Nikhil
Senior Analyst, San Francisco
- How were your first few months at Analysis Group?
- Because I had interned the previous summer, I already knew many people, and I was staffed almost immediately on a major antitrust matter in technology. I stayed with that case for my first year and a half, which gave me the opportunity to develop significant depth early in my career in an area I had been drawn to since my internship. Working on a large team with terabyte-scale data, I developed my data skills and took ownership of several datasets, which opened the door to other data-heavy technology cases over time.
- How has your perception of Analysis Group evolved since you started?
- It hasn’t changed much – and that’s a good thing. At Analysis Group, you’re surrounded by some of the sharpest people I’ve met across a range of domains, and I’m still regularly impressed by the attention to detail and the way people can make genuinely complex ideas clear. Even after I’ve reviewed a work product carefully, someone will often spot a way to strengthen it. That collaborative review process keeps me learning and makes the work better.
- What aspects of your work do you find most rewarding? What do you find most challenging?
- The most rewarding part is mentoring newer analysts and watching them take real ownership within a case. I owe much of my own growth here to senior analysts who invested time and energy in teaching me, whether it was coding best practices or Excel tips and tricks. When I’ve thanked them, all they’ve ever asked in return was that I do the same for the analysts coming up behind me.
The most challenging part is the unpredictability. Case needs can change quickly, particularly as deadlines approach, and learning to navigate that shifting rhythm is part of the job. - Can you share a memorable experience working with an affiliate or expert?
- While preparing an expert report on a generative AI matter, a few of us got on a call with our expert to refine the report and get his read on a few technical questions. We ended up talking for an hour about the case and broader technical questions, and it felt like being back in college, sitting in on a lecture from a favorite professor – except this time, my classmates were the associates and vice presidents on my case team. It was a great reminder of how much genuine learning happens in this work.
- What is a typical day like in your role as an analyst?
- There really isn’t a typical day. One week might be heavily quantitative – coding, running regressions, cleaning data, and working through analysis, while another might focus on reading deposition transcripts and academic literature and drafting sections of a report. It tracks with where a case is in its life cycle: The exploratory data work tends to come early, then things gradually shift toward writing and more qualitative tasks as a deadline approaches.
- What makes the Analysis Group community unique?
- The firm feels collaborative and accessible rather than hierarchical. I’ve never hesitated to walk into a vice president’s or partner’s office to ask a question, learn from them, or get their take on a work product or an area they specialize in. They’ve always been welcoming and generous in sharing what they know, and that openness is a big part of what makes this place work.
- What are your favorite activities/hobbies outside of work?
- I play tennis, soccer, and golf, and I snowboard through the winter (the firm’s annual ski trips are always a highlight). Outside of that, I love exploring new activities and restaurants around San Francisco.
