Chas Shaffer
Partner & CIO, Guidehouse
As one of the founding partners of Guidehouse, Chas Shaffer has served as the company’s CIO since its inception. He continues to play an ongoing critical role in executing the firm’s strategy of distinction, enabling priorities around the employee experience and enhancing the firm’s operations.
“Chas’s mix of technical judgment, business acumen and operational discipline are second to none. He has countlessly taken on and continues to take on enormously complex challenges, keeping an eye on innovation and how we can continue to advance our next generation consulting business,” said Scott McIntyre, CEO of Guidehouse.
“He has a keen ability to look at the big picture and can effectively say why we want to do something from a strategic perspective, and how that puts us at a competitive advantage,” McIntyre added.
Guidehouse’s cloud-only strategy that Shaffer initiated, spearheaded and oversees serves as a leading differentiator, enabling the firm to grow and thrive.
“When we did the spin-off of Guidehouse four years ago from PwC that was a real aha moment for me,” Shaffer said. “I wanted to be sure we could be self sufficient and wouldn’t have to depend on anyone — our cloud-only strategy was born out of that, and is what enables us to run the business we have today: Our IT organization and strategy is a vital component of this overall business vision and our cloud only approach is a perfect example as it enables us immense speed to market.”
Most recently and notably, Shaffer’s team in six weeks integrated the half-billion-dollar company into Guidehouse’s cloud-only environment — completed during the holiday season. This underscores the importance and relevance of the company’s cloud-only environment, and a vital component of its overall business strategy.
This all occurred on the heels of leading the complex and fast-paced merger of all systems with the firm’s acquisition of Navigant. This included the migration and retirement of all on-premise data centers, client solutions and enterprise systems, as well as the adoption of the Guidehouse cloud-only IT strategy globally.
Seamlessly supporting this growing organization — which has grown from $600 million to over $3 billion in only four years — brings Shaffer immense pride.
“Things are happening so fast,” he said. “We are so different, so unique, and not like any others in the industry. Oftentimes IT professionals run into analysis paralysis – but you need to be able to push the envelope. That’s how we have gotten so far in just 4 years and how we will continue to grow into the future.”
Why Watch
In 2022 and beyond, Shaffer and his team of more than 200 professionals globally are focused the maturity of Guidehouse, the firm’s growth strategy and what the future with its private-equity partners looks like.
The 4-year-old company remains on an aggressive growth track, but is now at a stage where focusing on operational maturity is equally as important. Its growth strategy includes both organic and inorganic growth.
“We are always evaluating options and will continue to move aggressively,” Shaffer said. “IT is always a huge component of that strategy.”
And working with Veritas and planning for what will come next is exciting and requires strategic thought and planning. Four years ago, the IT department was 18 people (including security professionals) supporting 1200, and now, it’s a team of 200 supporting 15,000 and growing.
“At Guidehouse, everything we do ties to how we can be a trailblazer for change — to solve big problems, build trust in society, and empower our clients to shape the future,” Shaffer said.