Case Study

Call planning for pharmaceutical sales reps was ZS’s founding product concept — more than 30 years old and in need of a radical refresh. The team was tasked with leveraging emerging technologies, including classical AI, to re-imagine mobile analytics and insights for commercial pharma reps.

Company & Position

ZS Associates, Associate Principal / Partner (2011-2017)

Details

The effort required several key collaborations: user research informed the taxonomy of insights data scientists were building; the team developed an on-brand chatbot personality; and research insights shared with Product Marketing informed both the ZAIDYN brand identity and product-level messaging at launch.

Actions

• Directed primary research, desk research, and analysis of 20+ prior client engagements to identify market opportunities; presented new product direction to the Shareholder Council.
• Established a repository of insight types — nudges grounded in classical AI algorithms and ZS’s 30+ years of client experience.
• Identified must-have MVP features, including a novel social media feed concept for consuming enterprise insights; conducted concept testing and iterated the design.
• Led pre-sales efforts for the proof-of-concept to identify pilot customers; informed product marketing with research insights.

Outcome & Impact

• Shipped new product, part of a suite enabling 130+ companies and 100K sales personnel globally.
• Suite solutions have improved customer engagement by 15–40% and delivered a 15–30% sales lift.
• Novel social feed concept for enterprise insight consumption created, tested, and iterated.