What Makes a Great Leader? feat. WillowTree President Tobias Dengel

WillowTree President Tobias Dengel knows firsthand what it means to be a great leader. Tobias (affectionately called “TD”) earned the #2 spot on Glassdoor’s list of Top CEOs for small-to-medium businesses and was a featured speaker at the Consumer Electronic Show’s VOICE Summit in 2022 and 2023. Before WillowTree, Tobias stewarded strategic partnerships and acquisitions for companies including AOL and Kearney.

Tobias’ forthcoming book, The Sound of the Future, explores how innovations in voice technology will change the way we work at every level and every function, drive down costs, boost productivity, and create entirely new business models.

In today’s episode, Tobias and our hosts explore the complexities — and importance — of committing to and iterating on WillowTree’s core values, especially amid rapid growth. TD shares the use case that inspired the launch of our growth marketing practice, several book recommendations, what excites him most about joining the TELUS International family, and a little teaser on a future episode topic — innovations in voice technology.

Under Tobias’ leadership, WillowTree grew from a three-person app development team to a leading digital product consultancy with 1,200+ “Trees” partnering with iconic global brands. In January 2023, WillowTree became a publicly traded company after being acquired by TELUS International for over $1.2 billion.