Case Study

ZS was losing critical technology projects — or ceding revenue to outside vendors — because the firm had no web engineering capability. Business intelligence platforms were moving to the web. Enterprise clients were demanding full-stack custom solutions. The gap between what ZS could sell and what it could deliver was widening with every quarter.

Company & Position

 ZS Associates, Partner (2017-2024)

Details

The bet was on differentiation, not commoditization. Generic IT shops could build custom software; none of them understood pharma commercial operations the way ZS did. The internal case required navigating real resistance: prior bespoke development attempts had damaged client relationships, and the Shareholder Council needed convincing this time would be different. The risk mitigation strategy presented was built around focus — high-value, high-expertise engagements only, with the infrastructure to make quality delivery repeatable at scale.

Actions

• Built and socialized the business case; presented risk mitigation strategies to the Shareholder Council and secured Board approval.
• Launched with 6 engineers alongside the existing UX Consulting function — design and engineering together from day one.
• Added Business Analysts, technical Program Managers, and scrum-masters as the practice grew.
• Built supporting delivery infrastructure in parallel to maintain quality consistency at scale.

Outcome & Impact

• Generated $30M in net new fees annually, expanding ZS’s $700M technology and consulting business into digital solutions.
• Engineering team grew from 6 to 190 in two years — 3,000% growth.
• Full multidisciplinary team scaled from 0 to 300+ staff across three continents.
• Two Managers elected to Associate Partner.
• Repeatable delivery processes established, enabling the launch of the Power Platform capability.

Work Samples

A taxonomy of solution types to guide internal discussions on the new capability: