Saad Ayub Email & Phone Number

Auburn, Wa, Us

Auburn, Wa, Us

Responsible for leading the overall digital strategy to develop new innovative products and enable the enterprise-wide transformation of the company’s business model. Oversees the digital transformation and Global IT organizations at Zones.Driving the organizational transformation of people, processes, and technology through five multi-year strategic initiatives: • Expand internal capabilities through new digital/AI solutions • Redefine service delivery models (organization, processes, and tools) • Rebuild foundational IT ecosystem• Improve customer experience• Enable new go-to-market offerings (e.g. cloud solutions and services)

Started a consulting practice that focuses on IT and digital transformation, new product development by leveraging digital technologies, and supporting private equity firms on technology related aspects of their portfolio companies.• For one of the largest global retail companies, assessed their major $80MM technology-enabled change program, identified key areas requiring improvements, and provided tactical and strategic recommendations to ensure their program delivers the targeted annual benefits of $38MM.• Developed options for the IT operating model for one of the largest U.S. financial services companies. Focus of effort was to transform the federated IT organization and better position it to support the digitalization of the business. The objective of the IT organization was to eliminate over $300MM in cost while also enhancing the organization’s ability to build innovative and differentiating business capabilities.• For a private equity company, assessed the technology transformation program of it’s newly acquired portfolio company. Developed the new roadmap for the ERP program. Worked with the portfolio company’s eCommerce team to ramp-up the online capabilities (i.e, e-commerce platform, digital asset management). • Developed new digital product that utilizes crowdsourcing of knowledge to enhance the existing products offered by a multinational research company.• Co-founded a crowdsourcing mobile application that is designed to help improve individual's safety in dangerous areas by enabling the sharing of criminal activity and related information in real-time.

New York, Ny, Us

Recruited to transform the IT organization and drive Scholastic’s transition to a digital business model. Spearheaded efforts to centralize IT, refocus the organization on strategic initiatives, build new organizational capabilities, and eliminate redundancies inherent in Scholastic’s distributed model. Led entire IT organization defining the overarching technology vision and partnering with business leaders to implement enabling capabilities for key strategies. Oversaw $120M budget and 450+ internal and external staff.Enterprise Transformation• Architected and executed Scholastic’s digital transformation across its entire technology footprint. Leveraged emerging eCommerce and digital delivery trends to drive online revenue growth.• Launched next generation eCommerce platform, subscription based digital education application product, and digital delivery ecosystem, boosting online revenue and positioning the company in the eBook space.• Partnered with Scholastic Media to develop a multiplatform book-based video service, BookFlix, for the consumer and school marketplace. • Orchestrated development of cross-divisional business intelligence capabilities projected to enhance direct-to-consumer relationships and provide a 360-degree view of the customer.• Championed and led data center and infrastructure consolidation, standardization, and virtualization efforts.• Transformed IT governance and budgeting processes providing significant visibility into key cost drivers.Strategy Execution / Cost Control• Generated $5M cost savings (30% of total project cost) in the first six months of hire by redefining the hardware strategy for Scholastic’s in-flight Point of Sale system.• Introduced cloud and SaaS solutions that dramatically reduced operating costs and time-to-market.• Drove 15 month program to in-source one division’s business operations to existing corporate ERP system; recouped $4M investment in four months.

Hartford, Ct, Us

Recruited to re-envision and improve core technology functions including enterprise data warehouse, business intelligence, call center and IVR, content management, business process automation, and fulfillment. Served as an integral component of The Hartford’s enterprise transformation team driving key technical and organizational improvements, managing executive relationships, and leading competency improvements for project managers, business analysts, and help desk staff. Coached and mentored successor and emerging talent. Accountable for $55M budget and 500+ staff.Enterprise Transformation• Led Enterprise Information Strategy development providing strategic data for operational and analytical purposes. Launched major development projects for this five year program and aligned business and IT organizations to support the effort.• Increased overall sales productivity by leveraging business intelligence tools to deliver Sales Smart Card.• Orchestrated the definition and scoping of major strategic projects including Telephony Architecture Replacement, Business Process Modeling, Electronic Document Management, and Sales Portal.Process and IT Efficiency Improvement• Introduced new help desk processes resulting in the highest ratings from independent agents for technology support as compared to Hartford’s competitors.• Transitioned development work to offshore partners resulting in 31% cost reduction.• Consolidated Systems Administration to support all US operations driving new IT efficiencies and 10% cost savings.

Hartford, Connecticut, Us

Initially recruited to orchestrate IT improvement efforts, lead customer-facing systems initiatives, and ensure enterprise-wide use of common software services. Directed application development and support activities, managed offshore vendors, and owned numerous applications including member Web channel, IVR (speech recognition), call center systems, CRM/customer contact, imaging, and more. Developed, deployed and instituted key processes for CMM level 2 certification. Provided leadership for $23M budget and 250+ personnel.Organizational Effectiveness• Led development of metrics-based scorecards linking personnel with organizational performance.• Drove $8M savings through initiatives to develop and maintain code assets that were reusable across projects and business lines.• Offshored 30% of development reducing costs while improving delivery quality.• Insourced key resources for IVR team reducing per-unit development costs by 50%.

Us

Hired to develop business and technology improvement strategies for clients across a diverse range of industries. Collaborated with clients to redefine IT strategies, align their IT organizations with business priorities, ensure cost-effective use of IT assets, turn around and redirect large-scale IT projects, manage post-merger consolidations, and improve enterprise performance. Earned two promotions in three years.Strategy Development and Execution / IT-driven Savings• Led engagement that enabled venture capitalists to formulate business and technology strategies, organizational models, and core business processes for start-up companies.• Redirected $100M project for a leading P&C insurer, saving $20M by re-architecting the technology solution and reassessing how the solution should be delivered to business users.• Developed IT organizational model for a major media company and realigned its projects with the business strategy resulting in new IT efficiencies and 30% IT cost reduction.• Developed IT Strategy based on business imperatives for a major healthcare company.Leadership and Performance• Recognized as a leader in IT management, financial institutions, operations, and technology practices at McKinsey’s global Business Technology Office.• Fast-tracked from Associate to Associate Partner in one-half the average timeframe (three years vs. six years).

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Boston, Ma, Us

Doctor Of Philosophy (Phd), Computer Science

Master Of Business Administration (M.B.A.)

Master'S Degree, Computer Science

Bachelor'S Degree, Computer Engineering