Company: Salesforce, San Francisco, CA
Company Description: Salesforce, Inc. is an American cloud-based software company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It provides customer relationship management (CRM) software and applications focused on sales, customer service, marketing automation, e-commerce, analytics, and application development.
Nomination Category: Individual Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Most Innovative Woman of the Year - Industry
 Nomination Title: Preethika S Kalyanasundaram, Product Executive
- Which will you submit for your nomination in this category, a video of up to five (5) minutes, explaining the achievements since July 1, 2021 of the nominated woman, OR written answers to the questions? (Choose one):
Written answers to the questions
- If you are submitting a video of up to five (5) minutes in length, provide the URL of the video here, OR attach it to your entry via the "Add Attachments, Videos, or Links to This Entry" link above, through which you may also upload a copy of your video. If you are submitting written answers to the questions for this category, provide them in the spaces below:
- Briefly describe the nominated individual: history and past performance (up to 200 words):
Total 200 words used.
Preethika is an executive with a wealth of experience in product leadership across multiple industries. She possesses a strong background in data and AI, with expertise in Personalization, Recommenders, MarTech, and Ecommerce. For over a decade, she has cultivated a reputation as a thought leader, adept at navigating the constantly evolving technology landscape. Her multifaceted experience enables her to tackle complex consumer challenges in the CX industry.
Throughout her career, Preethika has assumed various key roles at technology giants like Oracle and Salesforce. In these positions, she has initiated and launched several successful high-impact products. She consistently champions inclusive digital product design, underlining her commitment to diversity in technology.
As a speaker, Preethika shares her knowledge and insights at numerous technology conferences. She has distinguished herself by serving on the panel for several technical and business awards, and evaluating Grace Hopper student scholarship applications for women in STEM. Currently, she mentors at Salesforce Inc.'s Women's Leadership Program, a platform dedicated to uplifting and empowering emerging female leaders in the IT industry. To date, she has mentored over 20 junior and budding leaders, helping them shape their leadership vision, establish personal values, and identify methods to capitalize on their strengths.
- Outline the nominee's achievements since July 1 2021 that you wish to bring to the judges' attention (up to 250 words):
Total 245 words used.
Preethika has successfully launched several critical software systems throughout her career. Below are two of her notable innovations.
Addressing Marketing Message Fatigue: In today's world, consumers are exposed to a deluge of promotional content through various marketing channels. This relentless barrage of marketing messages not only diminishes customer engagement but also triggers a damaging domino effect: ignored messages, prompt deletion or marking as spam, and ultimately, the dreaded unsubscribe. To combat the pervasive issue of marketing message overload, Preethika developed a patented solution. Her innovation harnesses AI-powered time-series modeling to segment message recipients into distinct personas based on their engagement levels. This categorization enables businesses to customize the frequency of their marketing communication for each recipient, leading to a more personalized and effective customer engagement strategy. It improves message open and click-through rates, fostering a higher level of interaction with marketing messages and increasing the prospect-to-customer conversion.
Email Subject Line Prediction and Optimization: Despite allocating substantial resources in writing intriguing email subject lines, marketers often struggle to pique the curiosity of recipients and face declining engagement rates. Recognizing the critical role of compelling email subject lines in the marketing realm, Preethika created a software system that employs machine learning to evaluate subject lines, forecast open rates, and suggest enhancements, thus empowering marketers to choose the most engaging subject lines before launching an email campaign.
Overall, Preethika's innovations have addressed market gaps, provided valuable tools for marketers, and contributed to the growth of the CX industry.
- Explain why the achievements you have highlighted are unique or significant. If possible compare the achievements to the performance of other players in your industry and/or to the nominee's past performance (up to 250 words):
Total 243 words used.
Preethika’s innovations introduced AI and machine learning capabilities to Oracle’s Responsys (B2C) and Eloqua (B2B) Marketing Automation Platforms, setting them apart from traditional platforms. By utilizing Marketing Message Fatigue analysis, businesses can achieve:
- Enhanced Engagement: Tailoring the communication frequency enhances engagement.
- Effective Spam Management: Enhances business’s message deliverability and aids in adhering to CAN-SPAM and CASL laws.
- Cost Savings: Resources are better utilized, cutting costs and reducing waste from disengaged customers.
Secondly, the ability to make accurate real-time predictions about email subject line performance became a valuable asset for marketers, thereby enabling them to craft compelling subject lines and improve the effectiveness of their marketing campaigns. The unique capabilities of Email Subject Line Prediction and Optimization include:
- Instant evaluation of subject line quality with forecasted open rates.
- Insights into and identification of key phrases that influence performance.
- Multilingual support.
Furthermore, leading industry analysts have recognized these innovations. They have been called out in the 2021 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Multichannel Marketing Hubs (B2C) report and the 2022 B2B Marketing Automation Platforms report, further affirming the significant impact of these innovations on the industry.
These innovations were offered as part of the 'Marketing Advanced Intelligence Cloud Service Package' and capitalized on an untapped revenue stream of up to $200 million from the existing customer base. Within six months of their launch, these innovations gained traction across various B2B and B2C companies, resulting in a significant net new revenue of $4.5 million for Oracle.
- Reference any attachments of supporting materials throughout this nomination and how they provide evidence of the claims you have made in this nomination (up to 250 words):
Total 8 words used.
Refer to the attachments enclosed for supporting materials.
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