B2B Marketing Leader Diaries is a part of the Voices of B2B Marketing initiative powered by Skalegrow. This global interview series captures insights, stories, and lessons from top B2B marketing leaders across industries. Through thoughtful questions designed to explore career journeys, strategic thinking, and the evolving marketing landscape, this initiative aims to create high impact thought leadership content around B2B marketing. The goal is to help B2B marketers worldwide learn from the experiences of their peers and gain fresh perspectives to drive business growth.
In this edition, we spoke with Karan Chatrath, Head of Marketing & Strategic Alliances at DXC India, to explore his career journey, leadership evolution, learnings from past campaigns, and his perspectives on the future of B2B marketing.
Career Beginnings: Learning the Fundamentals Early
Q1. Let’s rewind – what was your first job in marketing, and what did it teach you? Looking back, what foundational skills or lessons have stuck with you?
I’m sure we all recognize today that, whatever you do, you need to be a good marketer. After all, marketing isn’t just about external stakeholders like customers – it’s equally important for internal stakeholders.
In my first job, even though I wasn’t a marketer, I realized that one-to-many communication can have a powerful impact on people. Another important factor is timing, because as an organization, we need to move toward a desired end state within a set timeframe.
That combination of message and timing stayed with me. It sparked my interest in marketing, and I’ve viewed things through that lens ever since.
Finding Passion in B2B Marketing
Q2. Was there a moment you realized you wanted to build a long-term career in B2B marketing? What drew you in and what keeps you excited today?
I found myself drawn to crafting the why behind communication – shaping messages that hold and nurture interest, essentially keeping someone’s attention over time. I’ve always been fascinated by the advertisements on screen, wondering how someone manages to pack their message into a 20-second slot. For fun, I even made a few ads myself and got my daughters to act in them.
It was never really about B2B specifically. As communication has branched into multiple channels, what still excites me today is the element of the unknown – how will the audience react, and how convincingly can we reach them? At its core, marketing is simply the modern form of an ancient act: one human trying to persuade another. That timeless challenge is what makes it so deeply satisfying.
Lessons from Success and Failure
Q3. Describe a turning point in your career that shaped your approach as a leader. What changed for you after that experience?
I’ve come to believe that we need two things to grow: good leaders to follow, and good failures to learn from. I’ve been fortunate to have both. One of my most valuable lessons came from my first startup – a toys business that didn’t work out the way I’d hoped. It was humbling, but it sharpened my listening skills and taught me to weigh options with far more care. In hindsight, that “failure” was one of my best teachers.
Campaign Insights: What Works and What Doesn’t
Q4. What’s one campaign or strategy you led that taught you something unexpected? Success or failure – what did it reveal about marketing, teams, or customers?
One of the things I love about marketing is its constant dynamism. Over the years, I’ve seen campaigns that earned glowing appreciation from customers yet brought in no business – and others that quietly exceeded all expectations. Learning to face both outcomes with equanimity has been an important part of my growth.
That mindset has also kept me open to change. A recent shift that’s expanded my thinking is the integration of AI into marketing. We’re still early in that journey, but I’ve already seen how it sharpens our understanding of customer pain points and helps us position solutions more effectively. Embracing AI hasn’t just made me a more precise and thoughtful marketer – it’s taught me to listen and respond in entirely new ways.
Marketing’s Strategic Role in Business
Q5. How has your view of marketing’s role in the business changed as you’ve moved into leadership roles? What should marketers understand about the bigger picture?
I’ve always believed that marketing is a leadership role, regardless of your title. Marketers are the voice and face of the organization – that in itself is an act of leadership. As I’ve grown into more formal leadership roles, this belief has only deepened. Marketers should understand and start behaving like that as soon as they begin.
What that means simply is that one needs to understand the repercussions of their actions – marketers’ actions go far and wide, beyond a simple LinkedIn post, or a digital campaign, or even a random ‘Like’. Basically, our actions ripple far beyond the marketing team. Treat every decision with that awareness. You are not just communicating – you’re representing, shaping, and leading.
Great vs. Good: What Sets Top B2B Marketers Apart
Q6. What do you think sets great B2B marketers apart from good ones today? Any habits, skills, or mindsets that you believe make the difference?
Over time, I’ve realized that certain skills are non-negotiable in marketing: an eye for detail, the ability to pinpoint a customer’s pain points, the foresight to predict a workable solution, and the humility to learn from both feedback and lived experiences.
Just as important is collaboration. I’ve seen firsthand that great marketers never work in isolation – they thrive by working with others, whether it’s cross-functional teams inside the company or partners and collaborators outside. Some of my most rewarding moments have come from those shared wins.
Balancing Pipeline and Brand
Q7. B2B marketing often balances short-term pipeline growth with long-term brand building – how do you personally navigate that tension? Any frameworks or philosophies that guide you?
In B2B, I’ve learned that pipeline growth and brand building aren’t competing priorities – they’re deeply interconnected. That’s how I’ve always tried to approach them. A strong brand makes it easier to generate pipeline, and the wins from that pipeline – customer success stories, feedback, testimonials – can loop back to strengthen the brand. Of course, in reality, the loop is rarely perfect.
Over the years, I’ve come to design every campaign with both outcomes in mind. Even if the primary goal is demand generation, there has to be a brand signal – something that subtly lifts perception. And if it’s a brand campaign, I make sure it still sets things in motion that will eventually support the pipeline.
For me, the guiding principle is integration: never treating pipeline and brand as separate lanes but always looking for ways they can reinforce each other.
Lifelong Learning in Marketing
Q8. How do you keep learning and evolving as a marketing leader? Are there resources, communities, or rituals that help you stay sharp?
I stay sharp by staying curious. Most of my learning comes from real conversations – ideating and getting feedback while working with sales, delivery, or customers – where you see what really works. I follow some of the thought leaders on LinkedIn to help me stay abreast with the latest trends.
Also, I pay close attention to how non-marketers communicate – engineers, founders, product managers – because it often reveals new angles for storytelling or positioning.
Learning from the Field
Q9. What’s a lesson you learned the hard way – and what would you do differently if you could go back?
I wouldn’t say I learned it the hard way, but one lesson that’s stayed with me is this: the delivery is the plan. It’s never just about crafting strategies, decks, or campaigns – it’s about getting them out the door, testing them in the real world, and paying close attention to how they land. Over time, I’ve found that listening to those reactions is what truly drives growth – not just as a marketer, but as someone building trust and momentum with every interaction.
Advice for Emerging Marketers
Q10. What’s one piece of advice you’d give to someone early in their B2B marketing career today? Something you wish someone had told you?
Don’t wait to be “senior” to think like a leader. In B2B marketing, you’re shaping perception from day one – every campaign, post, or customer interaction has an impact. Own that responsibility early.
Also, stay close to sales and customers; the real action is there. If I could go back, I’d spend more time listening to the field. That’s where great marketing instincts are built.
About the Featured B2B Marketing Leader
Karan Chatrath
Head of Marketing & Strategic Alliances,
DXC Technology, India
Karan Chatrath is a seasoned business leader with over two decades of experience in driving strategic marketing, alliances, and digital transformation initiatives across diverse industries. Known for his ability to connect the dots between business goals and marketing outcomes, Karan has successfully built and scaled marketing, strategy, and operations functions from the ground up.
His approach blends deep market insight with a strong understanding of customer needs, allowing him to craft communication strategies that resonate and deliver impact. Beyond marketing execution, Karan is also a firm believer in cross-functional collaboration, long-term brand thinking, and continuous learning.
Whether leading teams, exploring emerging technologies like AI, or aligning with sales and delivery units, Karan brings a rare mix of analytical thinking, empathy, and creative energy to everything he does. His leadership continues to shape how modern B2B marketing drives growth and relevance in an ever-evolving business landscape.
About Skalegrow
Skalegrow is a B2B marketing agency that helps companies in the IT, tech, SaaS, robotics, and embedded systems industries grow with marketing. Our services include content marketing, SEO, email marketing, video marketing, graphic design, website management, performance marketing, staff augmentation, and LinkedIn marketing. Our vision is to transform marketing into a business-critical function in B2B companies by making marketing the main growth lever for our clients. To learn more about our capabilities, please visit the services page.
