Mobile app advertising, monetization, and insights company Liftoff is bringing together inspirational women from across the mobile industry to share their stories. In this series, we’ll explore their achievements, the challenges they’ve overcome, and their vision for the future — offering insights from the experts shaping the world of mobile apps and technology.
This month’s article focuses on Ulyana Guseva, Head of Advertising Sales at Citymapper.
Can you start by walking us through your career path — how did you get to where you are today?
I actually started my career in hospitality and consulting before I moved into the tech industry, joining Google to work on advertising sales for small and medium-sized businesses in Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan. That was a very interesting role focused on helping SMBs in those markets grow with the help of Google Ads.
From there, I moved on to Waze (a Google-owned company), which was my first foray into the mobile space. I was still working in advertising sales, but shifted my focus to the UK market and began working with enterprise-level clients. I stayed there for five years in various roles.
Two years ago, I moved to Citymapper, so I have stayed within not just mobile apps, but specifically mobility apps, which has become my area of focus. My current role revolves around growing our advertising revenue across global markets and various channels. This involves overseeing all aspects of the ads business, from product development and go-to-market strategy to sales, covering direct brand and agency partnerships, resellers, and the auction side of the business.
When you were going into your first role in consulting, did you have any idea that your career would move into the tech side of things?
If I’m honest? Not at all! When I was starting out, the tech world just wasn’t the massive, central force it is today. I don’t think we fully realized how big it was going to become.
I…