The 2011 Top 25 Consultants: Hernan Saenz

Excellence in Client Service

Hernan Saenz
Partner and Head of Bain’s Dallas, Houston and Mexico City Offices
Bain & Company

No one could ever accuse Hernan Saenz of taking the easy way out. In his 13 years at Bain & Company, Saenz has served both his clients and the firm with dedication. And it started on Day 1.

“On my first day, I went to the head of recruiting and said that I would like a job other than my case work,” Saenz says. “I was given MBA recruiting at Cornell, my alma mater. Since then, I have always volunteered to have internal jobs within the firm. It culminated with my being able to serve the partnership of the firm as the managing partner of three offices, where I have an enormous opportunity to shape the firm, its people, as well as the clients.”

Indeed, Saenz is currently the head of Bain’s Dallas, Houston and Mexico City offices. Under his leadership, revenue at the offices grew about 20 percent per year from 2008 through 2010.

In addition, Bain’s Texas leadership team grew 30 percent per year during that same time period. Saenz says he spends nearly 50 percent of his time managing the three offices. The rest of the time is spent mostly on large-scale transformational client work, the type of work that excites him the most, he says.

“We are working to fundamentally change the companies and the direction the leadership teams are taking with those companies,” he says. “I specialize in transformation work and most of my clients have been long-term relationships. These are multi-year, multi-team relationships where we engage in the long-term journey of changing a company and its overall direction.”

Case in point: Saenz led the transformation of a global office products supplier, including integration of two major global suppliers, redefining relationships between suppliers and big box retailers in the industry—resulting in a 10-year Bain relationship, covering Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific, with over $1.7 billion of equity value creation.

Saenz also is passionate about his role in mentoring Bain consultants of Latino descent. He co-founded Latinos@Bain in 2006 and helped shepherd a 10-fold growth rate of Latinos. “Bain is a family that celebrates diversity,” he says. “I’m excited that I’ve been able to help fortify that vision over the years.”

—J.K.