Her Story
About Esra
Esra Guler serves as Business Leader, Growth Marketing and AI Innovation at Atlassian. In this role, she oversees integrated marketing campaign strategy, builds the growth marketing team, and drives the company's AI innovation mandate across performance and brand campaigns, user journey optimization, and internal team supercharging with AI tools. Prior to joining Atlassian two years ago, she spent 15 years at Google, where she took the Google Partners program from an initial idea to multi-billion dollar global scale, led growth teams for Google Shopping and Google Workspace, and headed Growth Labs reporting to the CMO on company-wide consumer product initiatives. Throughout her more than 26-year career in tech, she has held roles spanning product marketing, field marketing, brand marketing, and growth marketing across emerging and advanced markets. Esra is active in the Google alumni network and Silicon Valley Women in Tech. She attributes her success to persistence, tenacity, go-getterness, and a global perspective developed through her journey from Istanbul to London to Silicon Valley. She values authenticity, the ability to thrive in ambiguity, and curiosity, and she advises paying it forward while investing in authentic relationships.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Esra
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to persistence, tenacity, and go-getterness combined with a global perspective. Coming from Istanbul to London to Silicon Valley, I've gained the ability to do business across emerging and advanced markets, making global strategies meaningful rather than just presentations.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I received is to pay it forward. Having benefited from managers and sponsors who opened doors for me, I strive to do the same by helping others, providing hand-holding, and connecting people whenever I have the opportunity.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Do not worry too much about career planning because careers take off in unexpected ways beyond imagination. Invest in authentic relationships and networking while keeping curiosity, as connections are valuable and many wonderful things happen serendipitously. Put positive attitude into networking and building relationships, and the goodness will follow.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
AI brings many opportunities but also fear and concerns around safety and how it might negatively disrupt lives, including job losses. The biggest challenge is ensuring responsible AI amid debates on regulations and proper use.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Authenticity is key - staying true to your values even in difficult times so you can look back with pride. Ability to thrive in ambiguity is essential in the chaotic Silicon Valley build-and-grow environment. Curiosity is crucial as there is no set playbook, especially in the AI era; one must be a tinkerer and builder to stay on top of trends.
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