Venkatesh Shankar: The ‘Accidental Academic’

The renowned marketing expert and researcher’s expertise in digital marketing, technology and artificial intelligence is more essential than ever.

Venky Shankar lectures to students in front of a classroom

Coxtoday

Faculty and Staff News

April 30, 2026

Author: Will Maddox

Venkatesh “Venky” Shankar traces his passion for marketing back to the opportunity to study under and work with Philip Kotler, a Northwestern University marketing legend who co-created the field of social marketing. After a career in banking, Shankar says he became an “accidental academic” because he wanted to find a place where he could follow his passions and creativity.

Following 20 years at Texas A&M University, he joined the SMU Cox School of Business in 2024. The internationally recognized marketing scholar is now the Harold M. Brierley Endowed Professor of Marketing, Chair of the Marketing Department and Academic Director of the Brierley Institute of Customer Engagement.

“I have the fortune of understanding the lived experience of different audiences at different points of time,” he says. “I can learn the needs of all these audiences and what they are going through.”

Below, Shankar shares more about what he is learning via his prolific research and how it impacts students at the Cox School.

How do you see the marketing industry changing today?

Venkatesh Shankar: The only constant is change, and most of the changes are occurring because of technology, which is impacting customer behavior and habits. In every passing generation, we see the increasing use of technology, but marketing remains evergreen because it is about engaging customers. Technology is enabling, assisting and, in many ways, disrupting engagement. Marketing is rooted in the customers who are the first to adopt most of the technologies.

What is it like to work with students who already have experience on the edge of marketing innovation?

VS: I interface with all kinds of students who are actively using these technologies. The consumer-centric culture is growing right now, and undergraduate students are living and breathing these methodologies in marketing communication. Firms are anticipating what the customer needs next, which will be embraced by the younger audience but may not be by the older audience, which makes it worthwhile for me to understand.

Portrait of Venky Shankar
Figure: Although his students are already familiar with AI marketing tools, Shankar says providing a framework for using them is critical.

 

How do you see the data revolution impacting the marketing industry?

VS: We’re breathing, swimming and eating data, and firms are flooded with it. One of the challenges for most firms is managing and storing data. These technologies have reshaped marketing and customer interactions with companies, products, services and strategies. Firms are trying to replicate all physical operations through a virtual or digital twin. They can do simulations rather than physically testing things.

What led to your career in academia?

VS: I would call myself an accidental academic. I worked for a multinational bank for several years, but to go up the ladder, entrepreneurship wasn’t easy, and you couldn’t pursue your own ideas. Today, I get people in the classroom who are running businesses and startups, and all of these people are presenting real-life cases in my class, so that immersed me in marketing research and allowed me to bring that into the classroom.

How do you view your research at the Cox School as an entrepreneurial endeavor?

VS: As an academic, you’re only bound by your creativity and your willingness to pursue new ideas and tests, just like an entrepreneur. If you have a goal, the passion and the expertise, you can assemble a team. If you have some good ideas, we can pass them on to entrepreneurs or identify budding innovators. There’s an opportunity to be an entrepreneur in a meaningful way.

Why is it essential to impart ethical values in marketing classes?

VS: For the first time, I’m teaching a course on AI in marketing, and in every class, I have a component on AI ethics. Are they using people’s data responsibly? Students are willing to make the right decisions, but they lack the framework and thought process. Every time I look at a student, I think of that person leading the world tomorrow. We want this person to be smart, ethically driven and well trained. We approach teaching as developing leaders who reshape tomorrow. They must have principles and ethics that will make them stronger leaders.

April 30, 2026

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