Devaki Sahasrabudhe
Chief Marketing Officer Higher & Sustainable Education Consultant Opensource Enthusiast
Q1.Your career path demonstrates a significant evolution from Retail Sales, Marketing, and Distribution to Sustainable Education. What insights can you share about managing this career transformation?
My journey into marketing was driven by a natural curiosity about how products connect with people. Early on, I was fascinated by how businesses could craft messages that resonated with their target audience and created value. This sparked my interest in marketing, where I saw an opportunity to blend creativity with strategy. Initially, I started in Retail Sales, where I learned firsthand how important customer interactions were in driving business growth. From there, I transitioned into Marketing & Distribution, where I discovered the power of broader strategies—understanding market dynamics, consumer behavior, and how to build brand recognition. During this time, I realized that marketing wasn’t just about promoting a product but about shaping customer experiences and creating long- lasting relationships. Over the years, my career has evolved into Sustainable Education, where I took on leadership roles. The shift was influenced by my growing passion for making a positive impact on society. In education, I saw the opportunity to apply marketing strategies in a way that could influence learning outcomes and bring about meaningful change. My focus shifted from pure sales and product promotion to creating value through education and ensuring that learning solutions reached the right audiences effectively. This evolution in my career reflects both my professional growth and my desire to make a difference through marketing—by adapting strategies to meet the needs of diverse sectors while staying aligned with my core values of sustainability and impact.
Devaki Sahasrabudhe
Chief Marketing Officer Higher & Sustainable Education Consultant Opensource Enthusiast
Q1.Your career path demonstrates a significant evolution from Retail Sales, Marketing, and Distribution to Sustainable Education. What insights can you share about managing this career transformation?
My journey into marketing was driven by a natural curiosity about how products connect with people. Early on, I was fascinated by how businesses could craft messages that resonated with their target audience and created value. This sparked my interest in marketing, where I saw an opportunity to blend creativity with strategy.
Initially, I started in Retail Sales, where I learned firsthand how important customer interactions were in driving business growth. From there, I transitioned into Marketing & Distribution, where I discovered the power of broader strategies—understanding market dynamics, consumer behavior, and how to build brand recognition. During this time, I realized that marketing wasn’t just about promoting a product but about shaping customer experiences and creating long- lasting relationships. Over the years, my career has evolved into Sustainable Education, where I took on leadership roles. The shift was influenced by my growing passion for making a positive impact on society. In education, I saw the opportunity to apply marketing strategies in a way that could influence learning outcomes and bring about meaningful change. My focus shifted from pure sales and product promotion to creating value through education and ensuring that learning solutions reached the right audiences effectively. This evolution in my career reflects both my professional growth and my desire to make a difference through marketing—by adapting strategies to meet the needs of diverse sectors while staying aligned with my core values of sustainability and impact.
Q2. Being an open-source enthusiast, how do you integrate open-source technologies into your marketing strategies?
Open-source technologies provide an immense opportunity for marketers to innovate, optimize, and scale their efforts while maintaining control over their marketing tools and strategies. By integrating open-source solutions into your marketing stack, you not only save costs but also gain flexibility, security, and access to a supportive community. Whether through CRM, content management, email automation, or analytics, open- source technologies can empower you to create personalized, data-driven, and highly effective marketing campaigns that resonate with your audience. I have seen a drop in costing when I help new startups to accept this technology.
Q3. Can you share a pivotal moment in your career that shaped your approach to marketing and business development?
When I started at Tata Infotech Education, we had an exceptional product, but our marketing and pricing strategies were falling short. As competition ramped up, I knew we needed to shift gears. Rather than engaging in a pricing battle or trying to match competitor’s advertising spend, I recognized an opportunity in strategic distribution. Leading the charge to position our product within corporates and colleges, tapping into markets that had a built-in need for training solutions. By focusing on corporate training programs and educational institutions, we were able to create long-term, sustainable partnerships. This move not only boosted our visibility but also ensured a recurring revenue model that didn’t rely on traditional retail channels. As a leader, I understood that success hinged on empowering my team to embrace this new approach. I focused on training and guiding them to understand the nuances of B2B sales, relationship-building, and the specific needs of our new target markets. By aligning the team’s efforts with our strategic goals, we successfully transitioned to this distribution model, leading to rapid growth and market dominance. In the end, this leadership-driven pivot was a key factor in our success, helping us achieve sustainable growth while building a strong reputation without engaging in a race to the bottom on price.
Q4. What are the key challenges CMOs face today in building and sustaining brand growth?
The challenge of integrating new technologies into marketing and CRM is real, but staying consistent with your core strategies, training your team, and being selective about the tools you adopt can help you stay on track. Technology is a powerful ally, but it should always serve the larger purpose of your business. By striking a balance between consistency and innovation, and creating a culture of learning and adaptation, you’ll be able to keep your marketing efforts both effective and future-ready.
Q5. How do you leverage data analytics and CRM tools to enhance customer engagement and retention across the sectors.
By customer segmentation , Customers Personalised experiences, Customer journey mapping, proactive customer support, Working on retention strategies and loyalty programs , real time analysis and feedback & finally how the campaign did & its effectiveness. May it be an educational institution or any other product.
a) Data Analytics: By analysing customer data (e.g., demographics, purchase history, behaviours, preferences), businesses can segment customers into distinct groups. This allows for more targeted communication and personalized offers.
b) CRM Tools: CRM systems can automate and store customer profiles, enabling easy access to segmented groups for tailored marketing campaigns, promotions, and
messages.
Q6. What strategies have you found most effective for new business development in competitive markets?
In the end, the principle remains the same: people trust people. Word of mouth may have evolved with new technologies and tools, but at its heart, it’s still about building
relationships and ensuring your product or service genuinely benefits those who use it. When you identify and nurture those enthusiasts and evangelists who align with your brand, they can do wonders in helping your business grow in an authentic, meaningful way.
Q7. How do you see open-source solutions transforming the marketing landscape in Sustainable Education ?
Open-source solutions have the potential to profoundly transform the marketing landscape in Sustainable Education by democratizing access to powerful tools and resources, creating more collaborative, cost-effective, and innovative ways to reach audiences. First, open-source platforms enable greater accessibility and customization. Educational organizations, regardless of their budget, can access robust marketing tools to promote sustainability-focused initiatives. These solutions allow marketers to tailor content, campaigns, and engagement strategies to specific audiences—whether they’re students, teachers, or institutions—without being limited by expensive proprietary software. Moreover, open-source communities foster collaboration and innovation. As these communities grow, they often lead to the
development of new tools and strategies that can enhance the effectiveness of marketing campaigns. For instance, marketing teams can access data analysis, customer engagement platforms, or content management systems that evolve through contributions from global networks, ensuring that the tools are always adapting to the latest needs. Additionally, open-source solutions can drive transparency and trust, which are critical in Sustainable Education. The education sector often deals with sensitive information, and being able to audit and customize open-source software ensures that there are no hidden agendas in terms of data privacy or usage. This helps build trust with stakeholders, especially as sustainability becomes a core value for more educational institutions. Ultimately, open-source solutions allow for more agile marketing strategies in Sustainable Education. They provide the flexibility to experiment, scale, and innovate without the constraints of traditional, expensive marketing infrastructure, enabling more organizations to participate in promoting sustainable education globally.
Q8. What role does AI and automation play in modern marketing, and how do you balance technology with human creativity?
AI and automation offer incredible capabilities for optimizing and scaling marketing efforts, but human creativity is what ensures that campaigns are not only effective but also emotionally resonant and innovative. The key to success lies in using technology to enhance efficiency and data-driven decision-making while allowing creative professionals to bring their unique insights and vision to the table. By finding the right balance, businesses can create personalized, impactful, and innovative marketing strategies that engage customers on a deeper level.
Q9. What leadership principles do you follow to drive a high-performance marketing team?
The principles I follow center on creating a balance between setting clear goals, fostering a supportive and empowering culture, and driving innovation. By combining strategic direction with creativity, accountability, and empathy, I believe a marketing team can achieve its highest potential and deliver exceptional results. Ultimately, effective leadership in marketing is about inspiring trust, guiding with purpose, and helping each team member thrive in their role.
Q10. What’s your success mantra, and what advice would you give to aspiring marketing professionals?
Keep the trust in your team – that too 100%. Work closely with them. Identify their mistakes if any & help them to be more relevant on the topic of delivery. Success mantra : Treat every opportunity as a last one & Give your 100%. Success will be yours ! Treating every opportunity as if it’s your last one and giving it your 100% ensures you’re always fully invested and committed to achieving the best results. This level of dedication and passion can drive exceptional success, as it helps maintain focus, determination, and a relentless pursuit of excellence. It’s not just about the outcome, but the effort and energy you put into each task that truly sets you apart. When you approach each opportunity with that mindset, you’re not just aiming for success—you’re creating it.