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Company & Position

 ZS Associates, Partner (2017-2024)

Details

In the technology vendor market, there were significant shifts taking place; SFDC had purchased Tableau, MicroStrategy was building an HTML container for their analytics platform, and an investor had purchased Qlik with the intent of re-platforming it into a web-based solution.

We identified a number of exciting client projects that required skills beyond what existing in our technology consulting business at the time. ZS had no web engineering skills in-house, resulting in loss of work to (or having to share revenue with) competitors.

Prior forays into the bespoke software business had damaged client relationships; I had to present risk mitigation strategies to the Shareholder Council and secure their approval.

There was a mis-match between this commoditized, high risk business and ZS’ value proposition as a high-end professional services firm. We committed to focus our business development into unique, high growth areas for the firm such as Clinical Trial enablement.

Actions

1. Identified and documented market shifts.
2. Established and socialized a business case.
3. Evaluated and mitigated risks, securing Board approval.
4. Launched with 6 engineers and the existing UX Consulting function, adding Business Analysts, technical Program Managers, scrum-masters, and more as the business grew.

Outcome & Impact

• Generated $30M in net new fees annually.
• Expanded ZS’s $700M technology and consulting business into digital solutions, including low & no-code solutions (which I led), and SFDC (led by another partner).
• Demand quickly outpaced supply; the engineering team grew from 6 to 190 engineers in two years (3000% growth!).
• Scaled the multidisciplinary team from 0 to 300+ staff, providing leadership and growth opportunities to retain talent.
• Secured the election of two Managers to Associate Partner.

Work Samples