Why Nigeria’s Dara Treseder of Autodesk is the world’s most influential Black marketer

Dara Treseder is a Nigerian marketer who has taken the industry by storm. From a less privileged background, she struggled for the basics of life but education was treasured in her family. Her grandfather had to literally empty his account in order to finance her education in the United States. Treseder attended Harvard University, where she graduated with honors.

Treseder would go on to land top marketing roles at powerful corporations such as General Electric, Apple, and Goldman Sachs. At GE, she worked as the Chief Marketing Officer of GE Business Innovations and GE Ventures.

One of her biggest career moves was when she was appointed by Peloton, the world’s largest interactive fitness platform, as Senior Vice President, Head of Global Marketing and Communications. The move earned her a spot on Forbes’ inaugural CEO Next list which profiled 50 CEOs on the cusp of running America’s most influential and respected companies. This was also followed by recognition by AdWeek as one of the Women Trailblazers, Inc. Magazine as one of the 30 Inspirational Women to Watch in Tech and Business Insider as one of the Top 25 Most Innovative CMOs in the World.

Treseder has moved from Peloton to Autodesk, the multinational B2B tech company, with a task to rethink the enterprise’s go-to-market strategy, according to Forbes. She also has responsibility for the company’s worldwide marketing, brand and communications, global demand generation, and its education business teams.

For her sterling career in marketing, branding, and communication, she has been featured among the top 50 most influential Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) by Forbes. She was ranked 23.

“The 2023 Forbes World’s Most Influential CMOs List, again recognizes the 50 chief-marketers whose influence on their brands, businesses, culture, people, and the global marketing community, stand apart. Along with this year’s Forbes CMO Hall of Fame inductee, the thinking, approach, work, leadership, impact, of this year’s 50 honorees—28 of whom make the list for the first time—merits not only celebration but consideration as there is much to be learned from them,” Forbes wrote.

On the methodology for the selection, Forbes said the process began in 2023 with an initial eligible universe of 2,892 brands or companies that appeared in one or more of seven distinct and authoritative data sources. Research insight was provided by Sprinklr while LinkedIn supplied supplemental data. In all, the 50 CMOs on the list come from businesses headquartered in 13 countries around the world and have direct influence over thousands of brands across industries, globally, Forbes said.

The CMOs recognized on the list have also represented companies that employ almost 12 million people globally and that also represent nearly $9 trillion in market capitalization (as of May 12, 2023), the platform added.

Treseder is doing incredibly well at Autodesk as she has already unveiled three of the company’s first broad-reach brand campaigns — the Game of Thrones finale, The Oscars, and the company’s work in helping France rebuild the Notre Dame Cathedral, Forbes said.

The platform added that as of April, the company reported YoY quarterly revenue growth of over 8% thanks to Treseder’s marketing influence.