How Sanjeev Gosain Helps His Teams Build Their Own Paths

With over 20 years of agency experience, Sanjeev Gosain has a deep understanding of management, delivery, and operations.

As a founding member of GALE, he has been instrumental in guiding and growing the agency from day one. A trusted partner to GALE’s domain leads, he is a solution-oriented delivery leader who ensures seamless execution from strategy to rollout, driving success for both his teams and the agency.

Sanjeev sat down with LBB to look back on early game-changing advice from a mentor that taught him to follow his own unique path – the same mindset that proved instrumental in founding GALE and building its success.

As you’ve probably heard from many leaders before, my path to chief operating officer wasn’t linear, and was definitely shaped by some guidance from mentors.

I graduated university with a degree in computer science, and my first job was as a developer at Envision IT Inc. – a role that helped build me a solid foundation for the corporate world.

Wanting to stretch myself, I moved on to Sapient, a larger organisation with broader challenges. There, I grew from developer, to team lead, to architect, designing complex software systems and helping deliver large-scale solutions for clients.

Occasionally, I also found myself in front of those clients, breaking down our work into simpler terms. I realised I had a knack for it, and really enjoyed being that bridge between tech and business. That’s what led me to client and account management.

It was around that time I started to feel pulled in two directions. I enjoyed talking to clients and connecting them with solutions just as much as I enjoyed building the solutions themselves. Using both my technical and communication skills not only helped clients better understand what we were doing, but it also often led to Sapient winning more business. I could see the real impact I was having on the company, and I genuinely enjoyed being part of both sides.

But when I started thinking about ‘what’s next’, it felt like I had to pick one path and let the other go. Some of my colleagues saw a future for me in account services, while others felt I should double down on the technology side… even though I felt valued around and enjoyed doing both.

So, I turned to a mentor who gave me great advice: ‘Do both. You’re passionate about both, so do both. If you deliver great work, stay curious, and are a good teammate, do what you want, and we will support you’.

This advice was a game changer for me. For the last two decades, it’s pushed me to follow my gut and blend my interests across roles in tech, sales, global delivery, client services, operations, finance, and everything in between. It’s also helped me see the value of cross-functional collaboration, the power of not fitting neatly into a single box, and the opportunity that comes with always being willing to say yes to a new challenge.

That mindset also helped shape the foundation of GALE, the business agency I co-founded with some of those same mentors back in 2014. Our core values reflect this philosophy; we aim to be masters of our craft, expect passion as a baseline, and thrive on bringing together people from different disciplines, levels, and backgrounds to create transformative work.

Since GALE’s early days, I’ve worn a few hats: group account director, VP of client services, global head of delivery and operations, and now COO. And through it all, I’ve done my best to pass on that same piece of advice to our more than 700 employees.

If you’re driven to pursue something that brings your passions together, we won’t just say yes, we’ll actively help you make it happen.

In doing so, I try to live one of GALE’s most important values: building a legacy. Not just through my own path, but by helping others shape theirs too.

Plus, who wants to take the obvious road when you can build your own?