Kajoli leads consumer insights at Microsoft, covering Xbox, Microsoft 365, Search, Copilot, Windows, and Devices. Additionally, she heads corporate brand, social, and reputation insights, while also coordinating AI research across both consumer and commercial portfolios.
LinkedIn: Kajoli Tankha
Instagram: Kajoli the reader
Career Trajectory
My career has been shaped more by happenstance than by a grand plan.
When I was placed at a qualitative research firm during campus recruitment, I didn’t even know what qualitative research was. Starting my career in 1997 meant entering the corporate world just as India was privatizing, giving me the opportunity to work on exciting brands. I quickly realized I loved moderating especially talking to rural women in Sitapur about A1 Kadak Chai!
Two years later, I left that firm because the commute was too long and joined Research International, where I was introduced to quantitative research and loved that too.
Around this time, my husband, Atul (also an IIFM alum), attended a conference in Bloomington, Indiana, and became interested in university life abroad. To stay together, I also applied to U.S. universities and chose the University of Georgia primarily because it was warmer than my other options. I did well and received multiple job offers. In a completely unscientific decision-making process, I laid out my four offer letters, and my flatmate’s black lab stepped on the one from Bush’s Baked Beans in Knoxville, Tennessee. That settled it.
Atul had also been accepted to multiple universities but choose UGA so we could stay close. And so, thanks to warm weather and a dog’s paw, we spent the next decade in the South.
At Bush’s, I discovered that while I loved the variety of working in an agency, I loved the client side of market research even more—because I could see my work directly shaping business decisions.
Our son, Rohan, was born with severe autism, which reshaped our lives in ways we hadn’t anticipated. Atul left his PhD program at Vanderbilt to become a full-time dad, setting up an in-home autism program and driving Rohan to various therapies.
We had built a happy life in a small Southern town, but the West Coast had more advanced autism therapies and resources. One day, I Googled “best places for autism + Director Market Research jobs” and found a role at Microsoft.
During my interview trip, I stayed at a Marriott and had dinner at the restaurant below. Sitting there, I heard a thousand different accents. It felt like I was at the center of the world. I described this feeling to Atul, and he was intrigued. Based on where I sat while eating dinner and the feeling it created in my heart, we moved to Seattle, and 12 years later, we are still here.
In Seattle, I realized I love working in technology and AI even more than CPG because the future is unfolding right in front of you.
Lessons from an Unplanned Path
If you look at my career on paper, there’s little to learn from it in a traditional sense I can’t tell you how I ended up here in any linear way. But if there’s any insight to take away, it might be this:
- Do your work with love
- Find your comparative advantage: I bring EQ, storytelling, and collaboration to my team but I surround myself with people who have what I lack (organizational and planning skills being a big one).
- Focus on what you can control: Luck/timing/other factors will influence much more in our careers than we would like to believe. Nevertheless, focus on what you control.
- Cultivate optimism: The mindset you bring to challenges will shape your outcomes more than the circumstances themselves.
Atul believes in the sliding door theory that a single choice can lead to a completely different life. I would add that many versions of life, though different in circumstances, can hold their own joys. In the end, your happiness isn’t about which door you walk through, it’s about the attitude you bring to the journey.
A Typical Day
I work at the Microsoft campus in Redmond, just 10 minutes from home (I told you I’m hardcore about not commuting). We’re hybrid, but I still go into the office four times a week.
My day is a whirlwind of meetings where I use phrases like “empowerment,” “maximize business impact,” “drive strategic growth,” and “human-centered design” without a hint of irony.
The pace at Microsoft is intense, and I’m surrounded by some of the smartest people in the world, which keeps me on my toes. I usually wrap up at the office around 5:30 p.m. At home, I make chai, and Atul and I do word puzzles. Then it’s onto the elliptical, followed by dinner, maybe some TV, bedtime story, and snuggles with the kiddo.
Of course, that’s not the end of the workday. There’s always another 2-3 hours of work waiting for me—the things I didn’t get to during the day because I was in back-to-back meetings.
I constantly tell myself I’ll go to bed early, but then I open my Kindle, and suddenly it’s midnight. I promise myself I’ll do better tomorrow. (I won’t. And never will.)
On weekends, we escape to Point Roberts, WA, our little slice of heaven. We bought a retirement place there during the pandemic. That is another long story for another time—but for now, it’s where we reset and recharge.
More About Me
I read—a lot. At least one book a week. My trick? I get the same book on both Audible and Kindle, so I can switch between listening and reading seamlessly.
I’m a huge Potterhead and an avid murder mystery fan. My favorite authors include Tana French, P.D. James, Robert Galbraith, Elizabeth George, George RR Martin and, of course, the queen herself—Agatha Christie. I also love Tarquin Hall’s detective series set in Delhi.
IIFM Story
Looking at my life now, IIFM might seem like an unexpected detour. In team meetings, warm-ups, and introductions, I often present it as a fun fact, something people would not guess about me.
And yet.
My years at IIFM were some of the best in my life, and their impact on me has been profound.
I’ve written about IIFM here in a blog I used to keep about autism.
IIFM brought Atul and me together and gave me lifelong friendships. Navendu Shekhar from our batch is one of our dearest friends, and we have an annual tradition of him spending a week with us in Point Roberts. Neeraj Peter from the first batch has become my adopted brother. Merging our Hindu and Christian traditions. I send him Rakhi every year, and he and his lovely wife send us Christmas cake.
We meet Kunal and Sudipta (junior batch) often and Pari Bhaiya gives us a feast whenever we’re in the Bay Area. We are in touch with Rati (junior batch) and Rohit and Mamta (senior batch).
And as every IIFM’ite knows, we are part of a delightfully eclectic group—every time I meet a fellow alum, it feels like we’ve known each other forever. Just in the past year, we have crossed paths with Munish Sikka, Arun Sreekumar, and Alark Saxena, and each encounter has felt like reconnecting with old friends.
IIFM has shaped so much of who I am. The way I work across teams in a large organization is deeply rooted in the principles of Joint Forest Management. Much of what we did in our OTs(now called SI & Project Work) taught me about empathy and human-centered design—long before those became buzzwords in the corporate world.
Though it’s been 28 years since I left IIFM, I need only close my eyes to be back there.
I can still see the canal in front of the classroom, where we would rush at 11:10 a.m. for tea. The mess would send down tea in those false-bottom cups—a clever deception, making them look much bigger than they were. Amita and I would always be first in line. The tea was over-milky, and I had perfected the art of tilting the cup just right so the malai would stick to the side, turning it into a little game of drinking while avoiding the revolting skin on top.
A few steps away, Atul, Tanmay, and the other smokers would gather in a corner, rolling their own cigarettes—cheaper than the readymade ones—while debating everything under the sun. Bits of their conversations would drift over the small cloud of smoke they had created.
I’d be scanning the area for Chappan, our unofficial campus dog, hoping to sneak him some bread I’d smuggled from breakfast. Jaya, always in her impeccable sari, would make me wonder why I could never get my pleats to sit quite like hers. Navendu and Chinnu would be discussing their assignment strategy for maximum impact with minimum effort. Debu would be cracking a joke, while Pari Bhaiya insisted he was completely unprepared for the next exam—even though we all knew he would top it!
Maybe we’d make plans for a Bhatsu ride to New Town for Pao Bhaji or, if we were feeling lazy, down to Madhuram for “mixture.” Or we would resign ourselves to having yet another round of CKD (chane ki dal) and walk down the little road to the mess while someone in Lantana played music that would slowly get fainter as we reached the mess. I don’t remember who, but the song “Ghar se nikalte hi” was a particular obsession, and I can never hear the song now without getting teleported back to those golden days.
For those of you lucky enough to be at IIFM now, whether this was your dream college or just a backup plan, don’t take a single minute of it for granted.
Your experiencing self and your remembering self will both thank you.
You will get an education that you could not get anywhere else. And I don’t just mean what you learn in the classroom. You will make friendships that last a lifetime. You may even meet your life partner.
You will also learn, as I have, that almost all problems feel lighter when you can spend a little time in a forest.
IIFM is one sliding door that I am very glad I walked through!