A reflection from the women of M+C Saatchi Performance on International Women’s Day 2026
Our careers and ambitions are rarely shaped by the big, obvious moments when everything looks perfect. More often, they are shaped over time by the advice we absorb throughout our careers, by the risks we take, and the learnings we make along the way.
Women still often come across pressures to be capable but not difficult. Ambitious, but not intimidating. Prepared, always. Perfect, ideally.
Today, AI is changing the way we work, our execution processes, and speed. Automation is compressing timelines. Information is everywhere. And as the mechanics of the work become faster and more efficient, the value of judgment, instinct, and perspective becomes even more visible.
For International Women’s Day 2026, we asked women across M+C Saatchi Performance a simple set of questions:
- As AI grows and work becomes less about execution and more about judgment, what do you think women uniquely bring to leadership today?
- What’s the most important career move you made that didn’t look ambitious on paper?
- What do you wish younger women in advertising/marketing would stop stressing about? Or what outdated advice about building a career in advertising/marketing do you wish women would ignore now?
- What’s one way you’re helping your team move from “doing the thing” to “deciding the right thing to do”?
- If you were starting out today, what part of the industry would you bet on and why?
What came back was extremely thoughtful and reflective. Our people shared answers with utmost care and consideration; we hope it will be interesting for the generations coming along behind them. Take a look at how it turned out.
Perfection Is Really Not the Point
“I wish younger women in marketing would stop stressing about being perfect or having everything figured out on day one,” says Hasnah Peracha, Assistant Media Buyer in New York.
“This industry moves fast and is constantly evolving. Perfectionism or feeling like you’re not experienced enough can hold you back from sharing ideas or putting yourself forward.”
Taylor, our Account Manager from London, echoes the same concern. “I wish younger women in advertising would stop stressing about getting everything right straight away. The perfect job or the perfect performance. Our industry is so diverse, so the best way to grow is to experiment and take risks.”
For many early in their careers, perfection feels like protection. But perfection can quietly narrow your contribution. It keeps you focused on avoiding mistakes rather than shaping direction.
Fiona Nguyen, Assistant Media Buyer in New York, pushes this further. The outdated advice she would ignore? “‘Slow and steady wins the race’ or ‘fit into the system.’ I think as women, we are very intuitive and have the power to turn that intuition into action.”
In other words, blending in is not leadership.
Sometimes, it is simply about trusting instincts.
The Career Moves That Didn’t Look Ambitious on Paper
Not every pivotal decision looks impressive on LinkedIn.
Sophie Kim, now an Account Supervisor in New York, describes her most important career move as becoming an Assistant Media Buyer fresh out of college. “You might not be tasked with the most glamorous things to put on your resume,” she reflects. “Building out reports, writing emails just to say confirm receipt, making sure naming conventions are correct.”
But that foundation, the repetition, the detail, the understanding of how campaigns actually move from plan to launch became strategic leverage. “As an Account Supervisor… it helped me have this foundation to say, this is what needs to happen in order to execute a campaign. And this is what we need to look at in order to make data-based decisions.”
What looked small was not small. In fact, doing the not-so-glamorous things turned out to be the foundational structure, much needed to grow and succeed.
Scarlett Ireson, APAC Finance Partner, shares a different kind of unobvious ambition. “Taking a break from my Accountancy exams was one of the most important career decisions I’ve made, even though it didn’t look ambitious on paper. Instead of pushing through burnout, I chose to step back, reflect, and reset.”
In an industry that celebrates endurance, choosing clarity over grind can feel counterintuitive. But that pause, she says, made her progression stronger.
Fiona, too, talks about how this adds another dimension, how sometimes ambition looks like walking away. “Taking a step back from a supposed dream… didn’t look ambitious on paper, but it is ambitious because it’s using my intuition to take a leap and make my mark there instead.”
Ambition, it turns out, does not always look loud or obvious. Sometimes it looks like restraint. Sometimes it looks like courage. And, sometimes it might look like asking better questions simply.
From Doing the Thing to Deciding the Right Thing to Do
Across teams, regions, and different levels of seniority, we asked our ladies how they enable their teams from doing the right thing to deciding what’s the right thing to do. And a prominent response that kept coming was moving from execution to ownership.
Hasnah, despite being in the early stages of her career, describes a subtle but powerful change in her mindset. “One of the biggest shifts I’ve made is moving from asking, ‘How do I do this?’ to asking, ‘Why are we doing this?’ Starting with the how puts you straight into execution mode. Starting with the why creates space to question the strategy.”
Nirana, Senior Account Manager from Singapore, puts it plainly, “It feels busy, yes, but not always impactful. As a leader now, I’ve learned to slow things down and ask, what problem are we really solving? My goal isn’t to build executors. It’s to build decision-makers.”
Vaishali, Senior Account Manager from India, applies that same philosophy to her team. “I don’t just answer their questions. I ask them for a solution.” She believes in moving people “from responsibility to accountability,” not shielding them from mistakes, but allowing them to own decisions. “Stop safeguarding your team members all the time… that is not helping them grow.”
Execution keeps the machine running, but it is eventually ownership that determines where it goes. And that distinction matters more than we think.
Women & Their Judgment in the Age of AI
As automation offers more speed to media buying, creative iteration, and reporting, the mechanics of marketing are becoming faster and more easily scalable.
But does executional speed really translate to growth and leadership success? Not necessarily.
“At the start of my career,” says Nirana, “leadership was associated with having the loudest voice or having all the answers. But as AI takes over more of the execution work, what really matters is judgment, collaboration, and emotional intelligence.”
Atiqah Azmi, Search and Social Executive, amplifies this message. “The leaders who will thrive in an AI-driven world aren’t the ones who process the most information or execute the fastest. They’re the ones who can hold space for uncertainty. Who see the human cost of a decision that looks perfect on a spreadsheet. Who ask, ‘Who did we forget to consider?’”
Jodie Porter, Assistant Account Exec in EMEA, brings this instinct into media strategy itself. If she were starting out today, she would bet on paid media strategies that boost user-generated content because they combine “authenticity, performance, and scalability.” “In a world chasing speed,” she notes, “instinct adds an emotional intelligence to how content is shaped, selected, and delivered. When paired with the speed and precision of paid media, it makes content not just faster, but more receptive and relatable to human beings.”
AI can optimize. It can scale. It can even automate. But, despite all its pros, it still cannot feel at a human level, and certainly not match the instincts of our people.
In Essence
International Women’s Day is often framed as a celebration of progress. This year, what feels more relevant for us is preparedness.
If there is anything to take from what these women shared, it is that the future of marketing will not be decided by who executes the fastest, but by who exercises the strongest judgment, wholeheartedly meeting the client’s needs. The best work does not come from fitting neatly into systems exactly as they are. It comes from bringing your full perspective into the room, with your questions, your instincts, your courage to pause, and creating space for others to do the same.
And this is certainly not a woman’s concern, but in fact, an industry one.
Watch the full film below to hear their reflections in their own words.
At M+C Saatchi Performance, we’re continuing to build a culture where perspective, instinct, and curiosity are valued as much as execution. And if you believe the future of marketing needs more voices, you’ll probably feel at home here. Check out our open roles here.
