In today’s fast-moving digital economy, communication is no longer confined to media statements and marketing campaigns. It has become the bridge between businesses and people, products and trust, data and emotion. Few leaders understand this transformation as deeply as Priya Patankar, Head of Corporate Communications at PhonePe.

With over two decades of experience spanning communications, marketing, CRM, content, and demand generation across industries as varied as telecom, pharmaceuticals, e-commerce, education, and fintech, Patankar has built a career rooted in curiosity, adaptability, and the enduring power of storytelling.

But ask her how it all began, and she offers an answer that feels refreshingly honest:

“I didn’t choose this career; the career chose me.”

A Career Built on the Power of Words

Long before communication became a strategic boardroom function, Priya Patankar was drawn to the simple but profound impact of storytelling. Her love for reading, writing, and understanding people naturally pushed her toward communication and marketing.

She entered the industry at a time when PR, marketing communications, and content were not neatly separated into silos. That early exposure across multiple functions gave her something invaluable: a holistic understanding of how narratives are built, shaped, and amplified.

Over the years, her journey has taken her across industries and organisations, each adding a new layer to her understanding of audiences, businesses, and human behavior. Whether it was telecom, pharmaceuticals, e-commerce, or even the not-for-profit sector, every experience expanded her worldview.

More importantly, those years taught her that communication is never just about visibility. It is about influence, empathy, and relevance.

Building the PhonePe Story from the Ground Up

Patankar’s journey at PhonePe is, in many ways, a story of parallel growth.

She joined the company nine years ago as the very first member of its Communications and PR team, long before the fintech giant became one of India’s most recognized digital platforms. In the early years, she also helped build the CRM function, collaborating closely with product, analytics, and business teams before eventually leading Corporate Communications full-time.

Today, she and her team are responsible for shaping how PhonePe communicates with the world,  through media, storytelling platforms, leadership narratives, and external engagement.

One of the most fascinating aspects of her role lies in transforming data into compelling stories. Through initiatives like PhonePe Pulse, the company uses insights and analytics not merely to showcase growth, but to tell a larger story about India’s digital payments revolution.

For Patankar, however, communication is not only external.

She strongly believes that employees are among a company’s most important stakeholders. Internal communication, culture-building, leadership connects, hackathons, and engagement initiatives play a defining role in shaping how a brand is perceived externally.

“Employees should hear and experience the story firsthand,” she explains,  a philosophy that reflects her people-first approach to communication.

Solving Problems, Not Just Creating Content

In an age overflowing with content, Patankar believes most brands make one critical mistake: they rush into execution before understanding purpose.

Whenever she approaches a content strategy, she begins with one question:
“What business problem is this trying to solve?”

For her, effective communication starts with clarity. Who is the audience? What do they care about? Why do they engage with a product in the first place?

Only after understanding those fundamentals does the focus shift to creatives, channels, and formats.

But perhaps the most striking part of her approach is her obsession with testing and measurement. Unlike traditional communication models driven heavily by instinct, Patankar advocates for a more data-informed mindset.

“Communication decisions should not rely purely on gut feel,” she says. “We need to experiment, learn from data, and stay honest about impact.”

In a world obsessed with vanity metrics, her emphasis on authenticity and measurable outcomes feels particularly relevant.

When Communication Meets Business Reality

One of the defining influences on Patankar’s career has been her deep exposure to demand generation and CRM.

Unlike traditional PR roles, these functions force teams to confront immediate business realities. Numbers matter. Outcomes matter. Assumptions are constantly tested.

That experience fundamentally shaped how she views communication today.

For her, communication cannot operate in isolation from business goals. Storytelling becomes truly meaningful only when it connects back to solving real-world problems. This mindset has also influenced how she approaches customer communication.

In a digital ecosystem where users are constantly bombarded with emails, SMS notifications, and push alerts, Patankar believes restraint is often underrated. “Less is often more,” she says.

What customers truly value, according to her, is relevance and context, especially during onboarding journeys or moments of friction where thoughtful communication can significantly improve trust and loyalty.

Rather than pushing what brands want users to do, she believes communication should focus on understanding what customers genuinely need.

The Lessons That Stay With You

Throughout her career, every role brought its own lessons. Her early years taught her the fundamentals of writing clearly, managing stakeholders, and handling crises with composure. At Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, she learned the importance of cultural nuance while building internal communication systems for a geographically diverse workforce.

Her work in CRM and demand generation expanded her understanding of how communication directly impacts business performance, something that continues to shape her thinking even today.

But above all, she believes adaptability has been the single most important lesson.

Industries evolve. Platforms change. Audiences shift. The only way forward is to stay curious and keep learning.

Rebuilding, Restarting, and Rediscovering Strength

While many communication leaders speak about campaigns and crises, one of the most powerful parts of Patankar’s journey is deeply personal. Nearly two decades ago, after becoming a mother, she made the conscious decision to work from home, long before remote work became normalized.

At the time, flexible work arrangements were rare, and finding organizations willing to support that choice was challenging. Re-entering the corporate world later was equally difficult.

“In many ways, I had to rebuild my career almost from scratch,” she shares candidly.

Yet, that phase also became one of her greatest teachers. It taught her resilience, discipline, adaptability, and the importance of boundaries. Ironically, when the pandemic pushed the world toward remote work, she realized she had already spent years mastering that model.

Her story is a reminder that career pauses do not define capability; adaptability does.

A Leader Who Stays Close to the Work

Patankar describes herself as both a “do-er” and a “thinker,” and that balance perhaps explains her leadership style best.

She believes leaders should continuously upskill themselves while remaining closely connected to execution. As organizations scale, many leaders become increasingly detached from day-to-day realities, something she has consciously tried to avoid.

Having built multiple functions and teams from scratch, often as employee number one, she values leaders who remain accessible, collaborative, and grounded in the realities their teams navigate daily.

For her, strategy and execution are not opposites; they are inseparable.

Communication in the Age of Speed

Few sectors illustrate the evolution of communication better than fintech.

According to Patankar, the communications landscape has transformed from being media-driven to becoming highly dynamic, real-time, and deeply integrated with business strategy.

In fintech, especially, trust sits at the centre of every interaction. Consumers are no longer evaluating only products; they are evaluating transparency, reliability, and credibility.

What has changed most dramatically, she believes, is speed. News breaks on social media first. Narratives evolve within minutes. Brands are expected to respond instantly and accurately.

Yet despite all the technological shifts, she believes the fundamentals of good communication remain timeless:
clarity, honesty, empathy, and relevance.

Advice for the Next Generation

For young professionals aspiring to build careers in communications, content, and marketing, Patankar emphasizes two things above all else: curiosity and cross-functional learning.

Communication professionals, she believes, should spend time understanding business, product, analytics, and customer behavior, not just media and messaging.

Those who understand how businesses truly operate bring far greater depth and strategic sharpness to their work.

Because ultimately, communication is not just about telling stories.

It is about understanding people well enough to tell stories that genuinely matter.

-Interview Conducted By Shivani Solanki