I think it's a huge moment.

Jason (12:44)
That's terrific.

Yeah. Well, and not to steal anyone's thunder, but I know you're going to go from student to teacher soon because you and some other Wisory Advisors are going to be doing a special session in a few weeks. So we're going to tease that here and then we're going to announce it very soon. But I'm so excited to see.

all the wisdom that you share. So thank you for that. it's going to be amazing. I know it. So, you've moved from Google and you're starting to work with different businesses as with your own business and their businesses of all sizes. what differences do you see for midsize companies versus a lot of the Fortune 500 companies that you worked with before?

Priti Mehra (13:26)
The big companies have the resources, they have the big teams, they have a lot of data, which is organized more often than not, not always, but definitely in ways where people can access them, access all that information. So I think there are a lot of advantages with big companies, but at the same time, and I experienced this at Google as well, you are big.

Jason (13:46)
like trying to turn the QE2, right? not going to make that happen very fast.

Priti Mehra (13:51)
I often used to refer to being at Google as like being in a big ocean liner. Even a little movement is huge. But to me, mid and small size businesses, it's like being in a speedboat. You have the ability to actually change course. You have the agility. And thankfully with...

all the improvements in AI today, you have the ability to actually access a lot of the same information that big companies

What I find when I'm working with mid-size companies and even startups is asking them to really focus. Just because you have more finite resources, you have smaller teams, agility is your strongest, asset. But to leverage that, you have to be very strategic and prioritize.

So what are you going to start with? You don't want to start with 10 things at the same time. You have to kind of build that roadmap, which includes a few easy wins with high impact and also your North stars, which are going to require investment in terms of talent, technology, resources, etcetera So to me, working with, the best advice I've been able to give mid-size and small companies is

create that roadmap. Don't try and do it all at the same time because nothing's going to get done then. But also make sure you're leveraging the agility, which is your strength.

Jason (15:06)
Exactly right. It goes back to the questions that are so important to have right. Because even as AI starts to grow and you said going from reactive to proactive in research and insights, AI helps you do that, more access to data, it's still so important to have people who have been there who know how you can help frame those questions, the types of outcomes that you're

Priti Mehra (15:18)
Mm-hmm.

Jason (15:30)
Trying to frame not not drive it to that but guide it so you make sure that what you have is actionable against the outcomes that you're looking to achieve.

Priti Mehra (15:37)
Yes,

absolutely. I'm a big proponent of experimentation. But you don't need to experiment with everything. Where there are tried and tested frameworks, things, to go about doing things, there are some tested go-to-market frameworks and strategies. Use them. Save the experimentation time and effort for truly those edge cases where you really need to do.

Jason (15:59)
I think that makes a ton of sense. So believe it or not, we've gone through our five questions, but I do have a bonus question for you, Priti.

So this is So as an amazing advisor on The Wisory with all your, amazing experience that you've had, what questions would our midsize business leaders, the members that we have on The Wisory, what kind of questions should they be coming to you with that you can help them solve?

Priti Mehra (16:24)
One of the things that I find with lot of mid-sized businesses is how do you identify some of those sustainable growth levers, the sustainable strategic growth levers? There's a lot of discussion around tapping into the trends, and sometimes you can feel like there are so many trends, what do I tap into? So if you're looking for identifying some of those sustainable growth levers,

which trends should you tap into? Or even for that matter, if you feel like you have so much data and you really don't know how to actually figure out what to do with all of that, what are some of those things in the data that are actually important? How do you kind of glean the real insights from everything that is going on? As well as, make insights that unfair advantage.

everyone's talking about customer centricity. How do you truly embed that customer centricity into the way you kind of go to market? I think those are areas where I do believe I can help them.

Jason (17:07)
Totally.

I think that's perfect. Who doesn't want to figure out growth and customer centricity. My concern slash belief is that AI potentially can drive people to a race to the average. If everyone's using the same tools and asking the same questions and they're expecting to use the outcomes that they get, everyone's going to be doing the same thing.

And so this is where someone like you who has that experience across different industries, different ways of approaching things can make the difference to give them that unfair advantage.

Priti Mehra (17:50)
Yes, I mean, definitely I can help, but I also so much agree with you on that bit about the race to the average. I feel the true differentiators are going to be what are the edge cases, what's the context in which you're operating in? Because when it's all that same information.

As soon as you layer on that different context, where people live, how people are thinking, what are the other influences in their life, suddenly that same piece of information can mean something which is entirely different. I think it's our ability to kind of tap into the humanness of it, which is going to be incredibly important.

Jason (18:25)
And it also goes back to what we're talking about with the wisdom in the why. I would say every AI platform that I know, every AI agent is giving you an outcome, but they're not necessarily telling you why that outcome came out because they don't know that information doesn't exist. It exists in your head and our other advisors head because you are in the room, you are at the table.

helping to come up with the decisions, the outcomes that were created.

Priti Mehra (18:50)
Absolutely. And the real edge is not just about what's happening now because there are so many AI tools which can help you query that. But with everything that's happening now, what next? It's almost leading into that complex scenario planning, which changes so quickly. I mean, look at the environment. Yeah, it is. It is like an amplified game theory environment at the moment. But yeah, I...

Jason (19:06)
Kind of game theory, right?

Priti Mehra (19:13)
I mean, as I say, it's fascinating times, but it's really what we do with it and what are the questions we are answering and what are the questions we are asking. I think that's going to be the key thing.

Jason (19:23)
Well, let's end on that because that's amazing and you're amazing and can't wait for people to engage with you on The Wisory. I can't wait for the thing we're going to talk about very soon in the marketplace that you and your colleagues are going to be doing and there's an AI component to it. So thank you. Thank you for making the time. Thank you for being part of The Wisory. It's always great to see you and talk with you.

Priti Mehra (19:45)
Thank you, Jason. This was amazing.