Sharath Gokula

Captain
DISC Type : DS

Head of Product Data Science at Sam's Club

United States

Overview

Sharath Gokula is the Head of Product Data Science at Sams Club, where he guides technology investments across all retail domains. With a background at Walmart and Netflix, he excels at building and mentoring data science teams. Colleagues describe him as strategic, business-minded, and a collaborative partner with an MBA from Georgia Tech.

Outside of his professional life, Sharath is a competitive chess player. His analytical mindset extends to his personal interests, where he enjoys exploring the statistical basis of concepts like astrology, a familiar part of his upbringing.

Unique fact: Sharath holds the official title of "Chess Master" from the International Chess Federation (FIDE), highlighting his deep strategic thinking.

Personality Overview

Output-Driven

Long-Term Thinker

Decisive But Calm

They are very professional in their approach and can weigh multiple perspectives together.  Reading between the lines and seeing beyond your words comes naturally to them. They exhibit a rare combination of being result-oriented but patient at the same time.

Topics They Care About

B2B Retail Analytics
He is actively hiring data science leaders to shape the future of B2B retail analytics for the growing Walmart Business group, focusing on assortment and pricing strategies.
Causal Inference
He recently attended the NeurIPS conference to learn about the latest in causal reasoning and is hiring data scientists to scale experimentation and decision science capabilities.
AI Personalization
His work involves leveraging AI for large-scale personalization in e-commerce, a key focus in his leadership roles at both Sam's Club and Walmart.

Media Appearances

Sharath has no verified media appearances

Work History

6-2023
Head of Product Data Science at Sam's Club
6-2022 - 6-2023
Member of the Board of Advisors at University of California, Irvine Division of Continuing Education
1-2019 - 1-2025
Director of Analytics and Data Science at Walmart eCommerce
4-2018 - 11-2018
Strategy and Data Science Leader at Netflix
6-2015 - 3-2018
Managing Partner at Analytic Mix Inc.

Education

2007 - 2009
MBA from Georgia Institute of Technology
Data Science Specialization from The Johns Hopkins University

More Information

Social Presence :

Prographics :

Exp : 20 Location : United States Job Level : Mid-senior Designation : Head of Product Data Science at Sam's Club

Interested in

Sports

Manchester United, English Premier League, Chess

Lifestyle

John Hopkins Data Science Specialization on Coursera

URL has been copied!

Insights For Selling To Sharath

During A Call Or A Meeting

DO's

  • Suggest clear next steps with confidence, don't be vague or hesitant
  • During followups, use phone or text if needed, they should be fine
  • Use phrases like 'your team deserves', 'best in class' etc.

DONT's

  • Don't shy away from asking hard questions, but be extra polite
  • Avoid putting conscious effort into relationship-building
  • Don't focus too much on mutual contacts or bother about other stakeholders, focus on them

When Cold Calling

When Writing An Email

While Negotiating & Closing

    The secret to closing fast with Sharath is

  • Strong proof of impact and their conviction will matter the most, but they wouldn't want to act unilaterally either
  • Will you ever get a clear answer from Sharath

  • They will say no if they are not convinced but you will have to prompt them.

Insights For Deal Planning

    How fast (or slow) will Sharath move?

  • They will want to understand things well but can move fast once they have a clear picture.
  • Can Sharath take some risk or not?

  • They have good risk tolerance but are likely to think it through once or twice.

You And Sharath

Personality Compatibility


More Profiles

Discover additional public profiles from our index.

Search more profiles

Looking for someone else? Search here for anyone.

Or visit Humantic AI to know more.