You’ve been with Microsoft since 2017. What has been the most rewarding aspect of your job? 

Microsoft and our CEO, Satya Nadella, represent so many great values and inspiring principles that I admire. The focus that Microsoft has on diversity, inclusion, environment and philanthropy is world-class in terms of corporate values and corporate social responsibility, and one of the key reasons I joined Microsoft. 

Since joining the Customer and Market Research organization at Microsoft I have been given so many opportunities for growth and learning. My research work supporting the Worldwide Education Marketing team has been the most rewarding because I have been able to explore and delve into the needs, motivations and pain points that those working in K-12 and higher education face around the world when it comes to technology. Now more than ever, the need for technology to keep students connected to learning opportunities is critical. Conducting research to support education has been extremely rewarding, especially when these learnings can really help educators during this crisis. 

You presented a session at Quirk’s Brooklyn, Decoding Signal vs. Noise. Could you share a few highlights from the session?  

This was my first time both attending and presenting at Quirk’s in Brooklyn and it was an amazing experience. The session I co-presented with Marc Goulet, partner at Russell Research, was really well attended with a great mix of corporate and agency researchers. Developing an intentional and systematic work stream to uncover trends that are coming around the corner – vs. looking backwards, hindsight – was something that seemed to pique the interest of the attendees. Many of the questions and feedback I got after the session concerned the processes, funding and work streams that enabled those insights, particularly for corporate research departments that are really stretched for time and re...