Turning Data Into Decisions that Matter: A Salesforce Philippines Story

Numbers aren’t usually where people look for emotion. But in the right hands, data becomes deeply human — helping a child return to school, a family build security, and a community thrive.

For Michelle Pastelero, Account Executive, Tableau at Salesforce Philippines, that’s the real power of data.

“For me, data analytics is about how we can use data to not just make money but to make an impact,” she says. It is this belief that has shaped her desire to turn information into insight wherever she goes.

Finding meaning in the numbers

With over 15 years in enterprise sales, Michelle has seen one thing hold true: the best decisions are made when people have the clarity to act with confidence. “When you understand your data, you can make decisions that genuinely improve lives,” she says. That belief drew her to Tableau, where she saw the potential of analytics to help people see clearly, decide faster, and make a lasting impact.

Today, Michelle helps leaders across the Philippines see the full picture so their choices are grounded in understanding, not assumption. “Most industries here are data rich but insight poor. There’s a lot of data, but customers don’t always know how to make sense of it,” she says. It’s a gap she’s helping close every day — most recently with one of the country’s largest banks, where data has become the foundation for trust, security, and smarter decisions.

Data in action: Driving smarter decisions in banking

Challenge
When Michelle began working with the bank, the challenge was scale. With branches spread across 7,000 islands nationwide, teams were generating enormous amounts of data — but much of it was siloed and collected manually. “Given the longer turnaround time, it would take longer to see business trends and act immediately,” Michelle recalls. For a bank committed to customer trust and compliance, the lack of real-time visibility made it harder to spot risks and opportunities.

Solution
Together with the bank’s leadership, Michelle introduced Tableau as a platform that could bring clarity to complexity. The bank is currently migrating to Tableau Pulse so they can benefit from Tableau’s latest AI capabilities — turning raw data into trusted insights by tracking key metrics in real time and understanding what drives them. The platform delivers personalized, proactive insights with context, helping teams detect unusual activity faster, strengthen compliance, and make smarter, data-driven decisions across every branch.

Impact
What began as a security and compliance initiative soon became a catalyst for inclusion and growth. By analyzing demographic and geographic data, the bank identified unbanked regions that needed better access to financial services. New branches were opened in these areas, equipped with generator sets to ensure service continuity in places with erratic electricity.

“I feel knowing your data and making better decisions on it should not be just left to one department, it must be every CEO’s priority,” Michelle says. She recalls a conversation with the bank’s CEO, who told her he wanted to make a dashboard himself. “You don’t often hear that from one of the country’s top executives, but it does make sense as to why they continue to be one of the Philippines’ top banks.”

3 ways data empowers smarter decision-making

After years of working with leaders across industries, Michelle has seen how data strengthens trust, sharpens judgment, and brings teams together. Here are three ways she believes data creates real impact:

• It brings clarity to emotional decisions.
  In a culture where relationships matter deeply, data helps make conversations easier. “If I have my dashboard up, I can tell my team, ‘We have to do this because the data says so.’ Even if people feel differently, my data backs it up,” she says.
• It helps organizations serve customers better.
  From identifying new customer segments to uncovering unbanked regions, data turns guesswork into action. When teams understand who they’re serving, decisions become faster and more focused.
• It builds trust and teamwork.
  When everyone works from the same information, discussions shift from opinion to alignment. “The team will act like a team and work towards that logical decision,” Michelle adds.

Leading with trust

“People buy from people,” Michelle says. “You’re only going to buy from somebody that you trust. I never push a technology that I feel won’t work for my customer.” This belief that empathy is the most powerful data point of all is what defines how she leads.

If you too believe in leading with empathy and using data to make a difference, join Salesforce Philippines and help build a future where every insight drives real human impact.