Lead case study · A regional services company · Billing operationsFour spreadsheets behind one billing process
Situation
An acquired business's billing and payroll depended heavily on manual work, despite Workday being in place. I was asked to document and analyze a complex customer's billing process.
What I looked at
The actual work: I observed an employee completing it, step by step, recording the time each activity took.
What I found
When data appeared that hadn't been on the screen I was watching, I asked where it came from. Following that thread uncovered four Excel spreadsheets with substantially overlapping information, manual copying and pasting, and paper-based timesheet processing. I mapped the process end to end with the time per activity.
What I recommended
The analysis supported discussions about standardization and technology readiness.
Outcomes
No savings or time reduction is claimed; those outcomes have not been established.
A national bank · Securities-based lendingTaking the shipping and the shuttle out of securities-based lending
Digitizing end-to-end loan processing
Situation
Around 2017, all securities-based loan documents at this bank moved on paper. Getting one loan's documents signed meant: second-day air to the client for signature, about two days out and, realistically, two days back; some processing on return; a VP's sign-off at a separate operations location in the same town, reached by a once-a-day shuttle: two more days. Execution took at least six days; I planned on about seven business days.
What I looked at
The lending document workflow and what an e-signature solution would need to satisfy legal, risk, and compliance.
What I found
Most of those days went into moving paper, not into the work itself: shipping to and from the client, and a physical handoff to another location for one signature.
What I recommended and delivered
Digitize the end-to-end process with DocuSign, so documents are signed electronically and reach VP sign-off without second-day air or the shuttle. I led the project through implementation, secured legal, risk, and compliance approval, built the tagged DocuSign forms myself, and delivered on schedule.
Outcomes
Three to four days with DocuSign, versus about seven business days before. Reported result: about a 55% reduction in cycle time (a conservative estimate).
If paper handoffs are still slowing your lending operations, let's talk.
A national financial services firm · Technology investmentDoes the business case hold up?
Situation
Senior stakeholders were considering AI software for advisor and manager workflows, and there was no established intake and evaluation process for the investment.
What I looked at
I interviewed stakeholders across the affected functions and compared the proposed benefits with operational needs, the number of potential users, and the available cost information.
What I found
The stakeholder groups weren't describing a consistent business case.
What I recommended
I told the sponsoring SVP the investment did not appear sufficiently justified on the evidence gathered.
Outcomes
The purchasing decision was not mine, and the final outcome is unconfirmed. Vendor price unverified; no avoided spending is claimed.
A national financial services firm · Technology operating modelWhen the SOP isn't how the work works
Situation
A senior technology executive suspected she lacked visibility into how application development, maintenance, and release management actually worked.
What I looked at
Documented procedures against actual practice across intake channels, teams in India and the United States, ownership boundaries, and work outside the ticketing pathway.
What I found
The SOP did not represent the operating reality: multiple intake channels, inconsistent processes between locations, unclear ownership, and technology work happening outside the expected pathway.
Outcomes
After the initial findings (about four weeks), the scope expanded to release management and communications. After a second discovery cycle, I was asked to facilitate a cross-functional operating-model working group, and I brought in an experienced software engineering AVP to strengthen its technical direction. The working group began discussing changes such as involving Application Maintenance earlier in development. I facilitated; I did not design or implement the future-state operating model, and measurable improvement is unverified.
