Meera, congratulations on your new role as Chief Product Officer at SurveyMonkey! Could you tell us a bit about your professional journey so far and what experiences have most shaped your approach to product leadership?
Thank you! It’s hard to believe it’s been two decades, but my career has taken me from early edtech platforms to customer engagement at Twilio, and diving into AI and low-code tools at AWS. What’s always driven me is the challenge of truly understanding what customers struggle with and then finding elegant, clear solutions. I’ve seen firsthand how truly listening to customers—and then daring to build something completely new—is the bedrock of strong product leadership. I thrive on bringing teams together and empowering them to move quickly, learn from every iteration, and push boundaries while staying grounded in what our customers need.
What unique perspectives from your time at Twilio and AWS are you bringing to SurveyMonkey’s product development approach?
My time at Twilio and AWS hammered home how powerful it is to build platforms that truly put the customer first, thinking about flexibility, scale, and empowering developers from day one. That’s where you see innovation explode. I also learned that AI and APIs, when used smartly, can transform how users interact with a product, making complex things feel incredibly simple.
Here at SurveyMonkey I’m focused on bringing that same spirit of innovation to a much broader audience. I’m focused on iterating on a product that’s both deeply usable and rich with insights, helping individuals and teams make smarter decisions, and driving real business outcomes. I’m a firm believer that powerful tools don’t have to be complicated. I aim to build features that are both easy to use and deliver truly impactful results.
SurveyMonkey emphasizes a customer-centric product vision. How do you plan to balance innovation with user-friendliness in future product iterations?
I don’t see that these are a tradeoff at all. For me, the challenge (and the fun!) is in creating powerful features that users find incredibly intuitive. We’re focused on leveraging AI and automation to empower our users, not overwhelm them. The key is making sure those advanced capabilities feel natural, almost invisible. It all comes down to staying incredibly close to our customers; we’ll be constantly testing and refining, making sure that every innovation truly adds value and is genuinely easy to pick up and use. When a product feels like magic, you know you’ve hit something special. But that magic isn’t accidental; it comes from deep listening, constant iteration, and always, always keeping the user’s ultimate goal in mind.
What are your top priorities as Chief Product Officer at SurveyMonkey?
Right now, my biggest focus is ensuring our product strategy truly maps to what our users need, particularly as AI and data fundamentally change how decisions are made. It’s less about shipping a long list of features and more about crafting seamless experiences that empower people to go from raw feedback to confident action, quickly. SurveyMonkey already has this fantastic spirit of experimentation, which I want to amplify. And for us to truly accelerate and stay connected to our customers, we need to foster even deeper inclusion and collaboration across all our teams.
How do you see the role of surveys and forms evolving in an AI-powered, data-centric business environment?
Surveys and forms have moved beyond just gathering data; they’re now becoming critical engines that fuel real insights and drive better decisions. With AI and a focus on data, we can take those raw survey responses and, almost instantly, turn them into something predictive and actionable. That’s a game-changer. This shift lets teams move with incredible agility, tailor experiences more precisely, and make confident, data-backed decisions. It’s no longer just about the data collection itself; it’s about truly unleashing the power within that data.
SurveyMonkey now has 60% women at the C-suite and SVP level. What does this milestone mean to you personally, and how does it influence your approach to leadership?
Being part of a leadership team where women aren’t just present, but are genuinely leading across so many critical functions, is deeply significant to me. Far too often in tech, women are the lone voice in a room. Here at SurveyMonkey, we’re actively redefining what leadership looks like, and it’s exciting to be part of that. This kind of representation isn’t just about optics; it profoundly impacts how we lead, how we make decisions, and ultimately, the kind of culture we build. It really underscores my dedication to fostering truly inclusive teams, ensuring every voice is heard, and always leading with both empathy and a clear vision.
In a tech industry where only around 11% of executive roles are held by women, what structural or cultural changes do you believe are needed to improve this figure across the sector?
To truly see a shift, we need to move past just mentorship and lean into sponsorship, actively advocating for women and underrepresented professionals, especially in those critical decision-making rooms. From a structural standpoint, it means dedicated investment in building diverse talent pipelines, ensuring fair advancement processes, and designing leadership programs that genuinely cultivate the kind of diverse leadership we envision. Representation is so much more than just hitting quotas. It fundamentally shapes our culture, broadens our collective imagination of what’s possible, and creates a cascading effect that influences everything from who gets hired and promoted to whose ideas are truly heard.
Can you share an example of a time when cross-functional collaboration between design, engineering, and product led to a breakthrough solution under your leadership?
A recent example that comes to mind is the integration between Segment and Twilio Flex, which I led at Twilio. It was truly groundbreaking in the CX world. Imagine giving a support agent immediate, real-time access to everything about a customer, all on one screen. Achieving this breakthrough required constant, tight collaboration across product, design, and engineering. We were literally side-by-side, ensuring the experience felt effortless, not clunky, and delivered real results. By putting those rich insights directly into the hands of agents right when they needed them, they could not only solve problems faster but also genuinely surprise and delight customers, which, of course, led to better satisfaction and long-term value.
What excites you most about SurveyMonkey’s future and your role in shaping its next chapter?
SurveyMonkey already has this incredible foundation: a beloved brand, a robust platform, and fantastic traction with AI. What truly excites me is the chance to rethink how people don’t just collect feedback, but use it to lead and drive change. The sheer potential to help individuals and teams translate insights into tangible actions, with greater speed, confidence, and ease, is enormous. I’m genuinely energized by the opportunity to evolve our products to truly foster stronger connections, speed up decision-making, and deliver meaningful value for our customers.
What advice would you give to emerging product leaders—especially women and underrepresented professionals—who aspire to reach executive roles in the tech industry?
First off, find and own your unique voice. Don’t sit around waiting for someone to give you permission to step up and lead. Raise your hand, ask for help, and don’t be afraid to fail. Looking back, my biggest leaps often happened when I willingly dove into uncertain situations, armed with a healthy dose of confidence and curiosity as well as the willingness to admit that I had a lot to learn. Build a strong network of mentors and allies who aren’t afraid to challenge you, but who also have your back. And crucially, constantly sharpen your skills and learn to trust that gut feeling.
Above all else, live and breathe your customer’s world. Product leadership boils down to solving problems that truly make a difference, and that unwavering focus will be your compass through every difficult decision and moment of self-doubt.
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Meera Vaidyanathan, Chief Product Officer at SurveyMonkey
Meera Vaidyanathan joined SurveyMonkey in 2025 to lead product strategy and innovation as chief product officer. A transformative leader with deep expertise in AI-driven customer experiences, she most recently served as Global Vice President of Product Management and Design for Twilio. She was previously a director of product management at Amazon Web Services and served in senior product leadership roles at TenMarks (acquired by Amazon) and HotChalk. Known for creating environments where teams can innovate boldly and for aligning emerging technologies with strategic business goals, Meera builds intuitive, high-impact products that drive growth and customer satisfaction. She holds an MA from the University of Connecticut and an MBA from Temple University.
