Digital Strategy & Architecture | Analytics & AI

Education

Master of Business Administration (MBA) from The University of Texas at Austin
2014 – 2016

Master of Science (MS) from The University of Texas at Austin 
2003 – 2005
Focus: Computer Science

Bachelor of Science (BS) from Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College
1999 – 2003
Focus: Mathematics, Computer Science

Work Experience

Managing Director at Coda Strategy 
Aug 2020  – present 

• Prepared 15 business cases for 3-year, $100M+ digital transformation roadmap across marketing, sales, supply chain, manufacturing, and planning for CIO of a CPG company
• Crafted operating model for 14 divisions for CEO of PE-backed digital marketing agency to scale from 1k to 3k people
• Delivered analytics solutions for senior leaders, such as: (1) end-to-end marketing analytics for CMO of a B2B services company; and (2) low-code intelligent automation for head of treasuries at a Top 4 bank
• Provided 18 expert interviews and 1 hosted talk on intelligent automation to research teams as a GLG Network Member
• Published 2 articles in Entrepreneur Magazine and quoted 4 times in the media as an expert on technical & digital
• Mentored 7 students through 8-month, 400+ hour analytics bootcamp via Springboard, averaging $26k in salary growth 

Senior Manager at Deloitte Digital 
Oct 2017  – Aug 2020

• Led large teams to improve enterprise operations through digital automation such as: (1) crafting an emergency COVID-19 response for a major city to supply 150k meals per day; (2) streamlining analytics for 500k annual warranty requests at an automaker; and (3) redesigning workflows for 30k agents to address 1M annual complaints at a national bank
• Designed digital strategies to execute business vision at leading companies such as (1) modernizing care management for 20M members at a healthcare insurer; and (2) offering a new digital pricing strategy at a waste services company
• Spearheaded formation of the Digital Process Modernization practice across banking, healthcare, insurance, telecoms, and automotive, leading or supporting 40+ proposals and $5 to $10M bookings per fiscal year
• Facilitated seven sessions on leadership development across four programs as an instructor at Deloitte University 1 year 10 months

Go to Market Leader – Intelligent Automation at Capgemini 
Jan 2016  – Oct 2017

• Led pre-sales for new opportunities toward $30M target for North American Intelligent Automation practice, focusing on high-tech, automotive, telecoms manufacturing, life sciences, energy, and transportation
• Led team of 9 to create an AI-powered personalization engine for a telecom to increase revenue by $22M over 5 years
• Spearheaded three concurrent teams of 3 onshore and 13 offshore consultants to create a global technical assistance portal, for a global manufacturing company’s dealers in 15 languages and 140 countries

Certified Lead System Architect at Pegasystems 
2013  – 2015

• Architected 5 intelligent automation solutions, such as delivering personalized retention offers at a telecom, managing 300k insurance claims, and automating workflows for a healthcare insurer to improve clinical productivity by 45%

Senior Consultant at CGI 
2011  – 2013

IT Consultant at IBM Global Business Services 
2007  – 2011

About Me

David Zhao is managing director at Coda Strategy, a management consulting firm, working with digital leaders to execute business strategy through analytics and automation. He has guided numerous organizations through the strategic design and implementation of large, successful digital transformation programs.

David bridges the gap between business needs and technical implementations, by designing high-performing operating models that transform business lines. He is a hands-on, former leader at Deloitte Digital with 16 years of experience through 30+ projects.

David earned his MBA and MS in Computer Science from UT Austin. He has extensive continuing education in analytics and data science. He resides in Houston with his wife and 2 daughters.

Qualifications

Project Categories

  • Digital & Mobile Strategy
  • Cloud Strategy
  • Digital Transformation Roadmapping
  • Product Management
  • Project Management
  • Software Implementation
  • Technology Assessment
  • Commercial Operations
  • Process Improvement
  • Business Impact Analysis
  • Data Science & Analysis
  • Data Visualization
  • Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
  • Benchmarking

Industries

  • Technology
  • Professional & Business Services
  • Financial Services
  • Consumer Goods
  • Private Equity

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