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Building AI capability across a global workforce
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From content-led to audience-led: how media marketing is changing
A TechPros.io
Interview with Globant's
Wanda Weigert
Global Chief Brand Officer
In this interview with TechPros.io, Wanda Weigert, Global Chief Brand Officer at Globant, discusses how the company has woven AI capabilities into every role across its global workforce. Having joined when Globant was just 100 people, Wanda has grown the marketing function from three people to 200 worldwide while the company expanded to 30,000 employees across 35 countries. She shares insights from Globant's early adoption of AI in 2017, how they've built a culture where every employee understands and uses AI tools, and explains their approach to maintaining brand authenticity while leveraging AI to enhance customer engagement and deliver more effective marketing outcomes.
You've been with Globant for almost 20 years. Could you tell us about your journey with the company and how the marketing function has evolved?
When I joined Globant in 2005, it was a very small company with about 100 people. I actually didn't know what Globant was or what they did – it was just an opportunity that came up when I was very young.
I initially joined to provide marketing services to one of their customers. This was just basic internet marketing – remember, this was 2005, so no social media, and technology was quite basic. We were mainly sending newsletters and emails to audiences.
Since I was one of the few people who knew about marketing and communications, the founders would ask for my help whenever they needed a press release, an email campaign, or something to attract talent. I became more involved in the corporate side of marketing, and after a year, I asked Martin Migoya, our CEO, if I could create a marketing department. He agreed, and I was able to do my own "intrapreneurship" within Globant.
We started with just three people in the marketing department when I created it. Now we're about 200 people worldwide. The company has grown enormously – from those four founders to 30,000 people with offices and presence in more than 35 countries around the world.
I was able to do my own 'intrapreneurship' within Globant and create the marketing department from just three people to 200 worldwide.
How has the acquisition of Guts and other companies shaped your role and Globant's approach to marketing?
A couple of years ago, we noticed that it wasn't just about technology. The technology we build is very close to the end consumer of our clients – we produce a lot of digital customer experience programmes. We saw that we couldn't only provide technology; there was a huge opportunity for that technology to also amaze, disrupt and delight customers and users.
That's why we decided to start creating a network focused on bringing creativity and marketing services to organisations. We built a team of our own and then made some acquisitions. The last one was Guts, as you mentioned. We created this network called Globant Guts which brings together marketing, technology and creativity to provide services to our customers.
I'm leading both areas now – the corporate side of marketing for Globant's brand and also Globant Guts. If you include all the acquisitions in the Globant Guts network, we're around 1,500 people.
We created the Globant Guts network to bring together marketing, technology and creativity to provide services to our customers.
AI seems core to Globant as an organisation. Could you explain how it's integrated into your company's approach?
Globant is very focused on AI – we're an AI-first company. I think it was 2017 when we decided that AI would be our north star, and we started making substantial investments not only in the types of services and offerings we provided but also in our people.
We decided at that moment to train everybody on AI. All our offerings and services now have AI embedded in them, including marketing and the Globant Guts offerings. AI is everywhere in what we deliver.
This shift didn't happen overnight for us – it started years ago. We trained everyone in AI, in using AI, and in using AI tools. That means not just the technology teams but also staff areas like finance, people management, and marketing. Everyone knows about AI and uses it regularly.
We have our own Globant large language models (LLMs), and we're building AI agents for our clients and ourselves. Everyone has been taught how to create their own AI agents. We have a Globant enterprise AI tool that enables us to create different types of agents for various needs that departments or groups might have.
It was 2017 when we decided that AI would be our north star, and we started making substantial investments not only in our services but also in our people.
How do you maintain brand authenticity while being an AI-first company?
There are two aspects to this question. On the technology side, we've trained our own LLMs with our brand voice documents, our websites, and all our internal information. This helps ensure that the outcomes align with our brand voice, goals, and values.
But while we're an AI-first company, we don't believe in AI being the sole driver of our brand. It's AI combined with humanity. We encourage our people to use their creativity and to bring their minds and strategy to their interactions with LLMs and other tools. This way, we can achieve a positive outcome that brings together the best of both worlds.
While we're an AI-first company, we don't believe in AI being the sole driver of our brand. It's AI combined with humanity.
Data is central to any AI initiative. How do you manage data as a global organisation to combine human creativity with AI capabilities?
We have different types of engagements with our customers and gather data through our campaigns and various interactions within our teams and with our customers. We use tools like Six Sense that help us create and gather these inputs.
Then we grade, segment, and stratify our customer base. We define all the content tied to this grading and differentiation per segment. This type of data is now enriched with AI tools.
At Globant, we've developed an AI persona tool that we feed with our current client base data. This AI persona tool provides predictions on how clients might behave in the future and how they might respond to different types of content we put in front of them. This gives us feedback and allows us to adapt what we're doing.
Our AI persona tool provides predictions on how clients might behave in the future and how they might respond to different types of content we put in front of them.
How do you manage the cultural change needed for employees to embrace AI rather than fear it?
It's a very good point. This massive shift is a technology shift, of course, but it's also cultural, and it touches the most profound aspect of our humanity – will AI replace us or not?
What sets Globant apart is that we've been talking about this for almost 10 years. The cultural shift began long before ChatGPT came to market. All our "Globers" (our term for employees) have been listening, learning, and getting information about AI for quite some time.
Other organisations are just starting now, or perhaps began a couple of years ago when the AI revolution became more visible. It will take some time. But if people start seeing that their own jobs will become easier or better, and they realise they're not at risk, the cultural shift will happen.
Companies need to enable this mind shift through courses, information, and helping people understand that the most important thing in their career today is to become a professional who is constantly learning. We're talking about AI now, but there are many technologies changing how we deliver projects. A couple of years ago, it was NFTs and how to incorporate them into marketing programmes. Then it was the metaverse. Now it's AI. We don't know what's next.
What's clear is that there are capabilities AI cannot replace – creativity and strategic planning, for example. But even if you focus on these areas, you need to understand the tools that are available. That's the only way you'll understand how to create something successful in the market. It's all completely intertwined.
Companies need to enable this mind shift by helping people understand that the most important thing in their career today is to become a professional who is constantly learning.
How are other functions within Globant integrating AI into their operations?
Everyone is walking the same path. For instance, in HR, I have two examples of how they're incorporating AI into their core capabilities.
As an IT services company, one of our main functions is building teams to work with our customers regularly. We've created an AI tool that brings together all the data from our Globers and from people who have applied to work at Globant. It assembles the ideal team to work with a specific client, considering their particular needs, availability, location, and everything else. This has enabled us to be faster and even better at building these multi-functional teams and agile pods.
Another example is how we recruit. We use AI tools in this process too. Of course, we have our recruiting team that interviews, sources candidates, and makes the final decisions. But through an AI tool, we can also conduct some interviews and measure how closely candidates align with our culture and values.
If you start thinking about a specific need you have in a department, you can build an AI solution that will improve and enhance your process. At Globant, we believe AI will be our source to improve customer engagement and lead generation. It's about efficiency, but not just efficiency. We say at Globant that we want to create technology that delights.
Creating those delightful moments is much easier when you have the data and can analyse it faster, test faster, create content faster, and engage better with your customers. We really don't believe that AI is going to replace humanity – rather, it enhances what we can accomplish together.
Creating delightful moments is much easier when you have the data and can analyse it faster, test faster, create content faster, and engage better with your customers.
Globant is a digitally native company that helps organizations reinvent themselves and unleash their potential. They bring innovation, design and engineering together at scale to create impactful solutions. Globant specializes in digital strategy, design, and development, leveraging cutting-edge technologies and trends. With their agile pods methodology and commitment to innovation, Globant is a trusted partner for top brands looking to lead their industries in the digital landscape. They create digital transformations using disruptive technologies like AI, blockchain, and cloud computing. Major clients include Google, EA, and Disney. Globant bridges the gap between design and engineering to develop innovative software products. Overall, Globant helps global organizations reinvent themselves digitally.
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