Business Analysis Blueprint

Nathan Diamond

Nathan Diamond didn’t plan on becoming a business analysis professional. But what began as a career in IT infrastructure gradually shifted as he found himself more interested in how work actually gets done than in the systems supporting it.

Building relationships, mapping current-state processes, and following through on people’s pain points became the habits that made business analysis eventually click. Today, as an IT Planning & Governance Advisor at Ajinomoto Foods North America, Nathan draws on more than seven years of experience across ERP, manufacturing, automation, and supply chain environments.

Since earning his CCBA in 2025, Nathan has focused on applying BABOK Guide principles in practical ways. He remains intentional about maintaining strong analysis standards as AI and low-code tools reshape the enterprise landscape.

In this edition of Business Analysis Blueprint, Nathan reflects on confidence, community, public speaking, and how business analysis professionals can evolve without losing the discipline that defines the profession.

You came into business analysis with a background in IT infrastructure. When you think back to that transition, what helped business analysis “click” for you as a career path?

The two most important parts of making the transition for me were building relationships and understanding current‑state processes.

Cultivating relationships with people around processes is critical, as it allows you to ask better questions and understand their needs. The key step is noticing (and following up on) the pain points or inefficiencies they’ve raised. It shows you’re truly listening, makes it clear there’s value in engaging with you and leads naturally to follow-up discussions. 

Understanding the current state is equally important. Seeing how work is done allows you to ask meaningful questions. A strong business analysis professional never stops asking questions, because many improvement ideas surface only when you talk directly with the people doing the work. 

An added benefit is that when someone walks you through their responsibilities, it reinforces that their role matters. When people feel that their work is valued, they’re far more likely to support future changes.

When you started your business analysis career, you didn’t take a passive approach to learning the craft. What motivated you to invest in education, community, and IIBA membership early on?

There are countless opportunities to grow in today’s world. In IT, you quickly learn that you must keep evolving because the pace of change is constant. The most important skill I have developed is learning how to learn. With so much information available, understanding the context, the potential application, and the value of new concepts helps narrow down what truly needs attention.

One of the best parts of being a business analysis professional is that our techniques apply to almost any problem. I enjoy being able to step into any area of the business and ask how and why a process works the way it does. One of the great things about business analysis skills and the BABOK Guide is that the skill set can be applied to almost any career. 

Given the disruption and change to our roles and how we work, having a skill set that applies across the board is beneficial. An IIBA membership is another valuable tool, because all the content aligns with the BABOK Guide and supports the methodologies learned during certification.

I would be remiss not to mention the importance of working for an organization that’s invested in development, learning, and growth. While I still had to put in the work, being empowered to attend conferences, receiving encouragement to progress, and having opportunities to fail without punishment were all crucial. As business leaders, we need to think of people as investments rather than finished products.

You earned your Certification of Capability in Business Analysis (CCBA) in 2025, which is a big milestone. How did preparing for (and earning) certification change the way you think about your role and your work?

Having prior business analysis experience gave me built-in context for the “why” behind the value of the theories and techniques. That background helped me connect what I was studying to specific situations where a technique would add value, which led to many “aha” moments. 

Earlier in my career, my approach to learning would necessarily have been different, as there’s often an instinct to apply everything you learn to every scenario. I would have started with the ECBA to build a strong foundation and bridge the gap before gaining deeper on-the-job experience.

You’ve been active in the Quest Oracle community, from podcasts to conferences. What has it meant for your development as a business analysis professional?

It has given me the opportunity to meet other people within the community, which tends to have a domino effect. Discussing a specific topic is such a great ice breaker for networking, rather than trying to start a conversation with small talk. 

You set a stretch goal to speak at Quest Oracle’s Blueprint conference, and you followed through. What gave you the confidence to do that, and what did that experience teach you?

As simple as it sounds, becoming comfortable with public speaking has been the most valuable skill I’ve developed. Learning to speak conversationally instead of feeling like you’re being examined under a microscope only comes with practice. 

I’ve realized that something will almost always go wrong in a presentation, but most of the time, no one notices. The presenter is aware of the mistake, but the audience usually has no idea.

You’ve worked across manufacturing, automation, and supply chain. How do you see the role of business analysis professionals evolving in complex enterprise environments?

AI has changed the business analysis role significantly. Light automation is now happening outside traditional development, which means more technical responsibilities are shifting toward business analysis professionals. Low‑code and no‑code tools, along with expanded system configuration options, often reduce the need for full development work. This makes it efficient for a business analysis professional to handle certain tasks directly.

However, there’s a potential risk. When a business analysis professional implements solutions without needing to translate requirements for a developer, key steps can be skipped. This can lead to weaker documentation and less thorough elicitation. Because of this, we must be intentional about maintaining the same standards, even when the path from idea to implementation is shorter.

In your podcast conversations, you’ve talked about the BABOK Guide and other IIBA resources as practical guides, not just theory. How have these helped you navigate real-world problems and conversations?

Realistically, it isn’t possible to remember every single detail in the BABOK Guide. A few practices have helped me apply it in real-world situations:

1. When preparing for certification, taking notes in my own words (not copied or generated from AI) made the material much easier to remember long-term.
2. Keeping a large set of notes gives me a reliable reference. I only need to recall concepts when reviewing a specific theory or technique.
3. Creating templates, guides, and playbooks based on BABOK Guide principles helps reinforce the material and use it consistently.
4. Building AI agents or prompts that reference the BABOK Guide helps apply the principles automatically. For example, I might say: “Act as a business analyst and apply BABOK Guide techniques for strategy analysis.” I can also attach my notes to provide more context. This combines BABOK Guide concepts with my own understanding.

Looking back, what do you think early-career business analysis professionals most underestimate about their ability to contribute and influence?

Many people hesitate to ask questions they believe are obvious because they don’t want to appear inexperienced. Everyone has expertise in something, and an unexpected idea or perspective can often spark new solutions. When a business analysis professional doesn’t actively participate, they’ll likely be left out of important initiatives.

We also tend to assume that someone who knows a process well is an expert who understands every detail. In reality, asking questions often reveals new considerations or weaknesses within a process. When a question can’t be answered clearly, it creates a learning opportunity for everyone involved. This is one reason the Five Whys technique is so valuable.

Outside of work and learning, what’s something that keeps you curious or motivated when you’re not wearing your business analysis hat?

Being a dad has taught me a lot about learning, specifically that it’s intentional and continuous. After years of formal education, it’s easy to think that learning must be rigid and structured, but learning is all around us and constant! Teaching my daughter to be curious and showing her how to learn has reignited that same curiosity in me.

It’s important to stay interested in many areas, and I genuinely enjoy that. The hardest part is knowing when to disconnect. We all return from vacations feeling clear‑minded and reenergized, and I’ve realized that the same idea applies to everyday life. Sometimes a walk or a full night of sleep is all it takes to regain motivation, especially when learning begins to feel like a burden instead of a privilege.

Finally, it helps to learn in different ways, such as podcasts, brainstorming with AI, or exploring a new part of the business. Each approach offers a different way to grow.

Know someone who's making an impact as a business analysis professional? Reach out to brand@iiba.org to have them featured in our next Business Analysis Blueprint.

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