“Getting things done at eBay means reducing the friction that can hinder us,” said Gayatri Patel, who manages eBay's Data and Analytics Platform Strategy. “Leaders will have your back and will open paths for you to make the seemingly impossible, happen.”
When Patel joined eBay in 2009, the company’s CFO informed her that since every team at the company derives intelligence from data uniquely, painstaking efforts are required from senior leaders to correlate data in a manner they can trust. With Patel’s help, a real-time analytics dashboard was developed that can be conveniently accessed from a mobile phone.
Enabling every team member to take decisive action with confidence is not easy for any organization, especially a large, global company. Patel has been directly involved in simplifying this process at eBay.
What has driven your interest in technology?
I consider myself to be an out-of-the-box innovator. I see problems, I feel pain caused by them and I create something that helps. To me, technology has the potential to boost us to be better. That’s true for society, business, agriculture, education, art, and all of us.
Granted, technology is a means to an end, but I am passionate about driving as much of what betters our lives forward as possible.
What attracted you to eBay?
eBay has a unique vantage point that helps businesses and individuals prosper. We truly help connect buyers and sellers globally and help fuel commerce. The company supports and helps everyone from our largest retailers to our individual or “mom and pop” sellers grow their businesses.
What are you working on that is helping to fuel eBay’s business?
eBay gives me multiple opportunities to innovate, and I do just that. I focus on defining unique data products and innovative data technologies so that our eBay teams continue to deliver for our customers. It’s all based on data-driven insights and science. Not only are we improving our internal productivity we are also giving our merchants a better understanding of their existing customers and potential opportunities across global markets.
At eBay I ensure that everyone at the company can compete fiercely with data by giving them access to the data they need any time, from anywhere. Over the next year, we’ll continue to enhance our personalized eBay experiences. We’ll increasingly show only relevant inventory, improve mobile engagement, and make better price comparisons.