In this episode of Looking Outside, we explore personal and professional growth from the angle of imperfection; not having it all figured out and embracing what you don’t know as a lever for learning. Even if you work for the world’s biggest and best brands. Just like our guest has done, Marco Andre, author of Imperfect Stories and Head of Marketing and Generative AI at Novartis.

Marco shares how his journey from tech to pharma had no master plan, he was simply a geeky guy that liked designing things. A sustainability engineer by training, a jazz drummer by night and an author in his spare time, Marco has embraced adaptability and flexibility throughout his career. All while working for the world’s leading brands, P&G, Google and now Novartis.

Instead of a well-defined ‘life plan’, Marco describes his career journey as a desire to tap into his creativity, particularly as someone with “no shortage of ideas”. Creativity can mean assembling LEGO or writing stories, but it can also be expressed through learning a new topic. For Marco, his curiosity led him to Generative AI which he now heads up for his company, and speaks about on the public stage. He doesn’t call himself an AI guru, however. In fact, Marco approaches AI the same way he advises others to; with acknowledgement of the emotions that surround it (the 5 stages of AI grief), and with proactive experimentation.

Jo and Marco discuss how AI needs to be intentionally and carefully explored, as it’s important to stay close to the changes in the external world instead of living in denial with blinkers on. But that ultimately the way we use it (and when we choose not to) is up to us.

Even though Marco spends a lot of time presenting about AI and other topics, he makes it a point to do so with authenticity. He believes the time of polished and perfected TED Talks is over, and people want to hear more from leaders who have learnt from failure, who don’t know everything and who admit when they are scared. This, Marco says, is the new leadership that people – especially young people entering the workforce – expect. It requires us to think differently about traditional career paths that tied our professional expertise and personal development to one company for most of our lives.

It also requires businesses to adapt to enable and incentivize these types of next generation leaders. It’s important, Marco explains, for companies who are particularly inward focused and disconnected with their customers, to think differently about how they “inject oxygen” into a stale environment by bringing in the outside world.

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To look outside, Marco goes for a walk to clear his mind. And when he’s trying to look differently at a topic, he leverages a small group of trusted people to gain a perspective that differs to his own. Then, taking in theirs and considering his own, he makes up his own mind.

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Marco Andre is the Global Head of Marketing and Generative AI Excellence at Novartis. He is a keynote speaker, AI advisor to executives and a published author.

Marco has worked for 20+ years in companies such as Google, Procter & Gamble and YouTube, where he held local, regional and global roles in Marketing, Sales, Partnerships and Operations. Marco’s achievements include scaling a country marketing operation 4x in two years, managing a $20M brand budget across 18 EMEA countries and advising C-Level executives on digital transformation for brands worth $40B in sales.

Outside of work, Marco is the author of the book - Imperfect Stories, and builds a ton of LEGO. He is a proud owner of 20+ sets, with his favorite one being the Star Wars Millennium Falcon.

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