Conversations with corporate researchers
Tanya Pinto
Director, Market Research, Microsoft
You’ve been with Microsoft since 2017. What has been the most rewarding aspect of your job?
Microsoft and our CEO, Satya Nadella, represent so many great values and inspiring principles that I admire. The focus that Microsoft has on diversity, inclusion, environment and philanthropy is world-class in terms of corporate values and corporate social responsibility, and one of the key reasons I joined Microsoft.
Since joining the Customer and Market Research organization at Microsoft I have been given so many opportunities for growth and learning. My research work supporting the Worldwide Education Marketing team has been the most rewarding because I have been able to explore and delve into the needs, motivations and pain points that those working in K-12 and higher education face around the world when it comes to technology. Now more than ever, the need for technology to keep students connected to learning opportunities is critical. Conducting research to support education has been extremely rewarding, especially when these learnings can really help educators during this crisis.
You presented a session at Quirk’s Brooklyn, Decoding Signal vs. Noise. Could you share a few highlights from the session?
This was my first time both attending and presenting at Quirk’s in Brooklyn and it was an amazing experience. The session I co-presented with Marc Goulet, partner at Russell Research, was really well attended with a great mix of corporate and agency researchers. Developing an intentional and systematic work stream to uncover trends that are coming around the corner – vs. looking backwards, hindsight – was something that seemed to pique the interest of the attendees. Many of the questions and feedback I got after the session concerned the processes, funding and work streams that enabled those insights, particularly for corporate research departments that are really stretched for time and resources.
Outside of marketing research, you have been running a nonprofit, Baal Dan Charities and Food Mission, since 2005. What inspired you to enter the nonprofit space?
I started my own nonprofit after taking a life-changing sabbatical to work at Mother Teresa’s orphanage and home for the dying in Kolkata, India. My grandfather was an orphan so growing up I had always had a dream to help children in need in some way. The hands-on experience I gained working in the orphanage and witnessing extreme poverty motivated me to do something to help children in need so I started Baal Dan Charities, which means “Donation to Children” in Hindi, with the mission of providing grants for essential food, supplies, education and health care to children in need. Since 2005, the charity has helped over 12,000 children in 12 developing countries in Asia, Africa and South America, and I have funded the construction of two schools, a few wells and several latrines. The charity provides grants for the daily meals of over 1,100 children living in orphanages and shelters. Most of the children who are the recipients of this aid are orphans, orphans with special needs or children living in extremely impoverished conditions (slums and rural areas). Almost 100% of what I raise goes directly to help children because we have no paid staff and I cover the administrative expenses of the charity directly. To learn more you can visit www.baaldan.comand there are also a lot of videos of my work on You Tube (www.youtube.com/user/baaldan).
What methodologies or new tools do you hope to utilize in the coming year?
The research landscape has changed, particularly for qualitative research and ethnography. I expect that in the coming year we will have to rely on remote learning tools and online platforms utilizing video more than ever, vs. the in-person fieldwork. I think the impact of this pandemic has caused a paradigm shift in society that will have to be reconciled within the research reporting we do as daily life, habits and practices might be irrevocably altered. This will be another area of focus for my work.