Women Of Influence 2025: Tata Consultancy Services' Hasneen Sheela Shereef

Five years ago, when Hasneen Sheela Shereef was appointed the Regional Head of Marketing and Communications for the Middle East and Africa at Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), the world’s #2 information technology (IT) services and consulting brand, she faced a double challenge: not only was she entering an industry she had never worked in, she was also stepping into a role that had never existed.

“There was no team, no structure, no roadmap,” Shereef recalls. “My mandate was to build the function entirely from scratch in a region I had never worked in, for a business I had never marketed before, in one of the most competitive industries in the world. And layered on top of that were the quiet, persistent doubts from external stakeholders who saw me as too young, too feminine, to lead a role that could influence how the world’s second-largest IT services brand shows up in an entire region.” '

That skepticism did create moments of self-doubt for Shereef—but she also knew that she had been chosen for this role for her ability to build from zero, something that she had demonstrated repeatedly in her previous organization.

“I could have taken the safer route and continued to lead digital-first platforms within a familiar ecosystem,” Shereef adds. “Instead, I chose to take ownership of something far more complex: building a region-wide marketing function in a white-space environment, for a global enterprise brand. That single decision shaped everything that came next. It changed not only how I operated, but also how I defined marketing itself within TCS—shifting from executing tactics to designing systems, from launching campaigns to shaping narratives, from driving pipeline to influencing business strategy.”

Today, the function Shereef built spans nine countries, supports multimillion-dollar growth priorities, and delivers measurable outcomes: a 30 percent increase in qualified pipeline, over eight million annual digital impressions, and a model now referenced across other global TCS regions. The lesson here for other women? Own the spaces you step into, even if no roadmap exists.

Lessons Learned: Q&A with Hasneen Sheela Shereef 

Looking back on your journey, if there is one piece of advice you’d give yourself before you embarked on your career, what would that be? Additionally, if you could go back in time and tell yourself something that you should avoid or simply not do, what would that be?  

If I could go back and speak to my younger self at the start of my career, there are a few things I would say—some learned through experience, others through the kind of failure that stays with you in the best way: 

Dear younger Hasneen,  

First, stop second-guessing yourself. You’ve been taught your whole life to agree, adapt, and defer, to make yourself smaller in rooms you’ve earned the right to be in. But you are not here by accident. You really worked every single day to make this happen for you. Imposter syndrome may feel real, but it is not a fact. You are allowed to have a voice, and more importantly, your own opinions. You deserve your seat at the table, even when it doesn’t look like anyone else’s.  

Second, define your own terms of success. You may have started from the same place as your peers—same college, same entrance exam, same ambitions, but over time, paths diverge. Life will throw different variables: opportunities, timing, privilege, and choices. Don’t measure your worth against someone else’s milestones. Where you are isn’t a reflection of failure. It’s a reflection of your unique journey that you have defined for yourself.  

Third, never forget that privilege is real. It’s easy to tell the story of being the first Muslim woman in a leadership role in your company, but don’t forget what helped you get there. You had parents who believed in your education. You had mentors who opened doors. You had a partner who supported your ambition without conditions. You had the privilege to study further and not support your family at a young age. Not everyone has those things, so never judge someone’s position without understanding the system they’re navigating.  

Fourth, remember that not everyone who shares your identity will share your intent. Selfishness is real, and it doesn’t discriminate by gender. While sisterhood is important, don’t mistake shared identity for shared values. Protect your boundaries, stay open but cautious, and evaluate people by their actions, not assumptions.  

Fifth, you will fail. Repeatedly. Sometimes publicly. You will also succeed in ways you didn’t expect. Then fail again. Let it happen. Don’t let the fear of failure silence your ideas or stop you from taking a leap. The only thing worse than falling is standing still out of fear.  

And finally, it’s okay not to have a passion project. Not everyone is meant to be a founder, a creator, or a side-hustler. It is perfectly valid to love a 9-to-6 role, to grow steadily, to be excellent in a job you believe in. Doing your work with integrity and consistency is one of the hardest and most fulfilling things you can do. That is enough.  

P. S. If I had known even half of this then, I would have been gentler with myself, and braver with the choices that mattered.  

With love from the older, still learning, version of Hasneen. 

Pictured in the lead image is Hasneen Sheela Shereef, the Regional Head of Marketing and Communications for Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) Middle East. Image courtesy Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) Middle East.

Hasneen Sheela Shereef was one of Inc. Arabia's Women of Influence 2025, a showcase of 30 women rewriting the rules of business in the MENA region. For the full list, please click here.