EP170: Why Marketers Need To Become Growth Architects

In this episode of Leader Generation, Tessa Burg talks with Tariq Hassan about what it really takes to modernize a business for the AI era. Drawing from leadership roles at agencies, Hewlett-Packard (HP), Petco and McDonald’s, Tariq shares lessons from leading transformation at some of the world’s biggest brands.

They explore why success with AI is not chasing the newest tools. Instead, it starts with understanding the problem you’re trying to solve, organizing your business around customer needs and using data in ways that build trust—not just transactions. 

Leader Generation is hosted by Tessa Burg and brought to you by Mod Op.

About Guest:

Tariq is a transformational, global business leader whose career sits at the intersection of culture, sports, commerce, and technology. With more than 25 years of experience spanning Fortune 50 companies to fast growth startups across a wide range of categories. He’s recognized for modernizing organizations through digital transformation and harnessing culture to drive relevance required to grow in a digital economy.

Tariq has served as U.S. Chief Marketing and Customer Experience Office at McDonald’s and Petco and has held global leadership roles at Bank of America and HP. Today, Tariq is Founder and CEO of Light21, an advisory firm helping startups and Fortune-scale companies modernize marketing through AI and data platforms to create digitally enabled customer ecosystems. He also serves as a Google CMO-in-Residence while advising emerging technology and sports ventures. He can be reached on LinkedIn. 

About Tessa Burg:

Tessa is the Chief Technology Officer at Mod Op and Host of the Leader Generation podcast. She has led both technology and marketing teams for 15+ years. Tessa initiated and now leads Mod Op's AI/ML Pilot Team, AI Council and Innovation Pipeline. She started her career in IT and development before following her love for data and strategy into digital marketing. Tessa has held roles on both the consulting and client sides of the business for domestic and international brands, including American Greetings, Amazon, Nestlé, Anlene, Moen and many more. Tessa can be reached on LinkedIn or at [email protected].