When it comes to driving product marketing success in the startup world, Manila is at the forefront of innovation. Today’s MarTech Top Voice is Birdeye’s Head of Product Marketing, Manila Rauniyar.
In this MarTech Top Voice Interview, we have the pleasure of speaking with Manila, a prominent leader in the B2B marketing technology space. With a diverse background spanning large enterprises like IBM and Tata Group to her current role at Birdeye, Manila has successfully navigated the dynamic landscape of startups and product marketing. As the head of product marketing at Birdeye, she drives key initiatives that ensure successful product launches, enhance customer value, and keep the company at the forefront of innovation. In this conversation, Manila shares her inspiring journey, the role of AI in her work, and valuable insights for young professionals aiming to make their mark in the marketing and tech world.
Join us as we dive into Manila Rauniyar’s inspiring journey in the marketing tech space, her perspective on AI in product marketing, and valuable career advice for young professionals.
MarTech Insights (MTI): Hi Manila, Welcome to the MarTech Top Voice interview series. Please tell us about your role in Birdeye and how you started here.
Manila: Thank you, Sudipto! I’m thrilled to be here. My journey with Birdeye began about a year and a half ago when I made the leap from structured, methodical enterprises like IBM and the Tata Group to the fast-paced, high-growth world of startups. At Birdeye, I lead product marketing, driving initiatives that ensure successful product launches, highlight proven customer value, position us for growth, empower our sales teams, and keep us ahead of the competition.
MTI: You are among the top women leaders in the B2B marketing technology industry. Could you tell us about your journey over the last four years that has led you to success?
Manila: The journey to success is never easy—it’s been a roller coaster, to say the least, but that also means there was never a dull moment. At Tata Communications, I led product marketing for their growth portfolio, which was at the peak of the hype cycle. I spearheaded thought leadership initiatives like ‘Secure Connected Digital Experience’ and ‘Digital Trust,’ earning significant respect and influence within such a large organization—where even moving the needle can be a challenge.
But like in many large enterprises, I eventually hit a glass ceiling. That’s when I realized my learning curve had flattened. In enterprises, growth often means diversifying into roles like sales or corporate strategy—or taking the leap into the startup world. I decided to go with the flow, and the startup world found me.
The last four years in startups haven’t been easy either. I had to overcome confirmation bias and learn that what made me successful in one place wouldn’t necessarily work elsewhere. But through all the challenges, this journey has been another exhilarating ride. Now, I finally feel grounded and confident that I can drive success here as well.
MTI: An inspiring personality in the marketing and product engineering space that nurtured your thought process:
Manila: While my inspiration may not come strictly from the marketing space, there are remarkable women leaders who have deeply influenced my thought process—one of them being Indra Nooyi. Her journey resonates with that of many Indian women who are expected to juggle multiple responsibilities across family, work, and community. Some of her speeches have been truly eye-opening for me, reinforcing the idea that we don’t have to do it all or strive for perfection. Building a strong support system—whether within the family or outside of it—is the real key. And I have these engrained as a core belief system within me.
In the product engineering space, I don’t have a single personality to call out, but my newfound fascination is with ChatGPT. I’m amazed by how it has seamlessly integrated into our daily lives, and with large language models like GPT becoming mainstream, we are on the cusp of groundbreaking changes in how we live and work. It’s truly inspiring—it makes you believe that anything is possible.
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MTI: What part of your job is automated by AI and machine learning? How do you use AI in your current role?
Manila: Unlike other areas of marketing, product marketing has limited tasks that can be fully automated. However, AI has significantly boosted efficiency and productivity, especially in research and content creation. Tasks that once took weeks—such as crafting impactful narratives or compiling market research reports—can now be accelerated with AI tools. It acts as a co-pilot, helping to refine ideas, validate insights, and enhance storytelling while keeping your core idea authentic. Rather than replacing creativity, AI amplifies it, making the process faster and more effective.
MTI: How does Birdeye fit into a modern marketing technology stack? What are your core offerings?
Manila: Birdeye is an AI-native marketing technology stack, built grounds-up with large language models at its core. Designed specifically for multi-location enterprises, it empowers large brands to drive hyper-local marketing and customer experiences making each interaction authentic. This means a CMO can tailor the Birdeye marketing stack—not just aligned with their industry but fully adapted to their unique business and brand context.
Our platform serves core marketing use cases around Social Media, Review Management, SEO & Listings, and AI-powered Chatbots, along with a highly advanced consumer and competitor analytics suite—Insights AI and Competitors AI. More than just a functional tool, Birdeye acts as a strategic consultant, weaving together 360-degree insights from both consumers and competitors. This empowers enterprises to refine their marketing strategies in real time, proactively adapting to market shifts, evolving customer behavior, and competitive dynamics. These offerings are already making a significant impact, allowing businesses to make truly data-driven marketing and customer experience decisions.
Additionally, we’ve established ourselves as pioneers in AI-driven automation, with AI-powered agents embedded across the platform to help marketers work smarter, reducing both costs and time while maximizing efficiency.
MTI: How do you define social media technology from a modern product GTM owner’s perspective?
Manila: From a GTM owner’s perspective, integrating social media into the broader marketing stack is key—aligning it with demand generation, customer advocacy, and competitive positioning. It’s no longer just about posting content but executing integrated, multi-channel strategies that drive tangible business results. Social now serves as a full-scale marketing, sales, and customer experience platform.
Social media today is proven to empower brands to expand their reach through paid and organic strategies while enabling personalized engagement with AI-driven audience segmentation and predictive analytics. It also turns conversations into sales through social commerce, chatbots, and AI-powered responses. Additionally, brands can extract real-time consumer intelligence by analyzing sentiment, trends, and competitor activity, ensuring smarter decision-making. Automation further streamlines content creation and engagement workflows, improving efficiency and response times.
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MTI: As a product marketing leader, what recommendations would you make to young women professionals regarding training and learning certifications, and upskilling?
Manila: Let me share an incident, when I started as a management trainee in 2006, one of my first tasks was to get a capex justification note approved by finance. It took multiple iterations before I finally got the sign-off. The process was nerve-wracking, but when it was approved, it felt like a real success. That experience taught me an invaluable lesson—beyond degrees and certifications, perseverance and objectivity are critical to professional growth.
While certifications can add value, true success comes from building real competencies. Young professionals should focus on deeply understanding their roles, developing problem-solving skills, and continuously upskilling. Credentials may open doors, but the ability to apply knowledge in real-world scenarios is what truly drives impact. A strong foundation of learning, hands-on experience, and adaptability is key to long-term career growth.
I’ve seen top business school graduates struggle because real-world execution demands much more than academic credentials. The key is continuous upskilling, combining structured learning and certifications with the ability to translate knowledge into tangible business results. Build your expertise, stay adaptable, and focus on making an impact beyond frameworks and theories.
MTI: Tag a leader in the industry you would like to recommend for the “MarTech Top Voice Interview Series”:
Manila: Hard to tag one, these are all inspiring marketing leaders I am working with or have worked with in the past.
Deepak Bahree – CMO, Birdeye
Mehul Kapadia – CRO, Locus | (Ex Global CMO Tata Comm)
Claudia Ziegler – Director of Marketing, Clarifai
Thank you so much, Manila, for your time and consideration. We look forward to speaking to you again soon!
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For media inquiries, you can write to our MarTech Newsroom at sudipto@intentamplify.com
About Manila
Manila Rauniyar is a seasoned product and growth marketing professional with nearly 19 years of experience driving global market and segment management for B2B tech offerings. She has a proven track record of crafting successful narratives and propositions that have garnered analyst coverage, while developing and executing integrated marketing plans to fuel demand, GTM, and RTM strategies. Manila has led new product and market launches, managed usage and revenue for both service and product lines, and enabled ledger-level impact.
With hands-on experience in running integrated marketing campaigns, events, and sales pipeline acceleration programs, Manila is also skilled in overseeing 3rd-party telemarketing agencies for demand generation. A strong leader, she built and managed global teams, including establishing a Product Marketing team from the ground up for a SaaS company.
About Birdeye
Birdeye is revolutionizing reputation, social media, and customer experience management for multi-location businesses with our AI-powered platform. Follow to empower your brand with data-driven insights and best practices for reputation management, social media prowess, and enriching digital customer experiences.
