Business Analysis Blueprint

Shweta Chhajlani

When she was a kid, Shweta Chhajlani realized one day that her younger cousins knew more about the world (and how to navigate it) than she did. As hard as that was to accept, it settled something too: if she wanted to follow her ambitions, no one was going to walk her there. She'd have to find her own way.

That instinct explains a lot about a varied career that includes mechanical engineer, technologist, business analyst, operational leader, and governance professional among its roles. And now, perhaps fittingly, it also includes co-founder of Ignite2Impact—a coaching practice built on the belief that leadership starts with knowing yourself.

Somewhere along the way, Shweta picked up IIBA's Certificate in Cybersecurity Analysis (CCA) and Certificate in Product Ownership Analysis (CPOA) credentials and delivered real gains in customer satisfaction and turnaround time—in transformations where the framework was the easy part, and the people were the hard part. The credentials, like everything else, were her way of picking what she needed to learn and going to find it.

In this conversation, Shweta talks about what she wishes she'd figured out sooner, why she stopped trying to solve problems for the people she coaches, and the line she'd offer any business analysis professional walking into a room where they don't yet know the answers: you don't have to be the person who knows everything. Sometimes your greatest value is being the person who helps the room understand what matters.

You’ve spoken about growing up in a small town without much career guidance, yet you found your way to becoming an engineer. What’s one moment from that time that still stays with you?

Growing up, I didn’t have much exposure to different career possibilities or guidance. I remember noticing that some of my younger cousins knew more than I did, especially when it came to communicating in English and navigating opportunities.

That was a difficult realization, but it also became a turning point. I remember thinking, "If I want to achieve my goals, I will have to work harder." I didn’t know exactly how I would get there. I just knew I couldn’t wait for someone to show me the way.

That mindset stayed with me. Even today, when I don’t know something, my first instinct is usually to lean in, not step back. 

IIBA’s Enabling Confidence initiative highlights certification, insight, knowledge, and connection. Looking back at your own career, what has contributed most to your confidence?

For me, it has been self-awareness and mentors. I understood both later in my career than I wish I had. Earlier, I thought confidence came primarily from knowing more and becoming technically stronger. Over time, I realized that confidence also comes from knowing yourself, your strengths, your blind spots, and the areas where you need to grow.

Communication is a personal example. English wasn’t something I grew up speaking confidently, so I had to deliberately work on it. 

Mentors helped me in another way. They sometimes saw possibilities in me before I could see them myself. Now, in coaching, I try to create that same space for others: helping them understand themselves better so they can decide what they want to work on.

Your career has moved from mechanical engineering into technology, business analysis, project and operational leadership, and eventually governance. What has that evolution taught you about building a career?

People often ask me how I made such a varied career work. What they don’t usually ask is why I kept making those moves. Looking back, the reason is simple: I wanted to keep learning and help others.

Each role gave me something I needed for the next one. Engineering taught me to approach problems logically. Technology taught me how systems work. Business analysis taught me to look at problems through different perspectives. Leadership taught me that having the right answer isn’t enough; you also have to bring people with you.

I didn’t have a perfectly mapped-out career plan. I followed opportunities to learn, contribute, and stretch myself. Sometimes a career makes more sense in hindsight than in the middle of it.

You’ve worked on complex organizational changes where new ways of working faced resistance. What did those experiences teach you about the human side of business analysis?

The resistance. When you’re introducing a new process or way of working, it’s easy to focus on the framework, the documentation, and what needs to change. But behind every process are people who have to change how they work.

There were moments when people questioned the need for new processes or saw them as additional work. Those conversations never appeared in project reports in quite the same way. What I learned was that resistance isn’t necessarily a sign that people don’t care. Sometimes it means they don’t yet understand the reason for the change, how it affects them, or what’s expected of them.

That experience made me much more conscious of the human side of analysis. A good solution has to make sense not only on paper, but also to the people who have to live with it.

You’ve seen measurable improvements in customer satisfaction, service quality, and turnaround time through your work. What’s behind those numbers?

One of the improvements came from addressing something fundamental: processes weren’t always being followed consistently, and issues weren’t always being dealt with quickly. My team focused on improving the way work moved through the organization, reducing unnecessary delays and making processes more practical.

The goal wasn’t simply to make things faster. We wanted to improve turnaround time without compromising quality. Over time, we were able to reduce lead time and more consistently meet delivery targets.

The percentage is the part that fits neatly into a report, but what I remember more is the change in how the work happened. For me, that's where business analysis becomes useful: when it helps people work better, make better decisions, and achieve better outcomes, not simply produce another deliverable.

You hold IIBA’s Certificate in Cybersecurity Analysis (CCA) and Certificate in Product Ownership Analysis (CPOA) certifications. What motivated you to pursue them, and how did they influence your thinking?

I pursued the CPOA when I was transitioning toward a product owner role. I wanted to understand product thinking more deeply and broaden my perspective beyond traditional delivery and requirements.

The CCA came from a different need. As my responsibilities were changing, I wanted to strengthen my cybersecurity knowledge and make sure I continued to bring that perspective into my work.

Both certifications helped me look at familiar problems differently. That’s what I value most about professional development. The certificate is useful, but the bigger benefit is the new perspective you bring back to your work.

For me, learning has always been less about collecting credentials and more about expanding the questions I’m able to ask.

You co-founded Ignite2Impact around the idea that leaders need to grow themselves before they can help others grow. When have you seen that belief come to life?

One of the moments that stays with me is when someone I was coaching told me, "I know myself better than ever before." That meant more to me than hearing that they had learned a particular leadership technique. It meant they had developed a better understanding of themselves and could make decisions from that place.

I’ve also had people I’ve trained or coached move into roles they had dreamed about. Those moments remind me that leadership doesn’t always mean giving someone the answer.

Earlier in my career, I was more focused on solving problems for people. As I’ve grown, I’ve learned to listen more, ask better questions, and give people space to find their own answers. Sometimes the most meaningful thing you can teach someone is what they discover about themselves.

Business analysis professionals moving into governance, risk, or leadership may have assumptions about what those roles require. What surprised you most when you made that transition?

I thought I needed to be more technical and know the answers. What I eventually discovered was that the real value was often in helping people understand what was at stake and what was in it for them.

My business analysis experience helped me enormously. I already knew how to ask questions, understand different perspectives, and bring information together. My leadership experience taught me something additional: people need someone who can help them understand the problem and make sense of their options.

That changed how I approached governance and risk. You don’t have to be the person who knows everything in the room. Sometimes your greatest value is being the person who helps the room understand what matters.

As organizations increasingly work with AI, data, cybersecurity, and other areas of complexity, how do you see the business analysis professional’s role evolving?

Our role is becoming broader, not smaller. Organizations are making decisions in areas where technology can move faster than their understanding of the consequences. Someone needs to ask: What problem are we solving? Who is affected? What assumptions are we making? What could go wrong? What does success look like?

Those questions aren't tied to a particular technology. They're about understanding people, business needs, and consequences.

What excites me is the opportunity for business analysis professionals to move further into problem framing and decision-making. In the future, they may not always be the person documenting what has been decided. They may increasingly be one of the people helping the organization understand what should be decided in the first place.

Finally, what three books have shaped the way you think about growth, resilience, and leadership?

Three books that have influenced me are Atomic Habits by James Clear, The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, and Developing the Leader Within You 2.0 by John C. Maxwell.

Atomic Habits reinforced the idea that meaningful growth can come from small, consistent actions rather than dramatic changes.

The Alchemist reminds me to stay curious about what’s possible and to keep moving toward what matters, even when the path isn’t clear. That resonates with my own career because I didn’t always know where each step would lead. And Developing the Leader Within You 2.0 shaped my understanding that leadership starts with working on yourself.

Together, these books reflect how I try to live and lead: keep learning, keep growing, and have the courage to keep moving forward even when you don’t have the whole path figured out.

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