As a global B2B marketing agency, Transmission operates across 50+ countries and serves some of the world’s leading technology brands, including Microsoft, Lenovo, and AWS. Known for fusing creativity with data-driven precision, the agency consistently ranks among the top global B2B players, using analytics to power performance marketing, customer intelligence, and demand generation.

In this first installment of a three-part series, Jonathan Cocek, Global Vice President, Analytics at Transmission Agency, sits down with Peter Giovannis, Founder and CEO of Juris Tech Advisors, to discuss how he built a global analytics function that acts as the “central nervous system” of business transformation — aligning data, technology, and people across regions.

From casinos to analytics leadership

Before joining Transmission, Cocek’s career spanned diverse industries, from casinos to marketing analytics. This varied background, he notes, shaped his understanding of how analytics underpins every business function.

He explains, “I learned early on that analytics touches every part of the workstation. Finance, operations, HR, marketing, or sales, they all require a different level of analytical depth.”

Cocek’s experience led him to recognize a universal pattern across industries: “They try to do all of the same thing; it’s trying to create experiences that establish brand loyalty.” Over time, he witnessed analytics evolve from “reactive reporting” to “establishing more reliable predictions,” where data provides the foundation for storytelling and ultimately drives action.

For him, advanced analytics serves as the central nervous system for business transformation, connecting every function through insight and foresight.

Automating at scale across regions

When Cocek joined Transmission, his mandate was to build a unified, automated analytics ecosystem for a global organization. “Our reporting appeared fragmented, and time to insight seemed to lag,” he recalls.

Transmission’s clientele, including large technology enterprises, demanded “speed, agility, and innovation.” To meet that expectation, Cocek identified three critical transformation opportunities:

1. Architecting ETL pipelines without relying on custom API development.
2. Creating unified customer intelligence through strategic first- and third-party data partnerships.
3. Deploying predictive models that differentiate market positioning by addressing customer pain points.

Working remotely across time zones, he systematically built cross-regional relationships. “Waking up early, speaking to folks in the APAC region, connecting with MEA partners—that was really key to success,” says Cocek. His team’s mission became delivering continuous coverage, shared principles, and synchronized intelligence across every market.

Building a team that amplifies strengths

Cocek’s approach to team design blends technical depth with creative storytelling. “I leveraged open-source technologies and assembled a team with a combination of three specific areas — media and ABM expertise with storytelling capabilities, ETL mastery and automation, and machine learning capabilities,” he says. “If you can get two of the three, you can develop a team and really build out a robust analytics function.”

His goal was to create a centralized intelligence function — a single data science team that could service every time zone and amplify collective strengths. This model not only enhanced collaboration but also improved cost efficiency. Drawing on his finance background, Cocek worked closely with the CFO to ensure every initiative either drove revenue or improved workflow efficiency.

“This helped me strip away anything that wasn’t revenue-driving or improving our workflows,” he explains. “That focus forced clarity on what mattered and stripped away tools that were not necessary within our organization.”

Measuring maturity, driving ROI

For Cocek, analytics is not a cost center; rather, it is a revenue driver. He emphasizes that every client sits somewhere along an analytics maturity curve, and understanding that position is the key to creating measurable ROI.

“Analytics maturity directly correlates with competitive advantage and market resilience,” he says. During client engagements, his process begins with active listening, uncovering pain points, and assessing operational maturity through questions like, “What is your attribution modeling perspective? What are your  Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) to Lifetime Value (LTV) ratios across regions?”

He continues, “To get to LTV, you would have to get to customer return first.” These insights help him move clients from rules-based approaches toward machine learning and AI-driven sophistication.

To accelerate progress, Cocek presents each client with a roadmap at the outset, one that builds trust, demonstrates measurable outcomes, and helps them advance along their maturity curve “at a quicker rate and lower cost than they could on their own.”

Choosing the right data platform

Transmission’s analytics backbone relies on Snowflake as a major data platform, supported by AWS S3 for storage and Python libraries for modeling. “These integrated systems help deliver superior outcomes for clients.”

Running global data infrastructure comes with significant cost considerations, but Cocek approaches it with financial precision. His solution comprises testing high-impact data sources early to forecast compute needs, optimize queries for cost efficiency, and reallocate savings toward innovation.

“We found through various tests that efficient resource allocation freed up more than 30% of our budget for innovation,” Cocek notes. “Optimizing your queries for compute costs is key to that. We also developed quarterly optimization reviews to ensure our cost structure supports aggressive growth while maintaining operational excellence,” he concludes.

CDO Magazine appreciates Jonathan Cocek for sharing his insights with our global community.