Marketing That Moves the Needle: Varun Gopalakrishnan on Strategy, Tech, and Execution

Varun Gopalakrishnan, a Growth Marketing Leader for UKI at a leading network products and services provider, takes us through his 15-year journey from Sales Development Representative to Growth Marketing in the B2B tech space. He explores the power of data, AI, and cross-functional collaboration in driving scalable and impactful marketing strategies. Welcome to our interview series, Varun! Could you share a glimpse of your journey in marketing? My career began as a Sales Development Representative (SDR), where I honed my skills in lead generation and client engagement. Over the past 15 years, I’ve transitioned into strategic marketing roles, focusing on B2B technology sectors. My journey has been driven by a passion for measurable impact—leveraging data to align sales and marketing, deploying advanced tech stacks, and designing campaigns that deliver scalable growth. Each step has reinforced the importance of bridging market insights with execution to drive tangible results. As a growth marketing leader, how critical is cross-functional collaboration in today’s integrated revenue teams? Collaboration isn’t just a buzzword—it’s the backbone of success in modern revenue organizations. When sales, marketing, and customer success teams operate in sync, silos break down, and everyone rallies around shared goals. This alignment ensures cohesive strategies, faster decision-making, and a unified approach to capturing market opportunities. Without it, even the best campaigns risk falling flat due to misaligned priorities. Ultimately, cross-functional collaboration leads to higher efficiency, better resource utilization, and more impactful results.