Can you catapult into brand new roles, niche after niche? Prayukth K V on building brands in the tough emerging IoT space and the eternal quest to stay relevant

In the very first episode of the Perseverance Overrated show, Deepthi Rajan chats with Prayukth K V, an emerging technology marketing thought leader and the CMO-IoT at Subex, about his journey so far.

Segueing from traditional marketing to building a career in emerging technology, those of IoT and IoT cybersecurity, Prayukth has demonstrated leadership in building successful corporate brands in the digital transformation space from the ground up, defining the business strategy, reinventing his own personal brand, and more.

His latest report on IoT cybersecurity, released last month, has taken the industry by storm with its research findings.

His report, which has been extensively covered by all the leading media publications, is the very first to link recent cyber-attacks on critical infrastructure to geopolitical tensions in the region.

Prayukth has been actively involved in productizing and promoting cross-ecosystem collaboration in the Internet of Things (IoT) space for over 5 years now.

A marketer by profession, Prayukth has, through his many roles, evolved a model for rapid introduction of IoT into different verticals by deriving custom use cases that can be deployed faster and are better aligned to business outcomes. 

In his current role, he has taken Subex’ IoT business to new geographies through a mix of custom messaging, market primed tactical interventions and by showcasing Subex’ product and research capabilities.  

 Prayukth has thus far established two brands ground-up, handled a complex M&A project for Oracle and delivered significant revenue traction for various businesses. 

With over a decade’s experience in technology marketing, Prayukth has a Bachelors degree from St Josephs Bangalore, a Masters in Science from Bangalore University and is a graduate of IIM Bangalore’s Executive General Management Programme.

Key Points From The Episode

What inspired Prayukth to write his well-publicized report "The State of IoT Security"? [00:03:26]

Overcoming challenges related to IoT security data in the public domain [00:06:17]

Flashback - From journalism, media relations, research to marketing [00:07:47]

Return to school experience after more than a decade [00:10:53]

Zeroing in on IoT [00:14:13]

Tips and tactics for breaking into emerging technology marketing [00:16:16]

Was it all smooth sailing once Prayukth got his new, shiny job in IoT Marketing? [00:17:35]

How is emerging tech marketing different from traditional marketing? [00:20:31]

How to deal with organizational obsession with short term goals especially when it comes to niche, emerging technology? [00:23:10]

Biggest achievement - rebranding India's first product success story [00:25:00]

Succeeding with building one of the first IoT brands in India and APAC [00:27:24]

Skills imperative to succeed not just in emerging technology but also in a hyper-dynamic world [00:29:45]

Links Mentioned In The Episode

Prayukth’s report "The state of IoT security - 2019" - http://bit.ly/36rBBdw

IIM Bangalore Executive General Management Programme - http://bit.ly/2RHrtJg

Slideshare - https://www.slideshare.net/prayukth1