Interim & Fractional COO  ·  PE Portfolio Value Creation

Vijay Shah

Vijay
Shah

Scaling PE-backed FinTech & RegTech businesses
at their critical inflection points.

Post-acquisition, the operating model that got you here will not get you to where you need to be. I build the operating infrastructure, technology platforms and revenue capability that turn acquisition potential into sustained, compounding growth.

A
30+ years
across Tier-1 global financial institutions
Pre & post-acquisition
COO-level delivery inside a live PE hold period
£100M+
technology & transformation investment directed
£1.1B
annual revenue protected through regulatory transformation
250+
global cross-functional staff led
20%
annual operational cost savings delivered

About

Operational clarity,
accelerated.

I work with PE-backed FinTech and RegTech businesses at the moments that define a hold period — where the operating model has to grow up fast, where technology infrastructure needs to stop being a ceiling on ambition, and where the right operational foundation is the difference between compounding portfolio value and a missed opportunity.

With three decades spanning Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, Barclays and Lloyds Banking Group, I bring the depth of a seasoned CIO and the pace of an operator who has learned to move within constraints. I deliver rapid operating model diagnosis and a 100-day implementation roadmap, and the front-to-back re-engineering that translates strategic intent into execution reality.

Operationally, I have rebuilt a professional services business that was systematically under-pricing its highest-margin capability — growing average contract value from sub-£250K to its first £1M+ engagement with a Tier 1 global bank, and restructuring the commercial model to make that repeatable at scale.

I have operated at COO level inside a PE-backed business through both an acquisition phase and a mid-hold growth phase — not as an outside adviser, but as a principal accountable for delivery. That experience is what the Operating Velocity Framework is built on.

I work closely with founders, boards and PE investors — not as a consultant who hands over a report, but as an operator who stays until the work is done.

Napier AI  PE-backed
2 years
COO, Europe
Reduced Tier-1 client time-to-value from 12+ months to 4 months. Turned a loss-making professional services function into double-digit profitability. Created new premium revenue lines and closed the firm’s first £1m+ PS contract with a Tier 1 global bank.
Luxoft  DXC Subsidiary
2 years
Global Technology Lead, CLM Solutions
Lloyds Banking Group
11 years
CIO, Technology Strategy & Delivery Lead
Barclays Capital
1 year
Global Head of Sales Ecommerce Technology
Merrill Lynch
12 years
Director, Global Business Technology
Goldman Sachs
2 years
Software Engineer
Imperial College London
BSc (Eng) Computing Science
Top-10 globally ranked for Engineering & Computer Science

What I do

Where I add
proven value.

My deepest experience sits at the two moments where operational failure is most costly — acquisition, when the operating model must be built for scale before the hold period loses momentum, and mid-hold, when infrastructure becomes a ceiling on growth and margin starts to compress. The foundations I build at both stages protect the deal thesis and accelerate the path to portfolio value.

Acquisition
The operating model needs to be built for scale. Founder-led agility must become enterprise-grade capability — fast.
01
Operating Model Design & Stabilisation
Rapid diagnosis of what is broken or missing, followed by a structured implementation roadmap. The Operating Velocity Plan is in your hands in 25 working days — approximately one month. The 100-day horizon is what it covers. I architect the functional lines, processes and governance structures that turn a founder-led operation into an enterprise-ready business — without losing the agility that made it grow.
02
Technology & Data Transformation
Translating technical debt and platform fragmentation into a coherent, scalable infrastructure. With a CIO background spanning £90M+ investment programmes, I bring both the strategic vision and the operational rigour to deliver technology transformation tied directly to EBITDA improvement.
Mid-Hold
Infrastructure has become a ceiling on growth. The business needs to scale its client base, its platform and its team without breaking what works.
03
Enterprise GTM & Client Lifecycle
Building the operational infrastructure to win, implement and retain Tier-1 financial institution clients. From professional services professionalisation to client lifecycle re-engineering, I reduce friction, accelerate time-to-value and convert implementations into predictable, long-term ARR.
04
Regulatory & Compliance Architecture
Deep expertise in AML, KYC, CLM and financial markets regulation (MiFID II, MAD/MAR). I have protected £1.1B in revenue through major regulatory transitions and built the data infrastructure required to satisfy the most demanding institutional compliance requirements.
The operational foundations built at acquisition and mid-hold — the clean processes, the scalable platforms, the professional teams — are precisely what makes a business credible when it matters most.
That is where I focus. And that is what creates exit value.

Who this is for

Is this you?

01
You’ve just closed an acquisition.
The business has product-market fit and a PE firm with a mandate — but no enterprise operating model. The 100-day clock is running and the infrastructure isn’t ready for what comes next.
The outcome: an operating model that protects the deal thesis from day one and compounds from there.
02
You’re 18 months into the hold.
ARR is growing but delivery, retention and margin are not keeping pace. The operating model that got you here is now the ceiling on where you need to go.
The outcome: margin stops compressing, delivery stops bleeding, and the growth thesis becomes credible again.
03
You need COO-level rigour without a full-time hire.
Typically between £2m and £50m ARR. PE-backed. FinTech or RegTech. You need an operator who has lived this exact situation — and can move from day one.
The outcome: the operational clarity and infrastructure that make the next stage of growth — and the exit — viable.

How it works

Typical
engagement.

Proprietary Methodology

The Operating
Velocity Framework

A structured diagnostic and implementation methodology — built for PE-backed SaaS and Professional Services businesses where post-acquisition complexity is suppressing margin, constraining growth, or creating commercial risk. Not a consulting report. The operating foundation that turns acquisition potential into compounding portfolio value.

Our edge
Board-ready Operating Velocity Plan in 25 working days — approximately one month. The operating picture that most businesses spend months trying to form — clear, scored, and actionable — delivered by an operator who has built this from the inside of a PE-backed business, not from a consulting deck.
1
Phase One
Discovery
10 days
Structured data collection across all five operational domains. Stakeholder interviews. P&L and pipeline review. Systems and process walk-throughs. Evidence-first — no premature conclusions.
  • Services P&L and revenue leakage analysis
  • Client health, NPS and renewal data
  • Pipeline, backlog and delivery capacity
  • Systems landscape and data overview
Accelerated
2
Phase Two
Diagnosis
5 days
The five-domain scorecard completed. Revenue leakage waterfall built. Root causes identified. Commercial impact quantified in EBITDA terms. Board-ready diagnostic in hand.
  • Scored capability assessment — all five domains
  • Revenue leakage waterfall: ARR → margin
  • Root cause analysis: structural vs. execution
  • Board-ready diagnostic presentation
3
Phase Three
Direction
10 days
The Operating Velocity Plan. Prioritised initiatives sequenced by commercial impact. Stakeholder and board alignment. 12-month roadmap with owned milestones and EBITDA impact per initiative. The first 100 days of implementation are sequenced and ready to execute.
  • Operating Velocity Plan — 12-month roadmap
  • Quick wins identified — implementable before the Operating Velocity Plan completes
  • Structural interventions with investment case
  • Stakeholder & PE firm alignment sessions

Five diagnostic domains

01
Revenue Integrity
Pricing, leakage, value capture & services monetisation
02
Delivery Engine
Onboarding, TTV & capacity
03
Client & Commercial
Success, alignment & retention
04
Product–Services Alignment
Capability truth & customisation debt
05
Operational Infrastructure
People, process, platform & data

Three ways to deploy the framework

The Operating Velocity Framework is available as a standalone advisory service, and as an integrated part of a broader interim or fractional COO engagement. Pricing is established through a free initial consultation.

Diagnostic
Rapid, independent assessment for boards, investors, or CEOs who need an objective view before committing to a transformation programme.
  • Full five-domain diagnostic scorecard
  • Revenue leakage waterfall analysis
  • Board-ready diagnostic presentation
  • Prioritised action summary
  • Free initial consultation
Most popular
Diagnostic + Direction
The complete Operating Velocity Framework: diagnosis, Operating Velocity Plan, and alignment with stakeholders and the board or PE firm.
  • Everything in Diagnostic
  • Operating Velocity Plan — 12-month roadmap
  • Quick wins identification and costing
  • Investment case per initiative
  • Board and PE firm alignment session
  • KPI dashboard and operating rhythm defined
Embedded COO
Interim or fractional COO engagement, with the Operating Velocity Framework embedded as the operating methodology from Day 1.
  • Everything in Diagnostic + Direction
  • Ongoing interim or fractional COO delivery
  • Operating model implementation & change management
  • Direct accountability for EBITDA outcomes
  • Partner network deployed where required

Partner Network

Specialist expertise,
on demand.

Through Accelogy, I work with a select group of independent specialists whose expertise directly addresses the operational and commercial challenges PE-backed FinTech and RegTech businesses face. These are trusted practitioners I have worked alongside and will refer or deploy where the engagement requires it.

Regulatory & Compliance Architecture
Independent specialists in AML, KYC, CLM and broader financial markets regulation. Available to support both diagnostic and implementation phases where deep regulatory domain expertise is required alongside operational change.
Commercial & Revenue Operations
Fractional CRO and revenue operations specialists who work alongside the COO to align sales, delivery and customer success into a coherent commercial engine — essential at both acquisition and mid-hold.
Technology & Data Architecture
Independent technology and data architects who can move at pace alongside an operating model redesign — from systems rationalisation and integration strategy to data infrastructure and BI capability.
People & Organisational Design
HR and organisational design specialists who support the people dimension of operating model transformation — from capability assessment and talent planning to team structure redesign and change management.
"I will always tell you honestly what Accelogy can cover directly, and when a specialist partner will deliver better outcomes. The referral is based on quality and fit — not commercial arrangement."
Vijay Shah  ·  Accelogy Ltd

Ready to talk about
your next inflection point?

Whether you are a PE firm, a portfolio company board, or an exec search firm with a mandate — I welcome a direct conversation.
The first call is always confidential and without commitment.

Get in touch