2992: How Typeform is Shaping Tech's Future with Inclusive Leadership

[00:00:01] [SPEAKER_00]: How can our work environments become catalysts for innovation, change and diversity of thought?

[00:00:09] [SPEAKER_00]: I've invited Alex Bass, Chief Product Officer at a company called Typeform to join me on

[00:00:15] [SPEAKER_00]: the podcast. She's a leader not just in her field but also in fostering an inclusive and

[00:00:20] [SPEAKER_00]: diverse workplace culture, something that has been lacking in the tech industry. And

[00:00:26] [SPEAKER_00]: with Typeform boasting a 50% female leadership, she brings a vibrant perspective on the importance

[00:00:32] [SPEAKER_00]: of diversity and leadership styles. She's navigated through the tech industry, often

[00:00:37] [SPEAKER_00]: encountering and overcoming gender biases herself. But her journey is not just inspiring

[00:00:43] [SPEAKER_00]: but also enlightening, providing valuable lessons on resilience, authenticity and so

[00:00:48] [SPEAKER_00]: much more. So today she's going to discuss her personal experiences with gender bias,

[00:00:53] [SPEAKER_00]: share actionable advice for women aiming to rise in their tech careers and how the

[00:00:57] [SPEAKER_00]: tech industry can support women in reaching C-suite roles, and why it's so crucial

[00:01:03] [SPEAKER_00]: for businesses to champion this course. Delivering daily content to 140,000 of you

[00:01:09] [SPEAKER_00]: wonderful monthly listeners across the globe is no small feat. I don't want to take all

[00:01:14] [SPEAKER_00]: the credit here because it wouldn't be possible without the backing of our dedicated sponsors

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[00:02:03] [SPEAKER_00]: is also FedRAMP moderate authorized. Thank you for your patience today. This is the moment

[00:02:08] [SPEAKER_00]: you've been waiting for. It's time to welcome my guest onto the show. So buckle up and hold

[00:02:13] [SPEAKER_00]: on tight as I beam your ears all the way to Utah, where today's guest is going to talk

[00:02:18] [SPEAKER_00]: about how diversity can lead to better products, happier teams and a more inclusive tech landscape

[00:02:23] [SPEAKER_00]: overall. So a massive warm welcome to the show. Can you tell everyone listening a little

[00:02:31] [SPEAKER_01]: about who you are and what you do? I'm Alex Bass, and I'm the Chief Product Officer at

[00:02:36] [SPEAKER_01]: Typeform. And I oversee the TechForbes product strategy, development and execution to meet

[00:02:42] [SPEAKER_01]: the needs of the company's expanding customer base, which nowadays is nearing 150K businesses

[00:02:48] [SPEAKER_01]: around the world. So that's very exciting. Incredibly cool. And for anyone that's hearing

[00:02:53] [SPEAKER_00]: about Typeform for the very first time, how would you describe Typeform and the kind of

[00:02:57] [SPEAKER_01]: problems that you solve for your customers? Typeform, I would say, is one of the best

[00:03:03] [SPEAKER_01]: form solutions in the market with a focus on design led form building, a lot of flexibility

[00:03:10] [SPEAKER_01]: and can be adapted to almost any use case that customers have a need to use it for.

[00:03:16] [SPEAKER_01]: So people typically use us to get feedback on their products, on their services, on their

[00:03:20] [SPEAKER_01]: customer experiences, as well as to facilitate lead generation, qualification and ultimately

[00:03:26] [SPEAKER_00]: customer acquisition, which is very exciting. Incredibly cool. And of course, you are hugely

[00:03:31] [SPEAKER_00]: successful in your career. And the world of tech has got somewhat of a bad reputation.

[00:03:38] [SPEAKER_00]: There's a few stereotypes of it just being men of a certain age that just dominate that

[00:03:43] [SPEAKER_00]: world and that industry. It is getting better, or at least from the outside looking in, it

[00:03:48] [SPEAKER_00]: can look like it's getting better. But I'm curious, from your personal experiences, what

[00:03:53] [SPEAKER_00]: kind of gender biases have you faced throughout your career? And any advice you'd give to

[00:03:58] [SPEAKER_00]: other women either navigating the tech industry or just starting out?

[00:04:02] [SPEAKER_01]: I think it would be disingenuous to say that I've never experienced gender bias at the

[00:04:07] [SPEAKER_01]: workplace. I've had my fair share. I have an anecdote that I often think of when this

[00:04:14] [SPEAKER_01]: topic comes up. And I remember being one of the only women... This actually wasn't in

[00:04:18] [SPEAKER_01]: tech, it was in a different, also male-dominated industry. We were in a meeting, I was one

[00:04:24] [SPEAKER_01]: of the only women of a group of 12 people in this conference room when we were having

[00:04:28] [SPEAKER_01]: discussions about the strategy for the product, what we wanted to do with it.

[00:04:33] [SPEAKER_01]: And I remember saying an idea and nothing, no reactions, crickets basically across the board,

[00:04:41] [SPEAKER_01]: people just kind of looking at me. Funny as if I said the most insane thing ever. And then,

[00:04:46] [SPEAKER_01]: of course, a male counterpart across the table basically rephrased what I said.

[00:04:51] [SPEAKER_01]: And all of a sudden, it was the best idea that has ever been stated since the dawn of time. And

[00:04:58] [SPEAKER_01]: the interesting thing that happened there was he looks at me because I'm staring at him like,

[00:05:02] [SPEAKER_01]: did this seriously just happen right in front of my eyes? And he looks at me and he mouths,

[00:05:08] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm sorry. Just mouthed as I'm sorry. And so I'm like, okay. So there's awareness of the

[00:05:14] [SPEAKER_01]: situation, you know exactly what happened. And yet zero allyship, zero support, zero anything,

[00:05:20] [SPEAKER_01]: just an acknowledgement that it happened and that he feels sorry that it happened.

[00:05:24] [SPEAKER_01]: And so the lesson for me out of this is that even sometimes when there is awareness and

[00:05:32] [SPEAKER_01]: acknowledgement that these things happen, the action that needs to occur where that statement

[00:05:39] [SPEAKER_01]: is then redirected very easily. I mean, it's super easy for someone to in that moment be able

[00:05:44] [SPEAKER_01]: to say something like, well, actually that sounds really similar to what Alex just said, or as Alex

[00:05:51] [SPEAKER_01]: said, this particular point, you know, rephrase the way that he was rephrasing it could have been

[00:05:58] [SPEAKER_01]: helpful. But that was that I mean, I've definitely experienced that several times in my career.

[00:06:05] [SPEAKER_00]: Marshall It's just a shocking story. I'm curious.

[00:06:08] [SPEAKER_00]: How long ago was that instance? You have to give me a company or where he was, etc. But

[00:06:13] [SPEAKER_00]: roughly how long ago was it years?

[00:06:15] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, it was about 10 years ago, I would say.

[00:06:19] [SPEAKER_00]: Marshall Wow. Have you noticed an improvement now?

[00:06:21] [SPEAKER_00]: Are it tubes changing?

[00:06:24] [SPEAKER_01]: Jessica I think that they are. And I think it depends

[00:06:27] [SPEAKER_01]: on the company. I have seen some really positive momentum where organizations have invested

[00:06:32] [SPEAKER_01]: intentionally into getting more diverse talent pool. And it's interesting because I have a

[00:06:39] [SPEAKER_01]: background in psychology as well. I have a previous career in research. I did study

[00:06:44] [SPEAKER_01]: psychology. I've also done product marketing and product management. So I feel like there's

[00:06:49] [SPEAKER_01]: an interesting variety of experiences that I get to pull from as I think about work and

[00:06:55] [SPEAKER_01]: the objectives that I'm focused on. And the in group out group kind of perspectives that

[00:07:00] [SPEAKER_01]: affect how we engage both in our personal lives, in the communities that we are a part

[00:07:05] [SPEAKER_01]: of as well as at work. They all have a component, they have an influencing factor on the behaviors

[00:07:11] [SPEAKER_01]: that we see at work. And so what I find is the more diverse that the group of people

[00:07:16] [SPEAKER_01]: you work with are, the more there is no context around what is normal, right? The definition

[00:07:22] [SPEAKER_01]: of what is normal expands. And so then having a woman in one conference room of 11 males

[00:07:30] [SPEAKER_01]: in that room outside of her stating her opinion is no longer the odd thing out because the

[00:07:36] [SPEAKER_01]: group that you have in that room is pretty diverse. And so that definition of normal

[00:07:40] [SPEAKER_01]: changes dramatically. And then you see less and less and less of these kinds of behaviors

[00:07:45] [SPEAKER_01]: surfacing because there's less about us versus them, how you would slice the us versus them

[00:07:50] [SPEAKER_01]: scenario changes a lot in those dynamics when there's diversity in place.

[00:07:55] [SPEAKER_00]: Pete And I've got to ask, as you've mentioned,

[00:07:57] [SPEAKER_00]: are there any synergies between the world of psychology and the tech industry or the

[00:08:03] [SPEAKER_00]: corporate environment? I would imagine there are a few synergies. But one of the things I

[00:08:08] [SPEAKER_00]: always try to get on this podcast is get people thinking differently about tech and

[00:08:12] [SPEAKER_00]: different areas and how they impact their work. I've had someone that was a former rock star,

[00:08:18] [SPEAKER_00]: for example, and they were talking about the difference or the things that that industry

[00:08:23] [SPEAKER_00]: have in common with the tech or talents that they used. Is there anything from psychology

[00:08:27] [SPEAKER_00]: that you've taken with you? Dr. Jennifer

[00:08:29] [SPEAKER_01]: Absolutely. I mean, it's very rude. Psychology is the kind of study of understanding people,

[00:08:36] [SPEAKER_01]: how they think, how they interact with each other and all the different factors that could be

[00:08:40] [SPEAKER_01]: affecting all of those behaviors. I think we all like to think that we are logical,

[00:08:44] [SPEAKER_01]: rational creatures that make systematic decisions like computers do. But I just think that's

[00:08:51] [SPEAKER_01]: very infrequently the case. And for a very small, small subset of the population, many of us have

[00:08:56] [SPEAKER_01]: a lot of different factors affecting our decision making and our behaviors.

[00:09:01] [SPEAKER_01]: And so what I have found, people used to ask me, it's funny when I was in college,

[00:09:05] [SPEAKER_01]: people used to ask me, well, why are you getting into grand psychology? What are you going to do

[00:09:09] [SPEAKER_01]: with that from a career perspective? And I have found no shortage of applications of psychology.

[00:09:16] [SPEAKER_01]: Not only did it set me up wonderfully to go into the world of research where you're phrasing

[00:09:21] [SPEAKER_01]: questions or analyzing data very similarly to the way that a psychologist is going to run those

[00:09:27] [SPEAKER_01]: studies to be able to write articles for journals and further the knowledge of the field. But then

[00:09:33] [SPEAKER_01]: pivoting into product management, product marketing, thinking about how people consume

[00:09:37] [SPEAKER_01]: information, how they interpret that information, what is considered persuasive versus not.

[00:09:43] [SPEAKER_01]: How can you be more effective at communicating an idea, at selling something that's very positive

[00:09:49] [SPEAKER_01]: for somebody to them in a way that they can hear you and understand it? Even down to the levels of

[00:09:54] [SPEAKER_01]: how do you collaborate with slash work with others? Understanding the psychology piece of

[00:09:59] [SPEAKER_01]: it is really, really helpful. So I would say, I think it would be hard to find a place where

[00:10:05] [SPEAKER_01]: psychology or a theme where psychology would not apply to anywhere where humans are interacting

[00:10:12] [SPEAKER_00]: with each other. Absolutely love that. Incredibly cool. And on the subject of diversity, I think

[00:10:17] [SPEAKER_00]: diversity of thought is especially important in the tech industry. We have very complex problems

[00:10:22] [SPEAKER_00]: that require many different ways of thinking, not a room full of people all thinking and acting

[00:10:27] [SPEAKER_00]: the same way. And if they're going to effectively serve an audience of customers, that audience is

[00:10:32] [SPEAKER_00]: also got to be extremely diverse. So it's so important. But I'm curious from your side, why

[00:10:37] [SPEAKER_00]: do you believe the tech industry needs more women in C-suite positions in particular? And what steps

[00:10:43] [SPEAKER_00]: can companies take to support women in their journey to these roles too? Because something

[00:10:48] [SPEAKER_01]: we don't talk about enough. I agree. I don't think that we talk about it enough. And I think it's

[00:10:52] [SPEAKER_01]: because when you look at the way companies make decisions, many of the biggest blunders

[00:10:57] [SPEAKER_01]: that tech companies as well as other companies make have to do with a very kind of group think

[00:11:03] [SPEAKER_01]: approach to decision-making. There's usually the boardroom or the executive team doesn't

[00:11:10] [SPEAKER_01]: necessarily match the customer base with the same levels of diversity of thought, personality,

[00:11:16] [SPEAKER_01]: gender, and other factors, cultural factors, et cetera. And so then there's a blindness there

[00:11:21] [SPEAKER_01]: that you're not seeing or acknowledging the full lived experience of the customers that you're

[00:11:25] [SPEAKER_01]: trying to serve. And that manifests itself in ineffective marketing tactics, gaps in the product

[00:11:32] [SPEAKER_01]: experience, gaps in the customer experience, pricing and packaging components. Anything that

[00:11:37] [SPEAKER_01]: you can think about that is an output of what that organization is doing is suffering from potentially

[00:11:43] [SPEAKER_01]: this lack of diversity. And so I think that organizations that staff their teams with a level

[00:11:49] [SPEAKER_01]: of diversity that at least tries to mimic what the diversity of their target customers is are

[00:11:56] [SPEAKER_01]: going to be better at serving their customers, not missing key information that would enable them to

[00:12:03] [SPEAKER_01]: make those decisions that better serve that audience as a whole. And it's interesting because

[00:12:08] [SPEAKER_01]: I think gender is a component, but I find I tend to be pretty reflective. And so most of the

[00:12:15] [SPEAKER_01]: experiences that I have either at work or in my personal life, I question my assumptions.

[00:12:21] [SPEAKER_01]: And sometimes my assumptions coming out of those are it's because of X and sometimes that it's

[00:12:26] [SPEAKER_01]: because of X is a gender factor. And then I reflect on it. And I honestly think that one

[00:12:32] [SPEAKER_01]: thing that maybe we're also not addressing as often as we probably should be or with the same

[00:12:37] [SPEAKER_01]: clarity that we should be is the personality styles. I think that introverts are often

[00:12:43] [SPEAKER_01]: overlooked for leadership roles and the thoughtfulness and intention that they bring

[00:12:47] [SPEAKER_01]: to decision-making is actually a really powerful superpower that they can activate and unlock

[00:12:54] [SPEAKER_01]: within those leadership roles. And so I think sometimes we simplify things and we say it's a

[00:13:01] [SPEAKER_01]: uni-focused variable around gender, but really it's gender, it's personality types,

[00:13:08] [SPEAKER_01]: it's diversity of all kinds. Cultural background can also play a huge role

[00:13:12] [SPEAKER_01]: and being able to balance your leadership team across all of the different ways that you need

[00:13:17] [SPEAKER_01]: to be diverse to serve that customer base is going to serve the team and the company and

[00:13:22] [SPEAKER_00]: the customers more effectively overall. Yeah, completely agree with you. Pure gold.

[00:13:27] [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm curious, one of the things that really stood out to me when I was doing a little

[00:13:31] [SPEAKER_00]: research is Typeform prides itself on a 50% male-female executive leadership team

[00:13:38] [SPEAKER_00]: composition. I've got to ask, what impact has this had on your company? Because I think this

[00:13:43] [SPEAKER_01]: could be a real glowing example. I totally agree with you, Neil. I think

[00:13:49] [SPEAKER_01]: I've been reflecting on this one for a while and I think over the last five or six years,

[00:13:55] [SPEAKER_01]: I've observed many companies start to put forward this messaging of bring your whole self to work.

[00:14:00] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm sure you've heard this before as well, right? Bring your whole self to work or some

[00:14:05] [SPEAKER_01]: angles on that, which are bring your authentic self to work. And I think that as I reflected on

[00:14:11] [SPEAKER_01]: it and I've looked back in my career and I've asked myself, have I really fully been able to

[00:14:16] [SPEAKER_01]: bring my full authentic self to work? And in how many instances and to what degree?

[00:14:20] [SPEAKER_01]: And I would say it's very rare because there's interesting conflict between the people team of

[00:14:28] [SPEAKER_01]: organization wanting to help everybody feel included and part of a whole and being able

[00:14:33] [SPEAKER_01]: to express themselves fully at work versus the cultural dynamics of in-groups and out-groups

[00:14:38] [SPEAKER_01]: and what actually happens in day-to-day work where bringing your whole self to work might not be safe.

[00:14:44] [SPEAKER_01]: Because the things that you believe, the way that you show up, the things that you say,

[00:14:48] [SPEAKER_01]: how you phrase them, your personality manifestations get essentially ostracized in some

[00:14:54] [SPEAKER_01]: environments. And I don't think that we acknowledge that enough. And so, I think that

[00:14:58] [SPEAKER_01]: by having a 50% female male executive leadership team changes that because that diversity and

[00:15:07] [SPEAKER_01]: representation across that leadership team creates that different dynamic where I can't

[00:15:13] [SPEAKER_01]: be judged for being more feminine because half of us are. I can't be judged for talking about

[00:15:20] [SPEAKER_01]: emotion because half of us are. And so, it really resets what you can do to still feel included as

[00:15:28] [SPEAKER_01]: part of the whole regardless of the themes that maybe teams surface around bringing your whole

[00:15:35] [SPEAKER_01]: self to work. So, I think that it really makes people feel much more safe, much more inclusive,

[00:15:41] [SPEAKER_01]: and much more able to demonstrate the sides of their personality that maybe they had to

[00:15:45] [SPEAKER_01]: train out of themselves or control or hide or maybe not surface as the first things people see

[00:15:52] [SPEAKER_01]: in different touch points and meetings or collaboration efforts, etc.

[00:16:00] [SPEAKER_00]: It's so refreshing to hear everything you've achieved here and I hope it will inspire

[00:16:05] [SPEAKER_00]: listeners around the world to follow in your footsteps. It really is kudos to you and your team.

[00:16:12] [SPEAKER_00]: When I was doing a bit of research on the work side of things, I came across Typeform for Growth.

[00:16:18] [SPEAKER_00]: Can you tell me more about this suite of capabilities? How it helps businesses do things like

[00:16:23] [SPEAKER_00]: capture, qualify, and convert leads more effectively? Just for anyone that's not heard about this.

[00:16:29] [SPEAKER_01]: As you mentioned, Typeform for Growth is a new suite of capabilities that have been packaged up

[00:16:34] [SPEAKER_01]: for marketers, salespeople, revenue lenders to essentially help them capture, qualify,

[00:16:39] [SPEAKER_01]: convert those leads and boost that revenue growth.

[00:16:42] [SPEAKER_01]: What we noticed is that when focusing on this customer base and helping them to really solve

[00:16:48] [SPEAKER_01]: some of their core challenges, some of the challenges that they've had is they're trying

[00:16:53] [SPEAKER_01]: to bridge a journey across 6 to 12 tools in many cases. The complexity of the tech landscape for

[00:17:00] [SPEAKER_01]: them has tripled or quadrupled in recent years. I think they're finding themselves at the precipice

[00:17:06] [SPEAKER_01]: having to wrestle to get the right streamlined automated flow through. The unfortunate thing is

[00:17:11] [SPEAKER_01]: they have to use multiple tools to get their core jobs done, but those tools aren't always super

[00:17:16] [SPEAKER_01]: friendly to each other. They're not always pushing the boundaries in the areas that maybe marketers

[00:17:22] [SPEAKER_01]: want the most ability to influence and control. What I would say is Typeform has invested in

[00:17:30] [SPEAKER_01]: changing a few different things to help depth the workflows more.

[00:17:33] [SPEAKER_01]: One is creating more opportunity for engagement. Typeform has a product called Video Ask that we've

[00:17:42] [SPEAKER_01]: now received multiple requests from our customers to embed into the core Typeform products. We've

[00:17:47] [SPEAKER_01]: done just that so that you could ask video questions, provide video responses as a respondent,

[00:17:53] [SPEAKER_01]: and really create that conversational dynamic between a company that can represent its brand

[00:17:58] [SPEAKER_01]: more effectively. Respondents can connect with them and share things in maybe a little bit more

[00:18:03] [SPEAKER_01]: easier of a way that's easier to mine and not just multiple choice questions, etc.

[00:18:09] [SPEAKER_01]: The other piece is that marketers are fighting for attention every single day. The challenge for

[00:18:18] [SPEAKER_01]: them is every question that I ask you adds time to essentially how long it takes you to complete

[00:18:24] [SPEAKER_01]: this lead gen form. You might actually drop off every question I ask. There's a new risk that

[00:18:29] [SPEAKER_01]: might drop off and not complete that form. What we've also done is provided third-party

[00:18:35] [SPEAKER_01]: enrichment directly in the Typeform product so that all you really have to ask people to get

[00:18:40] [SPEAKER_01]: a sense of their formographic information is for their email address. Then that email address can

[00:18:46] [SPEAKER_01]: be used essentially if it's a work email address to enrich the data with any other context that

[00:18:51] [SPEAKER_01]: you need about their company, about the company's goals, etc. This can be really automated across

[00:18:58] [SPEAKER_01]: the board. The other piece is data quality is a huge component. Many customers in the marketing

[00:19:06] [SPEAKER_01]: space are getting tons of bots and spam or people repeating, providing context in the lead forms.

[00:19:13] [SPEAKER_01]: We've embedded ReCAPTCHA solutions that can detect if you are highly likely going to be a spam or a

[00:19:19] [SPEAKER_01]: bot response or not, and then essentially surface that visual challenge to you. All of us are

[00:19:25] [SPEAKER_01]: familiar with what that ReCAPTCHA experience looks like. It's pretty consistent. It's not all

[00:19:30] [SPEAKER_01]: of your respondents, but the ones that are rated the highest in terms of likelihood of being a bot

[00:19:36] [SPEAKER_01]: or a repeat response. Those are new key capabilities we've added to the platform.

[00:19:43] [SPEAKER_01]: But then the other piece that we've done is we've layered in the workflow pieces of it. No longer

[00:19:48] [SPEAKER_01]: are we setting you up for as a marketer and landing you in a place where we're not taking

[00:19:53] [SPEAKER_01]: into account your workflow and the journey that you want customers to take. We're taking it from

[00:19:58] [SPEAKER_01]: a journey perspective first and streamlining that UI so that you can get your job done as effectively

[00:20:04] [SPEAKER_01]: as possible and move that data into whatever other sources or tools that you need to be able to move

[00:20:09] [SPEAKER_01]: it into to have the most positive outcomes for your organization and accomplish your job and

[00:20:15] [SPEAKER_01]: your goals. That's been really exciting and refreshing to focus on for the last six months.

[00:20:22] [SPEAKER_00]: And I think we've done incredibly well. We've gone 20 minutes without mentioning AI on a tech

[00:20:27] [SPEAKER_00]: podcast, which has to be a first this year. But what I've especially got to thank you for is you

[00:20:32] [SPEAKER_00]: mentioned data quality first. I think all too often this year we've talked about AI first and

[00:20:37] [SPEAKER_00]: data quality. Everything's about data quality. Without it, AI is not going to deliver too much

[00:20:42] [SPEAKER_00]: or anything of use. So the new features in Typeform for growth, yes, they include interactive

[00:20:48] [SPEAKER_00]: multimedia forms. And here we are, AI-powered analysis. So how do these innovations enhance

[00:20:55] [SPEAKER_00]: customer engagement and data collection? Because we hear a lot about AI and AI-powered analysis,

[00:21:01] [SPEAKER_00]: but I'd love to dig a little bit deeper than the buzzword there.

[00:21:05] [SPEAKER_01]: So for us, we want to use AI and enable our customers to use AI for the things that AI is

[00:21:11] [SPEAKER_01]: particularly good at. I think what often happens is people focus on leveraging AI in ways that isn't

[00:21:16] [SPEAKER_01]: necessarily the most helpful, right? Or have them have the quality output that you would expect.

[00:21:22] [SPEAKER_01]: And so for us, helping you draft questions based on your goals and your use cases off of all of the

[00:21:30] [SPEAKER_01]: questions that can be asked through something like a Typeform is critical. And so we use AI

[00:21:35] [SPEAKER_01]: to surface and help our customers essentially create the best forms that they possibly can.

[00:21:41] [SPEAKER_01]: We also use AI as it relates to reporting and analysis, and specifically generating that

[00:21:46] [SPEAKER_01]: first version of your report and allowing you to interrogate that data conversationally. So

[00:21:51] [SPEAKER_01]: instead of having to understand all the intricacies of data analysis and structuring variables and

[00:21:57] [SPEAKER_01]: restructuring variables and all of those things, you can essentially ask questions of the Ask AI

[00:22:03] [SPEAKER_01]: feature within our analytics platform. And that allows you to get both visualizations as well as

[00:22:09] [SPEAKER_01]: text summaries. And we're continuing to double down on that as well. So it'll be really exciting

[00:22:14] [SPEAKER_01]: to see where things go from here.

[00:22:16] [SPEAKER_00]: And another topic I'd love to demystify for people listening today is the importance of zero-party

[00:22:23] [SPEAKER_00]: data in today's business environment. Can you just tell everyone listening a little bit more about

[00:22:27] [SPEAKER_00]: that and how Typeform is helping businesses leverage that data for growth? Because again,

[00:22:32] [SPEAKER_00]: incredibly cool what you're doing here.

[00:22:34] [SPEAKER_01]: So zero-party data for people who are not familiar with it is the data that a customer directly

[00:22:38] [SPEAKER_01]: gives you from any questions that you're asking them, et cetera. And so we're really allowing

[00:22:44] [SPEAKER_01]: our customers to be able to take that data, collect it in a more engaging way. And I think

[00:22:49] [SPEAKER_01]: the other piece that's really interesting about what we're doing is that that zero-party data

[00:22:54] [SPEAKER_01]: is starting to move much more into that conversational space. So where before I feel like

[00:22:59] [SPEAKER_01]: the forms and survey-based industry was really focused mostly from a need of constraining the

[00:23:05] [SPEAKER_01]: analysis and the ability to make decisions off of data around fixed responses, closed-ended

[00:23:12] [SPEAKER_01]: responses where I'd give you a select set of answer options or ask you to rate something,

[00:23:16] [SPEAKER_01]: things like that. And that's kind of how we were forcing that conversation.

[00:23:21] [SPEAKER_01]: Probably technology components and gaps played a role in this as well as other things.

[00:23:26] [SPEAKER_01]: I think with AI, we are in a place where I'm really excited to see how this industry changes because

[00:23:34] [SPEAKER_01]: the world of research insights and information collection is about to dramatically change.

[00:23:40] [SPEAKER_01]: Now that we've at scale been able to enable conversations so that instead of you answering

[00:23:46] [SPEAKER_01]: a closed-ended question, you could answer an open-ended question and give me all of the context

[00:23:50] [SPEAKER_01]: that you have about this particular topic or your experiences. What ultimately then happens is that

[00:23:57] [SPEAKER_01]: it allows me to, especially with AI, at scale assess that content, size it, assess frequency,

[00:24:05] [SPEAKER_01]: sentiment, topics, et cetera. And now I can search and go deep into certain topics over others.

[00:24:11] [SPEAKER_01]: And so I think we're honestly at the precipice of seeing insights and research really advance

[00:24:16] [SPEAKER_01]: and be pushed in this direction of qualitative analysis, but with a quantitative spin in it,

[00:24:22] [SPEAKER_01]: right? Because of course you can still pick up the frequency and sentiment dimensions and those

[00:24:25] [SPEAKER_01]: things that are more inherently quantitative. And Typeform really wants to be a pioneer in this

[00:24:32] [SPEAKER_01]: journey and really help to push it in the positive direction so that these advancements

[00:24:37] [SPEAKER_01]: can change the way that companies are interacting with their customers and their potential customers at scale.

[00:24:45] [SPEAKER_00]: And there's so much going on here with the integration of video forms, data enrichments,

[00:24:50] [SPEAKER_00]: workflow automation. How do you at Typeform ensure that all that happens seamlessly and offers

[00:24:56] [SPEAKER_00]: that efficient user experience for your customers that just kind of happens without having to think

[00:25:01] [SPEAKER_01]: too hard about it? Yeah, so Typeform began with that primary use case of being able to design

[00:25:08] [SPEAKER_01]: beautiful forms and collect information through those forms. So after researching, listening,

[00:25:14] [SPEAKER_01]: and learning more about our marketers, ICP, we realized one of the major pain points was

[00:25:20] [SPEAKER_01]: that fragmented workflow, that they're stitching together and they're frustrated.

[00:25:24] [SPEAKER_01]: And so one of Typeform's goals with these new Typeform for Growth capabilities is to streamline

[00:25:29] [SPEAKER_01]: that customer acquisition workflow for our customers. So we now can do more for them

[00:25:35] [SPEAKER_01]: than just collect forms. We can enrich that data. We can help them analyze that data. We could add

[00:25:41] [SPEAKER_01]: data sources. We could score and segment that data. And then for every score and segment that

[00:25:46] [SPEAKER_01]: they create, there's a customizable workflow that they can set up and program to automate

[00:25:51] [SPEAKER_01]: what then ultimately happens with that data, which really allows them to have more impact

[00:25:57] [SPEAKER_01]: without manual effort for every single individual lead than they are having to navigate today.

[00:26:04] [SPEAKER_00]: And if I was to ask you to look ahead, you strike me as someone that is passionate about

[00:26:09] [SPEAKER_00]: this space. It really comes across in our conversation today. Are there any key trends

[00:26:13] [SPEAKER_00]: and innovations in the data collection and customer engagement space that you think will

[00:26:18] [SPEAKER_00]: help shape the future of marketing or sales? Or is there anything else that just makes you excited

[00:26:23] [SPEAKER_00]: and want to jump out of bed in the morning on what's coming up? I would say AI is, of course,

[00:26:28] [SPEAKER_01]: a big one, but I would say one that is secondary that I personally find extremely important and

[00:26:33] [SPEAKER_01]: fulfilling is the refocus on customer experiences and UX UI focus. And the thing that is interesting

[00:26:44] [SPEAKER_01]: about that is when people are developing AI, there's an AI-focused capabilities. There's an

[00:26:51] [SPEAKER_01]: interesting dimension around how do you set your team up for effectively having an impact by

[00:26:57] [SPEAKER_01]: leveraging these AI capabilities? And it's a more complex focus area, I would say, than just

[00:27:04] [SPEAKER_01]: developing manual capabilities within the platform that you're focused on. So one thing that I think

[00:27:10] [SPEAKER_01]: people don't often get right is they don't set their workflows in terms of product development

[00:27:15] [SPEAKER_01]: processes up for success with AI rated capabilities. And the reason that I say that is when I'm building

[00:27:22] [SPEAKER_01]: any capability that's more manual and not dependent on AI within Typeform,

[00:27:27] [SPEAKER_01]: I need to focus on what that UI is going to be and what the customer problem is going to be.

[00:27:32] [SPEAKER_01]: Those are the two main components and can they use it and is it providing value?

[00:27:36] [SPEAKER_01]: As soon as you incorporate AI into it, you have a third or fourth dimension in some cases,

[00:27:41] [SPEAKER_01]: where not only do you need to make sure that you have the right model that is able to generate the

[00:27:46] [SPEAKER_01]: right output, but then you also have the same challenges that any manual product development

[00:27:51] [SPEAKER_01]: is going to focus on, which is that UI UX experience as well as the value and your

[00:27:55] [SPEAKER_01]: kind of customer use it. And so oftentimes, in many cases, this should be extending your

[00:28:01] [SPEAKER_01]: product development lifecycle, right? Because to do these things in parallel often creates distance

[00:28:07] [SPEAKER_01]: between do you really fully understand the customer problem and how the model is going

[00:28:11] [SPEAKER_01]: to serve an output that's going to feed the customers the right information so they can

[00:28:15] [SPEAKER_01]: take action and then put that in the context of the rest of the product. And I think often one

[00:28:21] [SPEAKER_01]: gets skipped, and it's usually the user experience UI usability component that gets skipped.

[00:28:30] [SPEAKER_01]: Or alternatively, sometimes the output of the AI isn't necessarily judiciously reviewed.

[00:28:35] [SPEAKER_01]: And the challenge with that is you end up eroding customer trust. They will come to your product,

[00:28:41] [SPEAKER_01]: they will use your AI capabilities once. If the output is considered to be subpar, low quality,

[00:28:48] [SPEAKER_01]: they're not going to use it again. It's going to take quite a bit more effort on your part to get

[00:28:54] [SPEAKER_01]: them to try it again. It's going to take word of mouth, some positive examples, some positive

[00:28:59] [SPEAKER_01]: moving momentum before they'll try it again, versus if you had just taken that time on the

[00:29:04] [SPEAKER_01]: front end to really validate that the output was high quality, figure out where the gaps are,

[00:29:09] [SPEAKER_01]: and shore up that product development process to solve for those things before you went fast.

[00:29:15] [SPEAKER_01]: And I honestly think this, I don't know, can we call it an AI gold rush? It feels a little bit

[00:29:19] [SPEAKER_01]: like an AI gold rush, right? Where everyone's just trying to one up each other in terms of this,

[00:29:25] [SPEAKER_01]: we're going to get our capabilities out faster than everybody else. But if the capabilities are not

[00:29:29] [SPEAKER_01]: good, then it's really not serving you to be the first in market tied to that. And so I think that

[00:29:37] [SPEAKER_01]: focus on connecting the workflow, making sure you're thoughtfully using AI for what it can

[00:29:43] [SPEAKER_01]: actually do for you and for your customers, and validating that the outputs are actually meeting

[00:29:48] [SPEAKER_01]: the needs of your customers is a critical component to being effective in any product

[00:29:54] [SPEAKER_01]: that's leveraging those capabilities and technologies. 100% with you. And I've used

[00:29:59] [SPEAKER_00]: the term AI gold rush in a lot of my articles recently. So 100% with you there. And you've left

[00:30:04] [SPEAKER_00]: so many golden insights today, but I'm going to push my luck and try and have a little bit of fun

[00:30:09] [SPEAKER_00]: with you and ask you to leave one final gift before you go. And as we have an Amazon wish list

[00:30:14] [SPEAKER_00]: where I add books that the guests recommend or a song that they can add to our Spotify playlist,

[00:30:22] [SPEAKER_00]: and yes, guilty pleasures are allowed. But all I'm going to ask is what would you like to leave

[00:30:26] [SPEAKER_01]: everyone listening with and why? So I would say a book that I've been leveraging throughout kind

[00:30:32] [SPEAKER_01]: of the last few years of my career has been Lead from the Outside by Stacey Abrams. Are you familiar

[00:30:37] [SPEAKER_01]: with it, Neil? No, no, no. Let me tell you a little bit about it. So Stacey Abrams is a politician in

[00:30:44] [SPEAKER_01]: the US and her approach to leadership is a little bit different. And it's interesting because for me,

[00:30:50] [SPEAKER_01]: I felt like I followed a pattern and I think is pretty similar to the pattern that others

[00:30:55] [SPEAKER_01]: might follow on their path to leadership, which is first you observe and see what works. Then

[00:31:00] [SPEAKER_01]: you try to copy what other people are doing or what the recommendations by leadership experts

[00:31:07] [SPEAKER_01]: are and try to contort yourself into symbolizing those components. And then you start to realize

[00:31:15] [SPEAKER_01]: that some of those things don't work for you and you start to expand outside of those known

[00:31:20] [SPEAKER_01]: approaches. And I would say Stacey's book fully influenced me to break out of what those

[00:31:27] [SPEAKER_01]: assumptions of what works within leadership, known the truths are and lean into my own uniqueness.

[00:31:35] [SPEAKER_01]: So one of the quotes that she includes there is embrace your uniqueness, it's your greatest

[00:31:39] [SPEAKER_01]: strength. And for me, that was so motivating because instead of trying to be like other people

[00:31:45] [SPEAKER_01]: and not being effective at doing that, why not just lean into my own approach?

[00:31:51] [SPEAKER_01]: Why does my thoughtfulness make it less likely for me to be a leader or introversion make me

[00:31:57] [SPEAKER_01]: less likely to be a leader or less effective in some of these roles? I shouldn't. And so instead

[00:32:02] [SPEAKER_01]: of trying to pretend to be something that I'm not, why not lean into exactly who I am and leverage

[00:32:06] [SPEAKER_01]: that to the best benefit that I have to my teams and to the company that I'm working for and to the

[00:32:11] [SPEAKER_01]: product and the customers that I'm serving and see what that does for me. And honestly,

[00:32:16] [SPEAKER_01]: it was the most liberating and effective approach for me as I transitioned into this role that I

[00:32:24] [SPEAKER_01]: would 100% recommend it to others. I think it's a very inspirational read.

[00:32:31] [SPEAKER_00]: That sounds awesome. I'm going to get that added straight to our Amazon wish list. And I think

[00:32:35] [SPEAKER_00]: it almost brings us full circle celebrating your own uniqueness, the power of your own uniqueness

[00:32:41] [SPEAKER_00]: and ultimately the importance of diversity of thought and celebrating that rather than just

[00:32:46] [SPEAKER_00]: trying to be like everybody else in that meeting room. And so many inspirational things to think

[00:32:51] [SPEAKER_00]: about today. But what is the best place for listeners to find you or your team online and

[00:32:57] [SPEAKER_00]: find out more about anything we talked about today or even ask your team a question?

[00:33:01] [SPEAKER_01]: Where would you like to point them? I would love to point them to my LinkedIn.

[00:33:05] [SPEAKER_01]: And LinkedIn is where on social media, at least I spend the most of my time for professional

[00:33:12] [SPEAKER_01]: reasons. And so please reach out, connect, ask questions. I'd love to engage with people and

[00:33:19] [SPEAKER_01]: for the purposes of information sharing, intellectual discourse, all of the things

[00:33:24] [SPEAKER_01]: that help us further the field and our individual and collective agendas to progress in tech.

[00:33:31] [SPEAKER_00]: Well, I'll add a link to that as well as the type form website and everything else on the social

[00:33:36] [SPEAKER_00]: channels for that so people can find it. But just again, thank you so much today for bravely sharing

[00:33:42] [SPEAKER_00]: how you experienced gender bias throughout your career and offering a little advice for other

[00:33:47] [SPEAKER_00]: women in the tech industry. Why tech needs more women in the C-suite and how you're not just

[00:33:52] [SPEAKER_00]: saying that you're leading from the front here. It's just fantastic to hear and so refreshing

[00:33:56] [SPEAKER_00]: to hear as well. So thank you for sharing that with me tonight.

[00:33:58] [SPEAKER_01]: Thank you so much for having me, Neil. It's been such a pleasure to chat with you.

[00:34:02] [SPEAKER_00]: I think after our conversation today, I'm reminded of the power of diversity and inclusion in the

[00:34:08] [SPEAKER_00]: tech industry. And my guests insight not only shed light on the challenges that women face

[00:34:13] [SPEAKER_00]: in climbing the corporate ladder, but also illuminate the transformative impact of diverse

[00:34:18] [SPEAKER_00]: leadership on innovation and business success. And it is refreshing to hear how type forms

[00:34:24] [SPEAKER_00]: commitment to a more balanced leadership team and their innovative approach to product development,

[00:34:29] [SPEAKER_00]: especially as we've seen in their latest offering type form for growth. I think that exemplifies how

[00:34:35] [SPEAKER_00]: businesses can thrive by embracing varied perspectives and fostering a more inclusive

[00:34:41] [SPEAKER_00]: environment. And it's clear that when companies like type form lead that way, they set a new

[00:34:46] [SPEAKER_00]: standard for the industry encouraging others to follow. But how do you think businesses can better

[00:34:51] [SPEAKER_00]: support the journey of women to the top? I'd love to hear your thoughts. And what steps will you ensure

[00:34:57] [SPEAKER_00]: that your team reflects the diverse world we live in? Again, share your thoughts with me by emailing

[00:35:02] [SPEAKER_00]: me techblogwriteroutlook.com, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, just at Neil C Hughes. Let's keep this

[00:35:09] [SPEAKER_00]: conversation going and together learn how we can all contribute to a more inclusive and dynamic

[00:35:15] [SPEAKER_00]: world of tech. But that's it for today. So thank you to my guests. Thank you each and every one

[00:35:20] [SPEAKER_00]: of you for listening. And until next time, don't be a stranger.