Priya (Ishu) I. Krishna

Although the vital work of developing business requirements for IT is often mundane, that doesn’t mean the job is without its pitfalls.

“Requirements can be somewhat controversial because everyone comes to the table with their own ideas about how it should be done,” said Debra Ware, a program manager at IRS contractor Integrated Systems. Fortunately, Krishna “exudes the necessary confidence,” which is especially important as the IRS transitions to agile development.

In her five years at the IRS, Krishna has facilitated efforts to modernize the agency’s taxpayer data system, helped develop more than 10,000 business requirements for three projects related to the Customer Account Data Engine, played a lead role in crafting a playbook for agile IT development, and served as a bridge between the agency’s leaders, business team and contractors.

Patrick Bolton, management and business consulting lead at Integrated Systems, said Krishna leads the requirements development process for over 16 CADE-2 projects, providing day-to-day guidance and support, implementing change management strategies and inserting best practices along the way.

“She truly has been the glue between the business and the technology [units], working with the executive leadership, developers and business owners, all the way down to the end users,” Bolton said.

One trait consistently cited by colleagues is Krishna’s ability to build relationships at multiple levels of an organization. She can identify concerns from rank-and-file employees and relay on-the-ground realities to agency leaders if a project appears to be going off-track.

“That takes a lot of work and insight to think big picture when you’re still thinking tactical and focusing on a specific business need,” Bolton said.

Click here for more on all the 2017 Rising Stars