My story.

What I'm doing now

I work at the intersection of marketing operations and AI adoption, building, repairing, and scaling high-performing teams through operational excellence, strategic vision, and empathetic leadership. Today that shows up in two places.

BlueRock, Vice President of Marketing (full-time, since January 2026).

BlueRock is building the protection layer for agentic AI: helping teams see and secure autonomous agent actions before execution across tools, data, and runtime environments. As VP of Marketing, I am building both the category narrative and an AI-native go-to-market operating system designed for modern, agentic-infrastructure companies.

• Category and market narrative. Positioning BlueRock as the Agentic Protection Platform. Messaging around agentic action visibility, secure execution, and runtime control. Executive thought leadership at the intersection of AI infrastructure and governance.
• AI-native GTM engine. A GEO and AEO strategy (Generative Engine Optimization plus Answer Engine Optimization). Programmatic SEO architecture for AI-discoverable content. AI-first content workflows powered by agents and automation. AI-driven research, competitive analysis, and signal-tracking automation.
• Marketing OS and operations. An AI-powered marketing hub integrating agents, workflows, and analytics. Channel and lead-generation agents for signal-based outreach. Clay-powered enrichment and segmentation workflows. GTM operations built for speed, observability, and scale, aligned to product velocity.

Skylark 118, Founder and Principal (since January 2025).

I founded Skylark 118 to give executives a clear, pragmatic path to adopting AI. Too often, leaders are overwhelmed by hype or paralyzed by risk, which leaves initiatives stalled or pilots fragmented. Skylark 118 closes that gap with structure, clarity, and measurable business value. The cornerstone is the Executive AI Ramp, a three-phase approach that guides organizations from curiosity to capability to cadence, blending governance, data readiness, and lightweight pilots that prove value before scaling. Skylark 118 is also a build studio: I develop playbooks and lightweight AI applications that modernize marketing operations and decision-making, from data policies and measurement frameworks to AI agents that automate routine analysis. My role spans strategist, builder, and partner to executives who want AI to become a durable advantage.

Top career accomplishments

• Launched Skylark 118 to guide executive AI adoption. Built the Executive AI Ramp framework that moves teams from dabbling to repeatable wins, combining policy, data foundations, and agent-driven pilots that prove value before scaling.
• Transformed marketing automation and personalization at Upwork. Rebuilt and unified the Marketing Automation and Technology function (a team of 20). Implemented a Customer Data Platform and machine-learning models; an incentive-offer program delivered a 4x lift in reactivation among small-business clients, contributing to a 15% increase in customer retention.
• Modernized marketing systems at Google Cloud. Led the migration and rebuild of a 10-plus-year-old Marketo instance aligned to Salesforce, lifting nurture click-through conversions 8%. As Head of Marketing Systems, aligned martech with enterprise data governance, enabling ABM strategies that raised conversions 12% for top-tier accounts.
• Led NetApp's marketing analytics transformation. Built the Marketing Analytics and Data team from the ground up, delivered a 3-year roadmap for attribution and predictive analytics, and earned the SiriusDecisions Best in Class CMO Dashboard Award.
• Enabled go-to-market transformation at MobileIron. Helped design and roll out the GTM 2.0 strategy alongside the CEO and senior leadership, moving from a one-size-fits-all model to a tiered strategic-account framework, executed at the 2017 Sales Kickoff.

Career

BlueRock: Vice President of Marketing

Full-time · January 2026 to Present

Building BlueRock's category narrative as the Agentic Protection Platform and an AI-native go-to-market operating system: GEO and AEO, programmatic and AI-discoverable content, agent-powered workflows, and a marketing OS built for product velocity. (Full detail above.)

Skylark 118: Founder and Principal

January 2025 to Present · skylark118.com

Founded the studio and advisory practice behind the Executive AI Ramp, helping leaders move from AI curiosity to capability to cadence, and building the playbooks and lightweight AI applications that prove value before scaling. (Full detail above.)

Previously

Upwork: Senior Director, Marketing Automation and Technology

February 2023 to December 2024 · upwork.com

Upwork is the world's largest work marketplace. I joined when the Senior Director role had been vacant for six months and the marketing organization was in a holding pattern. My priority was to rebuild morale, instill focus, and create a foundation for long-term success across a team of 20 spanning Lifecycle Marketing, Marketing Operations, and Marketing Technology.

I transformed Marketing Operations from a reactive unit into a center of excellence with standardized processes and SLAs, supporting the company's fastest-growing Enterprise segment. I stood up a new Marketing Technology team and, in a six-month timeline, deployed a Customer Data Platform on Tealium that gave Upwork a unified view of customer data across Lifecycle, Paid Media, and Enterprise Marketing. In Lifecycle, I introduced a rigorous experimentation framework; a churn-risk machine-learning model powered a targeted incentive campaign that delivered a 4x impact on targeted cohorts. By the end of my first year, the unified function had driven a 15% increase in customer retention and a 20% boost in early user activation, and three fragmented groups had become one high-performing team.

Meta: Business Planning and Operations Manager

September 2022 to January 2023 · meta.com

I joined the Business Messaging Group (Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp) on the centralized Business Planning and Operations team, supporting Marketing and Product in a strategy and operations role. I vetted the multi-year marketing technology roadmap, aligning marketing, growth, and product teams around actionable milestones, and played an advisory role in the marketing reorganization, assessing ROI, headcount, and resourcing to sharpen objectives and KPIs. As an agnostic advisor, I presented recommendations to the executive team that were adopted with high velocity.

VMware: Director, Business Operations, then Director, Data Insights and Reporting

February 2021 to August 2022 · vmware.com

Across two roles in the Multi-Cloud Solutions Business Unit and the Marketing Analytics organization, I drove alignment, operational efficiency, and data-driven decision-making. As Director of Business Operations (chief-of-staff capacity for an 18-person team), I overhauled lead-management data flow and reallocated demand-generation investment, achieving a 16% year-over-year increase in lead acquisition while reducing cost-per-lead 12%. The CMO then asked me to take over the leaderless Marketing Analytics team, where I aligned Field Marketing targets to pipeline (a 20% improvement in MQL conversion), launched a real-time performance dashboard (a 25% increase in campaign ROI), and led QBRs that informed a 5 million dollar demand-generation investment.

Google: Head of Marketing Systems, Google Cloud

April 2019 to January 2021 · google.com

I joined Google Cloud as Head of Marketing Operations and Systems, building a centralized operations function from the ground up. My most ambitious project was migrating Google Cloud's 10-plus-year-old Marketo instance alongside a concurrent Salesforce overhaul, redefining data definitions, integrating third-party intent signals, and replacing outdated lead scoring with predictive models. Instituting global email limits to preserve customer trust lifted nurture click-through conversions 8%. Transitioning to Head of Marketing Systems within Google's Central Engineering organization, I became product owner for marketing systems and data integrations, implemented progressive profiling within Google's strict privacy guidelines, and enriched account scoring in ways that raised ABM conversions 12% for Google Cloud's top 10% of clients.

MobileIron: Senior Director, Marketing Operations

August 2014 to April 2018 · now part of Ivanti

MobileIron had just gone public when I joined to establish and lead its first marketing operations function, eventually managing a 15 million dollar budget and serving as chief of staff to the VP of Marketing. I overhauled lead management and implemented full marketing attribution (BrightFunnel, Marketo, Salesforce), then extended that transparency to sales leaders. Promoted to Senior Director, I contributed to the GTM 2.0 strategy with a cross-functional tiger team including the CEO and CFO, moving from a one-size-fits-all model to a tiered partnership model, finalized in January 2017 and rolled out at the 2017 Sales Kickoff. This is where my passion for bridging operational excellence with business strategy took hold.

NetApp: Senior Manager, Marketing Analytics and Data

February 2006 to February 2014 · netapp.com

Over eight years I grew from a Sales Operations Program Manager to a leader who built and scaled NetApp's Marketing Analytics and Data discipline. As Sales Operations Program Manager (2006 to 2009), I managed compensation, club, and quarter-close order processing, and led a tiger team that adopted the SiriusDecisions Demand Waterfall to establish a center of excellence for lead management, with Marketing taking on a 25% marketing-sourced revenue goal. As Manager, Marketing Technology Office (2009 to 2011), I implemented Eloqua, owned its data model and CRM integrations, migrated its integration from Oracle OnDemand to Salesforce, and trained over 300 marketers. Promoted to Senior Manager, Marketing Analytics and Data (2011 to 2014), I built a brand-new nine-person team, integrated Marketing into the new Enterprise Data Warehouse, delivered a 3-year roadmap toward attribution and predictive analytics, and earned the SiriusDecisions Best in Class CMO Dashboard Award. This is where I became a leader capable of building and empowering high-performing teams.

Blue Shield of California: Business Information Consultant and Lead, Finance

March 2004 to February 2006 · blueshieldca.com

In the Large Group Business Unit, I grew from Analyst to Consultant during a high-stakes systems-modernization period. I owned forecasting and budgeting models that gave leadership visibility into revenue and resourcing, led reporting for the online Statewide Tracking System, and administered an 8 million dollar sales incentive program. I also built measurement frameworks for Marketing and trained peers across the organization. This is where I first learned to harness data to solve complex problems and drive performance.

Maxim Integrated Products: Systems Data Analyst, North American Distribution

September 2000 to March 2004 · now part of Analog Devices

As primary liaison for distributors including Avnet, Arrow, and DigiKey, I managed Maxim's EDI systems and grew the footprint to over 20 accounts, converting the ship-and-debit program and change orders to EDI to eliminate manual workflows. I built custom Visual Basic applications to automate day-to-day processes, an early aptitude for systems optimization that has run through my whole career.

North American Medical Management (NAMM): Business Analyst

June 1999 to September 2000 · nammcal.com

My first role out of UC Berkeley. As a Business Intelligence Analyst in managed care, I designed and built reports in SQL and Crystal Reports for medical and market directors, conducted departmental and disease case studies on utilization and cost, and trained staff on new tools. I received the Superior Customer Service Award in March 2000. This is where I first realized my passion for connecting technical solutions to operational outcomes.

Education

• Santa Clara University, Leavey School of Business. Master of Business Administration, 2003 to 2005.
• University of California, Berkeley. Bachelor of Science, Molecular and Cell Biology, 1995 to 1999.

Beyond the work

The part of me that does not fit on a resume.

What I am most proud of. My natural ability to connect with children. From the first moments of meeting a child I can usually find a way to break the ice, whether through a funny face, a silly voice, or simply kneeling down to greet them at eye level. Growing up in a large extended family surrounded by younger cousins taught me early how to build a bond with kids. It is rooted in a desire to make sure children feel truly seen, heard, and respected. Now, as a mother of two, this trait shines brightest.

Where I would spend a year. Vietnam. As a Vietnamese-American born in the U.S., I have visited only once, but it left a lasting impact: a deep connection to my heritage, and an appreciation for the strength, creativity, and resilience of the Vietnamese people. I would travel the whole country, from Hanoi's Old Quarter and the Temple of Literature, to Hoi An and Ha Long Bay, to Hue's Imperial City, to the floating markets of the Mekong Delta, and learn to cook regional dishes so I could bring those flavors home.

What I love. The entire process of creating art, from the texture of carefully chosen paper to the colors that carry emotion and meaning. I began sharing my watercolor work publicly in 2022, and I have explored blending traditional watercolor with technology, using AI to layer textures and effects and blockchain to give each piece verifiable provenance. I see color as a language. I love watching how differently people interpret an abstract piece, finding their own meanings in it. It is a continuing conversation I am grateful to share.

My favorite memory. Playing hide-and-seek with my two daughters. Despite their ten-year age gap, it is a game that bridges them and brings us together. Our cozy house has few hiding spots, so we crouch in predictable places and battle giggles trying to stay quiet. It became our little post-dinner ritual, a ten-minute escape that lets us reconnect, laugh, and focus on each other. A simple memory that always reminds me of the joy and love that fills our home.

If any of this resonates

The best place to start is a conversation. Work with me, or follow what I build in public.