Class of 15 Mariah K. Young: Innovative Strategist
Customer Experience and Growth Strategy, VML
B.A.: Business and Journalism
“Professor Brian Steffen was the single biggest influence in helping to prepare and shape me as a person and professional. He challenged me to be a stronger critical thinker, while nurturing my natural curiosity.”
Innovative Strategist
Mariah K. Young lives on the leading edge of global innovation. She serves as senior director for customer experience and growth strategy at VML — a business growth partner with 26,000 employees worldwide that is “equal parts creative agency, consultancy, and technology powerhouse.”
At VML, Young brings innovation and design thinking expertise to drive business growth for clients, diagnosing the root of business challenges and developing solutions at the intersection of business and human. She says the dynamism and breadth of her strategic consulting work has been incredibly rewarding.
“One of my more recognizable clients and larger projects has been developing the paid membership product from Walgreens Healthcare,” said Young. “This includes leading the agency team to define, design, concept and plan for going to market with a new way to interact with healthcare and pharmacy providers.”
She eagerly anticipates the next iteration of amazing advancements in her industry.
“The use of LLMs [Large Language Models] and AI to augment how we think and deliver better insights has me inspired and curious. I’m excited to be leading the charge to define how AI will improve the depth and richness of strategy coming out of VML.”
Article Information
Published
May 28, 2025
Author
Roger Degerman
