In an industry often criticized for its lack of diversity, IAS (Integral Ad Science) seems to be taking a different approach.

As the company’s Chief Revenue Officer, Sarah Martinez, highlights, IAS has a female CEO, CFO, CHRO, CRO, and a majority-female board.

But those are the acronyms. What does gender diversity really mean for IAS?

Company culture

The make-up at IAS, with its female leadership, has had a significant impact on the company culture.

Speaking with research analyst Joanna O’Connell at POSSIBLE 2023 during a session organized by She Runs It and Beet.TV, Martinez describes it as an “incredible sense of understanding” that permeates both personal and professional interactions.

She explains, “it really has been eye-opening being there for the past three years, just seeing the community that we’ve built across the entire leadership team and then down.”

Integrity, Empathy, and Passion: Essential Traits for Leaders?

Martinez believes that successful leaders should possess traits like integrity, empathy, and passion for developing their teams.

In her own words: “You need to build trust and respect, and building that trust and respect obviously allows the team to be bought into the strategy and the vision of the company allows them to execute flawlessly around the goals that you set.”

She also stresses the importance of empathy, stating that “we need to ensure that there is diverse thinking on the team.”

Curiosity: A Tool for Leaders Throughout Their Careers

Martinez joined IAS three years after after stints at Time Inc, Yahoo and Verizon Media.

She was promoted to chief revenue officer for the buy-side in April 2023 after serving as SVP sales for Americas, with IAS’ chief commercial officer saying: “Many of our recent global customer wins including Kimberly Clark, Ford and Hershey’s are due in no small part to Sarah’s leadership and her team’s strong execution, cross-functional partnership, and exceptional customer service.”

When asked what advice she would give to her younger self, Martinez emphasizes the importance of curiosity.

“Be curious… we in this industry are so lucky to be surrounded by such interesting and smart people. And to use that and to talk to those people and build those relationships,” Martinez says.

You’re watching “The Best of the Badass Bosses,” a Beet.TV Leadership Series, presented by Integral Ad Science. This interview was filmed at POSSIBLE 2023 in Miami. For more videos from this series, please visit this page. 

By Robert Andrews on @robertandrews