American Marketing Association’s Foundation Celebrates Emerging Marketing Leaders

Winners of the 4 Under 40 Award Announced Congratulations to Vishwas Anand, Rinita Datta, Julia Fedor, and Islam Gouda

CHICAGO, IL, UNITED STATES, November 19, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The AMA Foundation is pleased to recognize Vishwas Anand, Rinita Datta, Julia Fedor, and Islam Gouda as the 2025 recipients of the AMA Foundation 4 Under 40 Emerging Leaders Award! This award honors individuals who have already made significant contributions to marketing and its sub-fields and have demonstrated leadership, collaboration, mentorship, and continued service.

The 4 Under 40 Emerging Leaders Award is more than recognition. This award showcases the visionaries who are driving innovation and setting new standards for marketing excellence. These honorees represent the bold thinking and global perspective that will guide the profession.

“The AMA Foundation’s 4 Under 40 Emerging Leaders Award celebrates the next generation of marketing innovators who are shaping the future of our marketing profession. This year’s honorees exemplify creativity, leadership, and a commitment to driving meaningful impact in their organizations and communities,” said AMA’s Chief Executive Officer, Bennie F. Johnson. “Their achievements remind us that marketing is not just about growth. It’s about purpose, connection, and advancing the profession. We are proud to recognize these outstanding leaders and look forward to the contributions they will continue to make.”

The 2025 4 Under 40 Winners:

* Vishwas Anand | Marketing Strategy & Activation – Management Consulting Manager at Accenture Strategy & Consulting
* Rinita Datta | Director, Marketing at Splunk (a Cisco company)
* Julia Fedor | Director, Brand Marketing Operations at United Airlines
* Islam Gouda | Global Brand Ambassador and Member of the Board of Advisors at the CMO Alliance

Congratulations to the 2025 4 Under 40 Emerging Leader Award winners. Learn more about this honor here (https://www.ama.org/ama-foundation-4-under-40-emerging-leaders-award/).

The AMA 4 Under 40 Emerging Leaders Award honors individuals who have already made significant contributions to the field of marketing and its sub-fields and have demonstrated leadership and continuing service. The AMA 4 under 40 Emerging Leaders Award was established by the AMA Foundation to highlight and celebrate young marketing leaders who are impacting the marketing profession today and who have the potential to shape the future of the industry.

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Learn more about this year’s winners:
Vishwas Anand (https://www.linkedin.com/in/vishwas-anand-5468191b) is a globally acclaimed content marketing and Gen AI strategy leader, recognized for transforming enterprise marketing through the fusion of human creativity and AI-led innovation. Currently serving as Marketing Strategy & Activation, Management Consulting Manager at Accenture Strategy & Consulting, Vishwas leads global initiatives in marketing transformation, intelligent content supply chains, and Gen AI integration, helping Fortune 500 clients scale unified marketing experiences and achieve measurable impact across the content lifecycle.

He is a world record-holding, multi-award-winning marketing strategist and Forbes-published thought leader, recognized among The Holmes Report’s Top 25 Innovators (APAC) and BW Businessworld’s 40 Under 40, and honored with accolades such as B2B Industry Contributor of the Year, the Global Brand to Order Award 2023 at Schneider Electric, and the Champions of the Quarter, Innovation Pioneer Award at Accenture for his contributions to AI-driven marketing reinvention.

Across his leadership roles at Infosys, Schneider Electric, and Accenture, Vishwas has built scalable marketing ecosystems that merge creativity with technology. He led global product content transformation through Schneider’s Content as a Service (CaaS) engine, achieving a 396% rise in conversions and 60% NSS growth, and founded its Content Council, defining the thought leadership vision and implementing a unified “single content factory” model. At Infosys, he architected a next-generation content marketing operating model, appreciated by co-founder Nandan Nilekani, and launched the Infosys Insights Store, a first-of-its-kind thought leadership platform and the company’s #1-ranked sales app, redefining how insights drive client engagement.

Beyond his corporate achievements, Vishwas is a Professor of Practice, a top-rated Udemy Masterclass Instructor, and an industry keynote speaker, mentoring thousands of emerging marketers. His Forbes-published insights, industry jury roles, and global speaking engagements reflect a career dedicated to advancing marketing as both a science of systems and an art of storytelling, driven by purpose, innovation, and empathy.

Rinita Datta (https://www.linkedin.com/in/rinitadatta/) is the Director of Marketing at Splunk, a Cisco company, where she leads global initiatives across product adoption, developer engagement, and community growth – directly influencing large accounts and recurring revenue. A former full-stack engineer turned go-to-market strategist, Rinita combines technical fluency, systems thinking, and business storytelling to drive impact across complex organizations.

Rinita began her career at Morgan Stanley, architecting CRM and compliance tools used by bankers and traders across global markets. After earning her MBA from the University of Texas at Austin, she transitioned to marketing to bridge the gap between cutting-edge technology and customer value. Since joining Splunk, she has shaped major go-to-market strategies, defined messaging for cloud and cybersecurity solutions, and spearheaded initiatives that deliver measurable growth.

Among her achievements, Rinita launched Splunk’s first onboarding and adoption campaigns – now driving over 20% quarter-over-quarter usage growth in key accounts – and operationalized data-driven churn avoidance strategies that have been scaled across Cisco’s portfolio. She also created new community programs that deepen engagement between practitioners and product teams.

As a leader, Rinita is known for her empathy, clarity, and accountability. Through significant organizational change, including Splunk’s acquisition by Cisco, she guided her global team with transparency and resilience, maintaining performance and advancing high-potential talent into leadership roles.

Rinita’s excellence has earned her multiple honors, including the CMO-nominated “Mission Impossible” Award and a B2B Marketing Award for Best Digital Experience. A Sharebird Top 100 PMM Mentor and frequent speaker, Rinita is redefining modern B2B marketing by leading with innovation, inclusion, and integrity.

Julia Fedor (https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliafedor/) is a marketing communications professional with a hybrid of agency and brand experience across the travel, consumer goods, health care, and nonprofit sectors.

As the director of brand marketing operations at United Airlines, she and her team support the execution and measurement of brand campaigns, helping to transform how the world’s largest airline advertises and shows up in culture. Her work helped United’s 2024 Super Bowl campaign earn an Effie Award – one of the industry’s highest honors for creative effectiveness and business impact.

Previously, she was a vice president and project director at Edelman, overseeing operations for a multimillion-dollar global client portfolio, and produced digital campaigns at Leo Burnett. Her belief in marketing as a force for social good also runs deep: while at an agency, she worked on websites and digital campaigns for the UN Foundation’s childhood vaccine initiative, the Center for Reproductive Rights, and the National Center for Lesbian Rights.

Julia is passionate about supporting and developing the next generation of marketers. She supports early-career professionals through mentorship and has guest lectured at college classes, aiming to bring real-world brand challenges into the classroom as a marketing practitioner.

Originally from Florida’s Gulf Coast, Julia has lived in Washington, D.C. and Istanbul and now calls Chicago home. A graduate of Northwestern University, she received her bachelor’s degree in the social sciences and master’s degree in marketing.

Islam Gouda (https://www.linkedin.com/in/islamgouda/) is a seasoned marketing leader with more than a decade of experience driving strategic, data-informed marketing initiatives across diverse industries. As a Global Ambassador for the Revenue Marketing Alliance and CMO Alliance, he is recognized for his thought leadership, mentorship, and commitment to advancing the marketing profession worldwide.

Passionate about continuous learning, Gouda earned a bachelor’s degree in Marketing and Management from the American University of Sharjah (AUS), a master’s degree in Strategic Marketing from the University of Wollongong in Dubai (UOWD), and a master’s degree in Digital Communication and Digital Marketing & Communications from Florida State University (FSU). He also received an honorary doctorate from the University of California in Strategic Marketing.

Islam’s career reflects a blend of strategic vision and operational excellence. As the former Head of Marketing at Massar Solutions, a leading transport and leasing provider in the UAE, he led transformative campaigns that delivered measurable business growth—including a 40% increase in lead generation and a 35% reduction in cost per lead. His expertise spans digital marketing, CRM, brand strategy, analytics, and customer retention, with a proven ability to optimize marketing spend and strengthen cross-industry partnerships.

Beyond his own work, Islam is deeply committed to developing future marketing leaders. Through his “100 Minutes to Ace Your Marketing Game” series, he has educated and inspired marketers globally. His book, SMEs & Startups Marketing Guide, further underscores his dedication to empowering emerging businesses with practical, results-driven strategies. He is a frequent contributor to industry forums, LinkedIn discussions, where he creates accessible content and shares insights on innovation, strategy, and leadership.

About the American Marketing Association (AMA)
As the leading global professional marketing association, the AMA is the essential community for marketers. From students and practitioners to executives and academics, we aim to elevate the profession, deepen knowledge, and make a lasting impact. The AMA is home to five premier scholarly journals including: Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, Journal of International Marketing, and Journal of Interactive Marketing. Our industry-leading training events and conferences define future forward practices, while our professional development and PCM^® professional certification (https://www.ama.org/certifications/) advance knowledge. With almost 70 chapters and a presence on 350 college campuses across North America, the AMA fosters a vibrant community of marketers.

The association's philanthropic arm, the AMA’s Foundation, is inspiring a more diverse industry and ensuring marketing research impacts public good. The AMA Foundation strengthens and elevates the marketing profession by advancing knowledge, building a global community of marketing leaders, and supporting marketing initiatives that drive innovation and societal impact.

AMA views marketing as the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large. You can learn more about AMA’s learning programs and certifications, conferences and events, and scholarly journals at AMA.org.

Amy Gwiazdowski
American Marketing Association
agwiazdowski@ama.org

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