Why this IBM marketing veteran switched gears to jump into a tech startup

IBM industry veteran, Michelle Zamora, is over the moon about jumping into startup land and using her fine-tuned skills in building business strategy and driving growth. As the inaugural global CMO of Willow, Zamora is tasked with spearheading the marketing strategy for the tech solution startup as it strives to take its digital twin technology and intelligent building management to the global market. Zamora’s portfolio covers all areas of marketing and communications, branding and category creation, business strategy, CRM, client and employee experience, and the development of a partner ecosystem. She described the new role as “invigorating”.   She’s no stranger to the IT and marketing industries. She brings over 20 years of marketing experience to her new role at Willow, most recently as IBM’s head of marketing across banking and insurance, IBM Watson and blockchain. “I absolutely credit IBM for helping me build the science of marketing and really understanding the framework and methodology of marketing. But to now be able to work in much more of a startup mode is exciting,” Zamora told CMO. “It’s agile and quick to make decisions. I can leverage all the science of marketing but in a much agiler and fast-paced environment. “I’m also excited to be able to build a team of people. It’s about celebrating the people we have, but also bringing in new people, new wins and new ways of marketing into the organization so we can take advantage of this amazing journey.” Willow has doubled in size in the last 12 months and expects to see that level of growth over the next few years.