ABOUT US
Practitioners who have been on both sides of the problem.
We built the legacy systems enterprises now struggle to modernize. That experience — combined with hard-won lessons from watching too many programs fail — is precisely why we built a better approach.
OUR STORY
Built by practitioners, for practitioners.
Shepherd Group was founded by enterprise technology veterans who spent their careers building and deploying mission-critical applications for some of the world's largest and most innovative technology companies — on IBM mainframes, AS/400s, Tandem systems, Oracle Exadata, and Sun Microsystems platforms.
We didn't enter this field from the outside. We built many of the very systems that enterprises now struggle to modify, maintain, and escape. That insider knowledge is not incidental — it is the foundation of everything we do.
We came together because we witnessed firsthand how modernization projects fail — wasting millions of dollars and years of effort due to inadequate tooling, flawed methodologies, and a fundamental misunderstanding of what legacy systems were actually designed to do.
So we built a better approach: one anchored in deterministic AI, deep domain expertise, and genuine accountability for outcomes — not just activity.
30+ YRS
Average founding team experience in enterprise technology
UP TO 30%
Reduction in IT operating costs within 2 years of successful migration
100%
Of code transformed — not ~80% like generative AI tools deliver
WHAT WE STAND FOR
Our principles.
Every engagement we take reflects a set of commitments we don't compromise on.
Outcomes over activity
We measure success by what you achieve, not by hours billed or slides delivered.
Transparency by default
Full traceability, clear audit trails, no black-box translation. You see exactly what we did and why.
Risk reduction first
We design every engagement to reduce your exposure — in budget, timeline, and operational continuity.
OUR TEAM
The people behind the approach.
A tight team of senior practitioners — no layers of junior staff, no handoffs to generalists.
Scott Lyon
30+ years in IT solutions and sales leadership. Former Managing Director at Accenture's CFO & EV practice, where he built and scaled the firm's Anaplan practice. Previously grew Anaplan's Southeast region from a single team to a $50M business. Vanderbilt University. Based in Atlanta, GA.
Alison Chappell
25+ years in software engineering, program management, and complex delivery. Former Senior Director of Clearing Data Analytics at Intercontinental Exchange, leading global data and reporting for business partners and regulators. Georgia Institute of Technology. Based in Atlanta, GA.
Shane Hayes
25+ years in management consulting, specializing in finance transformation, EPM/BI, and AI/ML enablement. Former Managing Director at Accenture, where he built and led the firm's global Anaplan practice for over a decade. Florida Institute of Technology. Based in Austin, TX.
"Trust is earned in drops and lost in buckets."
— Kevin Plank
Ready to learn more?
Request a no-obligation legacy risk assessment and modernization roadmap — and see how our approach is different.