Sunil Jagani on Treating Criticism as Information Not Judgment

Sunil Jagani founded AllianceTek in 2004 when the financial cushion was thin and the competition had deeper pockets. Twenty years later, he still runs the firm the same way: through small, deliberate improvements rather than sweeping change.

In 2004, Sunil Jagani was working out of a single office with a small team and a cash reserve that kept shrinking. Some of the early projects did not go as planned. He genuinely wondered whether AllianceTek, the consulting company he had just started, would survive. What kept it alive was not one decision but a set of habits: re-examining the business model, investing in long-term client relationships, and refusing to treat a setback as a final verdict. That same instinct for steady, incremental correction still shapes how he runs the company today.

Sunil Jagani is the founder and leader of AllianceTek, a software and IT consulting firm based in Malvern, Pennsylvania, with more than 100 employees across eight branches in the United States and India. He studied marketing and finance at Wilkes University and holds a graduate degree in software engineering from Pennsylvania State University.

How did you get from Rajkot to running a software firm in Pennsylvania?

I was born in Rajkot, in Gujarat, and moved to the United States as my interest in technology grew. Even early on, I was drawn to how systems worked and to the challenge of making them work better. I studied marketing and finance at Wilkes University, then went to Penn State for a graduate degree in software engineering. That combination let me move between the language of business and the language of code. Before starting AllianceTek, I worked at Advanta and Bisys, learning firsthand how established organizations built and managed technology at scale. By the time I founded AllianceTek in 2004, I had a clear goal: build a firm that could deliver end-to-end software development and IT consulting to companies that needed solutions built around their own operations, rather than software forced into an awkward fit.

What were the first months like when you started AllianceTek in 2004?

We were competing against firms with years of history and far deeper pockets. Some of the early projects did not go as planned, and the financial cushion kept shrinking. I genuinely wondered whether the company would survive. What kept us alive was not one big decision but a set of habits: re-examining the business model, investing in long-term client relationships, and refusing to treat a setback as a final verdict. Those months taught me that survival depends on steady, incremental correction. I still measure progress that way.

What kept AllianceTek alive was not one decision but a set of habits: re-examining the business model, investing in long-term client relationships, and refusing to treat a setback as a final verdict.

You’ve described Kaizen as shaping how you lead. How does that show up day to day?

Kaizen is the practice of pursuing improvement through small, steady changes rather than sweeping overhauls. I think of a company as an ecosystem: when its parts are in balance, the whole enterprise thrives. That belief shows up in how I manage people. Rather than dictating solutions from above, I focus on building systems that let employees take ownership of their own work. I provide tools and structure rather than rigid instructions. I remain hands-on, working alongside the team on technical problems and new products. The global team at AllianceTek brings different perspectives to the table, and solving a technical problem has become inseparable from learning alongside the people doing the work with me.

What do people consistently get wrong about your work?

People assume software consulting is about installing new technology. It is not. It is about helping clients streamline operations and cut waste. The work we do in business intelligence, customer relationship management, and process management is less about the software itself and more about its visible effect: watching a client streamline a process or expand its capabilities because of a system we built. That is the impact that reminds me the work is making a difference. The technology is just the tool.

When did hearing criticism stop being difficult for you?

Early in my career, when I had put considerable effort into a project only to see it questioned, hearing negative feedback was difficult. Over time, I came to treat criticism as information rather than judgment. I started listening closely enough to identify the root of a problem before looking for a fix, and discussing feedback openly with the team so that mistakes become something the group learns from together rather than something one person absorbs alone. That shift changed how I approach obstacles. I treat them not as walls but as prompts to rethink an approach.

I came to treat criticism as information rather than judgment, listening closely enough to identify the root of a problem before looking for a fix.

What is a mistake you made that you would let a new founder make anyway?

I used to think I had to have all the answers before making a decision. That slowed me down early on. Over time, I learned that you can build systems that let your team take ownership, and that providing tools and structure matters more than having every solution mapped out in advance. But I would let a new founder make that mistake anyway, because you do not really internalize the lesson until you have lived through the paralysis of waiting for perfect information. You have to feel the cost of delay before you trust the team around you.

Has a project ever behaved in a way you did not expect?

We built a system for a client in the financial sector meant to automate customer service. During beta testing, the tool began responding to routine requests, like questions about an account balance, with unrelated information like local weather conditions. It was the result of a misconfiguration in the natural language processing model behind it. We fixed the problem quickly, but the episode reminded me that even carefully built systems can behave unpredictably, and that staying calm when they do matters as much as the fix itself.

What actually improved your work in the last five years?

Building a global team across the United States and India has changed how we solve problems. Colleagues spread across those locations bring different perspectives to the table, and I have found that solving a technical problem now involves learning alongside the people doing the work with me. That has made the work more collaborative and the solutions stronger. The diversity of perspective is not just a nice-to-have. It is a competitive advantage.

Even carefully built systems can behave unpredictably, and staying calm when they do matters as much as the fix itself.

What is overrated in software consulting right now?

The idea that you need to overhaul everything at once. Sweeping change sounds appealing, but it is rarely the right move. Small, steady improvements work better. When you make incremental changes, you can see what is working and what is not, and you can correct course before you have committed too many resources to the wrong path. The instinct to rip everything out and start over usually comes from impatience, not from a real assessment of what the system needs.

How much of your consulting work can AI take over in the next three years?

AI and business intelligence will keep reshaping how companies operate, but we are still early. There are vast amounts of raw data yet to be converted into insight that businesses can act on. AI can handle pattern recognition and automate repetitive tasks, but it cannot replace the judgment that comes from understanding a client’s operations and building a solution around their specific needs. I expect AI to become a tool we use more often, but it will not take over the consulting work itself. The human side, the relationship and the strategy, still matters most.

What advice would you give someone starting a software consulting firm today?

Build systems that let your team take ownership of their work. Provide tools and structure rather than rigid instructions. Invest in long-term client relationships, and do not treat a setback as a final verdict. And learn to treat criticism as information rather than judgment. The companies that survive are the ones that keep correcting course, one small improvement at a time. That habit matters more than any single decision you make.

You’ve been married for more than twenty-two years and have a fourteen-year-old son. How do you keep work from taking over?

I make a point of prioritizing time with my family despite a demanding travel and management schedule. Golf helps. It offers a meditative reset built on the same strategy, focus, and patience I rely on at work. I also read widely, books on personal development, business strategy, and Kaizen itself. I treat reading as both relaxation and a source of ideas I bring back into the office. I think of balance not as a break from work but as an extension of the same philosophy: an ecosystem only functions when its parts, whether business divisions or the competing demands of work and family, are kept in proportion.

You’ve mentioned wanting to mentor a new generation of entrepreneurs. What would that look like?

I am weighing whether to start a nonprofit built around that purpose, aimed at helping new business owners avoid some of the pitfalls I encountered while building AllianceTek from a single office into a firm with branches on two continents. The form is still uncertain, but the premise is clear: growth comes not from waiting for change, but from seeking it out, one deliberate improvement at a time. I want to help new founders build that habit early, so they do not have to learn it the hard way.

What part of how you work today will still matter in ten years?

The instinct for steady, incremental correction. Technology will change, tools will change, but the habit of treating obstacles as prompts to rethink an approach will still matter. So will the ability to listen to criticism and treat it as information. And the belief that a company is an ecosystem that only thrives when its parts are in balance. Those habits have carried AllianceTek through two decades, and I expect they will carry it through the next two.