RISHABH PUNIANI
Healthia Consulting
Manager
Age: 27

No one has ever questioned Rishabh Puniani’s drive to succeed. As the youngest manager ever at Healthia Consulting, a Minneapolis-based firm focused on the healthcare industry, he has earned a sort of superstar status in the field, and many clients ask for him by name. He spends most of his time helping clients analyze their work flows, specifically in the area of electronic medical records software, a system for which he holds nine certifications. “Basically, we’re throwing away the paper chart,” Puniani says. “If a doctor or nurse is checking vitals on a patient, we’re helping to streamline the process by having those vitals in an electronic system.”

Puniani began his college career as a pre-med student but  reconsidered. “I’ve always wanted to help people and I guess this is sort of my indirect way of doing that,” he says. “I’m the kind of person who will do whatever it takes to make that difference. Case in point: Puniani once provided tech support while hooked up to an IV. “It’s not that big of a deal, really. But the story sort of keeps getting told,” he says. Puniani was at a hospital that just went live with a new system and was on his third straight overnight shift. “I got really sick and was hooked up to an IV, but I was still able to provide the support they needed.”

Now, he’ll try his hand as president of his own firm. Puniani  left Healthia in December to start Zaraya Consulting in Chicago.

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AVANI MEHTA
KPMG
Manager, IT Advisory Practice
Age: 26

Ever since she joined KPMG at the ripe old age of 20, Avani Mehta has been making an impact both inside and outside the firm. Her client-facing work earned her glowing reviews so often that she was promoted to manager in just three years, becoming the youngest person—at age 23—to ever hold that title at KPMG. Now, at age 26, she is a manger in the IT advisory practice and is heavily focused on the professional development of others in the firm by providing IT training to new hires and junior staff. In 2006, she was voted KPMG’s Instructor of the Year. But she still spends about 40 percent of her time in a client-facing role, often conducting IT training sessions for C-level executives. “Consulting is a natural fit for me because I always knew that I didn’t want to be in a cubicle all day long,” Mehta says. “I need to be out and interacting with clients, teaching, learning and making a difference.”

Mehta also spearheads the efforts of KPMG’s Involve Group in Tampa, Fla., where she is based and does work with Toys for Tots and Ronald McDonald Tampa Bay Houses. “I can take what I’ve learned at KPMG and apply it to help these organizations in terms of business plans, recruiting, fund-raising or whatever the case may be,” she says. “I love the client-facing side of consulting, but I don’t ever really see myself giving up the non-profit work.”

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ABE TARAPANI
Katzenbach Partners
Engagement Manager
Age: 25

At just 25 years of age, Abe Tarapani has compiled quite an impressive resume after graduating from Yale and joining Katzenbach Partners in 2004. For starters, he’s the youngest engagement manager ever at the 190-person firm. In 2006, he won the firm’s first-ever Values Award for creating a “unique and formative experience” for employees. He plays a major role in the firm’s recruiting and training efforts. He’s led a massive restructuring effort for a client, essentially splitting a $2 billion family-run business into completely separate entities. And at an investment-banking client, Tarapani helped transition in a new CFO for about six months. That client experience probably helped land him his latest challenge—interim CFO for Katzenbach. Tarapani is currently serving as the Head of Strategy and Finance (CFO) for the firm while the current CFO is on maternity leave. And all of this is before his 26th birthday. “The leadership at Katzenbach knew I had a real interest in a financial role with the firm so when the opportunity presented itself, they approached me about it,” he says. “I transitioned out of a traditional consulting role and into this role in September, and I’ll probably be doing this for about a year.” The new role involves “everything from working with our partners on strategic planning to setting our operational goals and budgeting for the year to acting as a guide in our client development process. This role kind of wears a number of hats because we’re still a fairly small firm,” Tarapani says.

So, where is all of this leading? “There’s still a place for me at Katzenbach, but honestly, I grew up in a family business that my folks still run in the Virgin Islands, and at some point I see myself getting involved and helping them to be even more successful than they’ve been already,” he says. “The business is in retail jewelry, and they’re growing and have more than 100 locations now in the Caribbean and the Western Hemisphere, but I think they’ve reached a certain scale, and that happens in many family businesses. I think some of my personal experience would be very helpful to continuing to grow that business.”