Making a Splash and Growing with Perficient: From Solution Director to Adobe Managing Director

Meet Matt Shields, Managing Director of Perficient’s Adobe Business Unit

Perficient’s Adobe business unit (BU) has grown organically over the years and is now one of Perficient’s largest partnerships. Starting with a single source contract, the Adobe practice at Perficient was built from the ground up.  When Matt Shields joined Perficient in 2015, the Adobe BU was on track for a promising growth trajectory and opportunity ahead. 

As Managing Director, Matt supports the Adobe BU from an operational perspective, including everything from sales to delivery. He ensures the right leadership is in place to meet the growth goals and metrics of the Adobe BU and Perficient. Matt keeps a pulse on the business to continue laying the building blocks of success within Perficient’s Adobe practice. 

Matt’s Career Journey 

Matt’s professional journey at Perficient began in October 2015 when he joined the Adobe BU as a senior manager of delivery. He progressed to become the director of delivery and then moved into the practice director role. In July 2023, he stepped into his current role as managing director of the BU. 

Prior to joining the Perficient team, Matt’s career journey depicts how he acquired the ability to “sink or swim in any environment,” as he puts it. Upon earning his undergraduate degree in financial services and obtaining licensing, Matt became a financial advisor to mesh his skill with numbers and desire to interact with people. 

“I valued this time in my career tremendously; I learned so much, including how to have conversations with folks about difficult personal experiences. Unfortunately, this point in my career occurred during the market crash of 2008. It was very upsetting to talk with people who had lost their life savings and would have to change their way of life. This was a scenario that no one was able to prevent, and it caused me to take a long, hard look at what I was doing. I ultimately decided this was not what I wanted to do, so I went back to school to get an MBA.”  

In just nine months, Matt earned an MBA with a focus in project management. Within a week of graduating, he received a call from a small technology consultancy based in Dayton, Ohio. He was tasked to support a government contractor as a senior project manager onsite in Columbus, Ohio.

“I was the only person from my company supporting this customer. I had zero experience just coming out of school, and I was put in a role on a large initiative. I realized very quickly that this was a sink or swim scenario. The first six months was probably the most hectic and anxiety ridden of my career.” 

Having been thrown into the deep end, Matt had to learn quickly on the job. Despite having some self-doubt, his ability to focus on gaining a deep understanding of his role and the business allowed him to excel.  

“I look back on this experience now, and I view it as one of the most beneficial things that ever happened to me in my career. It forced me to dive in head-first and learn everything I could from the business side, to project management and delivery. I’m so grateful to have fallen into consulting and technology.”

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Given the Adobe BU’s history of impressive growth, Matt is no stranger to implementing a growth-oriented mindset. There were roughly 20 colleagues supporting the Adobe platform when Matt joined Perficient, which has since expanded to hundreds of colleagues worldwide.  

Read More: Perficient’s Adobe Thought Leadership

Joining Perficient’s Adobe practice in the earlier days allowed Matt to gain a greater understanding of how Perficient operates and how the Adobe BU supports opportunities at an enterprise level. This helped instill Matt’s growth mindset by seeing how opportunity within Adobe can benefit and spread across the entire organization. 

“All of the work the Adobe BU has done to collaborate across Perficient and with teams around the world has put us in a very good position to drive growth within our global organization. We are very proud of our organic growth and the company-wide effect it has made to increase overall growth.” 

One of the ways Matt has propelled growth is by building strong relationships. He can identify where individuals will be best positioned within the practice by getting to know them and understanding their skill sets and career goals. 

“I want to know everyone in this practice and understand what they’re good at, what they like to do, where they want to grow, and what makes them uncomfortable. All of this is helpful to know when ensuring that people are well aligned in their role. As a result, we’re helping our clients in the best ways we can.” 

Developing high-performing teams with dedicated and skilled colleagues is one of the ways Perficient closes new business deals as well as retaining existing clients. This is a driving motivator for Matt to understand the people who enable the business’ success.

“I’ve always focused on our people. Our people are the reason we’re able to grow within Perficient. Growth in our capabilities, our careers, and our communities are what makes it all worth it. Our people are why we have so many multi-year relationships with Perficient’s clients and such a strong foundation for repeat business.”

Read More: Perficient Puts Colleagues in the Driver’s Seat of their Careers

Key Takeaways

A growth mentality is woven into the fabric of the Adobe BU’s foundation, and Matt is a strong proponent of continuing this momentum. His focus on people, both his colleagues and clients, lays the groundwork for further opportunity and growth. 

Perficient’s culture and success are defined by our colleagues. The Growth for Everyone initiative aims to build a culture that celebrates our colleagues’ unique accomplishments and supports them in reaching their goals. Growth, both personal and professional, is encouraged at Perficient, and we are building a workplace where achieving career growth goals is well within reach. 

MORE ON GROWTH FOR EVERYONE 

Perficient continually looks for ways to champion and challenge our workforce, encourage personal and professional growth, and celebrate the unique culture created by the ambitious, brilliant, people-oriented team we have cultivated. These are their stories. 

Learn more about what it’s like to work at Perficient on our Careers page. Connect with us on LinkedIn here.