Tech Effects: How MCIT Online Helped Me Understand Machine Learning’s Effects on Marketing
Veronica Polanco
MCIT Online Student, Spring 2021 Cohort
I applied to MCIT Online because I wanted to switch into a technology role, like software engineering and product management. I currently work at Google under their Business Organization. I knew gaining more technology skills would help me switch to the Engineering side of Tech. What I didn’t expect is that my classes would be applicable to my current role.
What I didn’t expect is that my classes would be applicable to my current role.
Within the Business Organization, I’m an Account Executive, partnering with marketers to develop strategy based on their business objectives and marketing goals. The Google product these marketers use is called Google Ads, an advertising platform used to connect with potential customers through campaigns in the form of text, images or videos throughout Google’s inventory. At a glance, the product might seem more related to Advertising and Marketing but in its raw form, Google Ads is a complex mechanism of algorithms and deep machine learning. It’s as complex as Google search, which shows results in a fraction of a Second.
Every time Google introduces a new technological advancement to improve performance of their products, it’s
advertisers who have to adapt. The difference between successful advertisers and unsuccessful advertisers are those who embrace this adaptation with optimism and a deep understanding that technology is going to constantly change.
I finally wrapped my mind around this consistent change during Computer Systems Programming class, when we learned that Moore’s Law means the number of transistors on a microchip doubles every two years. The law indicates that our computers increase in speed and capability often. Hence, technology fundamentally changes at least every two years.
I felt this from working at Google. Google Ads has tremendously evolved since I first started five years ago, so much so that my recommendations to my clients may look different today. Most of this evolution is due to topics in technology such as deep learning, neural networks in artificial intelligence, and training technology to understand and create language.
MCIT Online helped me realize that if I can help my clients in my current role understand why technology changes rapidly and how these changes are actually better for the marketing industry long-term, I can help them in feeling less frustrated about the learning curve and effects of these changes.
Working at Google helped me realize that these machine learning and AI changes might be exciting for Engineers and Product teams, but users and tenured folks in the industry might not always see it that way. And rather than assuming certain topics are too “tech heavy” for people, explaining how technology works helps everyone understand how they can apply these changes to their roles.
In terms of what’s next for me once I graduate from MCIT Online, I’m still exploring potential roles. I know I like the intersections that technology creates. I’m specifically curious about the effect of technology on the art industry. The challenge of technology changing marketing is similar to what the art industry is facing, where the MOMA considered investing $70M auction profits in NFTs and the Fine Arts competition rewarded an individual who created their art using AI causing controversy.
I’d love to use my degree to bridge art and technology and I’m excited for what my electives such as Artificial Intelligence will teach me next.
