Born in India, and raised in Alabama, Zoher Karu grew up in a town filled with engineers and scientists, and even saw the space shuttle Enterprise fly in over his house. For a young Karu, the experience fueled a life-long interest in math and engineering, subjects that have served Karu well over the course of his career especially when applied to the world of business.
eBay Marketplaces President Devin Wenig announced on Monday that Zoher Karu would be joining the Marketplaces executive team as eBay's first Vice President of Customer Optimization and Data. In his new role, Karu will leverage the company’s vast wealth of customer data to drive a more personal and relevant experience across eBay properties.
Karu brings a powerful knowledge of analytics, marketing strategy and technology with deep experience in retail. He comes to eBay from Sears, where he was Vice President of Marketing Analytics and Insight. There, his efforts in organizing customer data, extracting analytical insights and integrating those insights into customer channels powered Sears’ digital strategy and enabled significant incremental revenue and profits.
Earlier in his career, Karu held several positions in business operations, product management and management consulting at Mattersight, Zyman Group, Brickstream and McKinsey & Company. Karu holds a PhD in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a BS in Electrical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. He is also an author and owner of ZiZi Press, where he published the engineering textbook Signals and Systems Made Ridiculously Simple.
“Karu’s passion for customers, coupled with his outstanding business experience and professional track record, will significantly advance the company’s efforts to drive data-driven innovation, delivering a personalized and intuitive omnichannel shopping experience to customers around the world,” said Marketplaces President Devin Wenig.