Mitali Qezlvathi · Chief Marketing Officer · India
Ask what customers are being invited to believe
My contribution to a board
I could help directors examine the comparison a commercial presentation invites a customer to make. The facts on a page may be accurate while their grouping implies experience, authority or completion that has not been established. My own eighteen-reference campaign demonstrated that risk, so I would bring scrutiny of my approval habits alongside scrutiny of the material. I would ask management how technical and channel owners can challenge a proposition before publication, and how a correction reaches the reusable assets that sales colleagues actually use. Directors should understand the risk and the assurance process without becoming the copy-approval team. I would first learn the receiving company’s business, customers and decision boundaries, because the relevant comparison may differ substantially from solar-thermal equipment. The contribution is a more honest account of what the customer is being asked to believe and which evidence supports that belief.
Judgement in practice
01
A true portfolio count supported the wrong application claim
Ten hot-water installations and eight industrial-steam installations made eighteen references, but they did not make eighteen steam references. I would ask directors whether management’s aggregate preserves the distinction relevant to the proposed market. The corrected campaign kept all eighteen examples while separating their applications. That was a change in the claim, rather than a loss of completed work. A board can ask who examines such comparisons and whether the commercial timetable permits withdrawal when the preferred account is unsupported. It should not certify equipment suitability itself. My own initial approval belongs in that discussion, because a control that depends only on detecting someone else’s careless wording will miss a misleading inference selected deliberately for its persuasive effect by a senior decision-maker.
02
A polished visual did not establish completed delivery
The reviewed library contained twenty-seven photographs and thirteen renderings. Nine renderings lacked clear status, although the scenes could still be useful illustrations of proposed arrangements. I would ask directors whether the business distinguishes records of completed work from proposals at the point where customers form an expectation. The revised release labelled all thirteen renderings and checked permissions separately. Neither a caption nor permission established technical performance. Oversight should ask how those distinctions survive reuse, not whether every image carries a particular design treatment. The board also needs a candid account of reach: correcting the current library does not prove that every earlier copy held by a recipient has vanished. A credible assurance report states what was reviewed, what changed and which historical uncertainty remains.
My first year on a board
I would begin induction by following one important proposition from its supporting references into the material a customer first sees. Through arrangements agreed with the chair, I would meet commercial, engineering and channel owners to understand who can challenge the implied claim and who authorises publication. I would examine a corrected campaign as well as a successful one, because the response to disagreement reveals how the process works under pressure. My proposed twenty-two annual days must accommodate preparation, meetings, learning and exceptional demands alongside executive work, with employer agreement before acceptance. I would seek feedback on whether my questions improve collective oversight or pull directors into creative execution. A useful first-year contribution could clarify the evidence standard for one consequential market claim and the route by which a contrary finding reaches the board after the proposition has already been used commercially.
Conflicts and their management
My executive role gives access to customer discussions, partner arrangements, unpublished campaigns and supplier terms. I would disclose those relationships together with employer and investor connections before protected material is exchanged for a proposed appointment. I hold no personal equity, but commercial access can create conflicts without a shareholding. The receiving company must assess eligibility and independence for its circumstances, and my employer must agree the outside commitment. I would not supply customer introductions or carry another company’s private reference material into the boardroom. Recusal may address a particular transaction; repeated exclusion from the central market or channel agenda could make the appointment ineffective. Capacity also needs a realistic account of launches and corrective work. I would decline a role that expects campaign production, privileged partner access or informal technical endorsement instead of collective scrutiny supported by the company’s own accountable management and professionals.
My independence statement
Employer, investors, equipment customers, channel partners and creative suppliers require appointment-specific assessment. No personal equity is held; that does not establish independence.
Board and committee exposure
Presented to the Board or a committee
Varqezli Thermal Systems
Board commercial and brand-risk discussions
April 2022–present
Presents application evidence and publication decisions through the CEO; no director vote or statutory appointment.
Reported to a committee
Varqezli Thermal Systems
Application campaign review through the CMO
April 2018–March 2022
Reported withdrawal and revision of the eighteen-reference campaign as an executive marketing responsibility.
Governance learning and readiness
IICA Independent Directors’ Databank: Not yet registered
This would be a first statutory role. Governance preparation, any applicable registration and the receiving company’s eligibility assessment remain unfinished.
Preparing to examine commercial representations through collective board scrutiny
Learning appointment duties while preserving management and qualified technical authority