Shiek Shah’s iPhone is covered in a personalized leather cased with the phrase “Do Epic Shit!” on it. As an immigrant from Kenya and founder of Akili, an award-winning IT consulting company, Shiek is no stranger to epic adventures: He’s climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro – more than once, he’s flown MiG 29’s over Moscow, he’s a passionate foodie and traveler, and he raised his son with the mantra that “a thick passport equals an open mind.”

Based in Irving, TX, Akili provides world class information management solutions to large scale business enterprises. He embodies mission-driven leadership in his everyday life. Akili has been named among Texas’s best places to work a whopping five times. Additionally, Akili has received the prestigious distinction of being a 5-time recipient of Inc. Magazines’ 500/5000 fastest growing companies.

Shah has published articles on the IT services industry and was a contributing author for the Manager’s Journal in the Wall Street Journal.
Shah began his career in the IT industry when he joined EDS in Detroit as a systems engineer and was quickly promoted to project leader. He worked predominantly on projects for General Motors and Exxon. Four years later, Shah became an independent consultant. His first assignment was Mobil Oil in Dallas, where he served as a technical architect, specializing in CASE tools. It was at Mobil that Shah first saw the need for distributed computing architecture and systems development.

Mr. Shah is currently serving on the Board of Governors at Hackberry Creek Country Club and was a previous Chairman of the Fitness Committee at The Sports Club at Four Seasons.

Alan has spent the last 16 years with a passion for building high-performing teams and helping customers transform their planning capabilities with market-leading planning solutions. Alan started his career with Mobil Oil as an accountant. However, he quickly started working with technology to automate many common tasks and transitioned from the accounting team to the IT team and never looked back.

Alan first joined Akili in 1993 as the company was in its infancy. That infancy was very short-lived as Akili experienced the crazy ride of the 90’s with Y2K and the dot.com bubble. The bursting of the dot.com bubble transformed the technology landscape almost overnight and eventually led to Alan joining Home Interiors & Gifts for 6 years as CIO. Sitting on the “Customer” side has helped Alan maintain a healthy view of what it is like to be on the other side of the consulting business. Home Interiors is also the first place where Alan implemented and became a user of a planning solution. Seeing how this planning solution provided the business team insight sparked Alan’s initial interest in the planning domain.

Alan returned to Akili in 2007 just as the company pivoted to a focus on helping customers with Planning solutions, which continues today. The technologies have changed but the mission of helping companies transform their planning capability remains the same.

When not working with our team and customers, you can usually find Alan playing golf, riding a mountain bike, or enjoying live music.

Jason is a dynamic professional who blends his expertise in economics and enterprise solutions with his dedication to family and community.  Jason earned his bachelor’s degree in economics from St. John’s University laying a foundation for his career trajectory. His journey began at Chase, where he made significant contributions to the Corporate Planning and Reporting area. Seeking new challenges, he transitioned into the world of consulting and as a Director at KPMG helping identify business challenges and provide innovative recommendations which enabled him to deliver exceptional results for clients. 

Recognizing his aptitude for driving transformative solutions, Jason joined Anaplan in a pre-sales role, where he leveraged his analytical acumen and deep understanding of client needs to tailor solutions that drive measurable business impact.  Today, as Vice President of Pre-Sales at Akili, Jason’s proficiency in enterprise solutions, combined with his strong leadership skills, positions him as a trusted advisor and driver of success across a variety of industries. 

 Beyond his professional pursuits, Jason is also a devoted family man and firmly believes in prioritizing his family, wife, and children above all else.  He is actively involved in his children’s education, as he played a pivotal role as the Dads Club Chair and now serves as the Vice President of the PTA – fostering a supportive and engaging environment for the school community. 

 With his wealth of experience, strategic mindset, and commitment to his family and community, Jason is a respected leader who consistently delivers exceptional results. His ability to bridge the gap between technology and business continues to help organizations identify and realize value.