My Indian Persian blended identity comes with a long, proud lineage of people who appreciate rich history, deep philosophical debates, and spectacular hair. Naturally, I turned this cultural inheritance into a career.


I essentially sit at the busiest intersection in the modern business world: the chaotic crossroads where creative, tech, and real human insights collide. And I’m the one directing traffic.


My journey started in the deep trenches of qualitative research at Kantar and Nielsen. I spent six years there doing what I do best—being a professional eavesdropper. It was my job to ask people, “But why?” until they finally told me the truth about their habits.


Then I thought, Why just study people when I can gently persuade them? So, I moved into advertising. For 15 years, I worked as a strategist at Leo Burnett and WPP, across India, China, and in various global roles. I spent a lot of time thinking about skin care and hair care for P&G and Unilever. If you’ve ever bought a shampoo because the bottle made you feel like you could conquer the world, you’re welcome. Along the way, I realized that making the product look good wasn’t enough—the entire journey had to make sense. So, I dug into shopper strategy and UX with ARC worldwide and Sapient Razorfish.


In my current role at Colgate Palmolive headquarters in New York, I lead innovation insights in enterprise Oral Care. I look after Horizon 1, 2, and 3 projects—which is corporate speak for figuring out what people need today, tomorrow, and in the year 2050. I guide the entire funnel, from that initial “Aha!” moment of need identification, through incubation, all the way to launch and experience design. My proudest flex? Building AI-enabled capabilities so we can design and test innovation bundles at the actual speed of the market. I basically make sure science and art are talking to each other to give real people what they want.


When I’m not using AI to predict the future of consumer needs, I am busy getting absolutely humbled by my teenage son in video games. It’s brutal. To heal my bruised ego, I read the musings of Rumi. And to remind myself that the world is a beautifully complex place full of plot twists, I watch films by Majid Majidi and Bong Joon Ho.