Zoom — Deal Risk Assessment

2026-02-24 · Zoom Opal 2026 · Proposal → $250K
Deal Snapshot
Account / Deal
Zoom — Zoom Opal 2026
Owner
Patrick Jones (AE) · Conor Leary (overlay)
Stage / Target Close
Proposal / 2026-03-31
Size / Strategic Importance
$250,000 / High (enterprise logo, tool consolidation, full-suite influencer)
Key Champion(s)
Pragya Singh — owns Optimizely overall, AI Champions member, sole path to Vi Chau
Current Status
Pilot scope defined (3 agents, ~20 pages each). Agent builds this week, pilot complete March 6, business case iterations March 9–12, Vi readout March 13, close March 31. Paper process not started — legal, procurement, compliance contacts unidentified. Single-threaded through Pragya.
Total Risks
8
Known Risks
8
Days to Close
35
Paper Started
No
Risk Scoring Dashboard

Likelihood (1–5) × Impact (1–5) = Score. Critical ≥ 20, High ≥ 12, Medium ≥ 6.

25
R1 — Paper
Paper process not started
Likelihood: 5 × Impact: 5
20
R2 — Timing
Extreme timeline compression
Likelihood: 5 × Impact: 4
20
R3 — Political
Single-threaded through Pragya
Likelihood: 4 × Impact: 5
16
R4 — Technical
Pilot scope — all 3 agents must pass
Likelihood: 4 × Impact: 4
16
R5 — Political
EB (Vi Chau) not directly engaged
Likelihood: 4 × Impact: 4
12
R6 — Technical
CMP adoption undermines Opal positioning
Likelihood: 3 × Impact: 4
12
R7 — Political
Experimentation friction & leadership skepticism
Likelihood: 3 × Impact: 4
9
R8 — Political
Marketing team alignment post-offsite
Likelihood: 3 × Impact: 3
Play Code Legend
P1ELT exec bridge (C-suite ↔ C-suite)
P2SLT bridge (VP/Director ↔ VP/Director)
P3Back-channeling / political intel
P4Value / business outcomes workshop
P5Technical / architecture risk session
P6Commercial alignment session
P7On-site
P8Own internal business case structure
P9Customer-facing exec 1-pager
P10Internal exec briefing 1-pager
P11Pricing / term levers
Risk Table
ID Category Risk Evidence Impact Plays Owner & By When
R1 Paper Paper process not started — no legal, procurement, or compliance contacts identified
Known
• 2/23: “Paper process contacts (legal, procurement, compliance) still unidentified.”
• Pragya committed to finding them but none named yet.
• Conor pushing for parallel processing to protect March 31 close.
Critical path blocker. Enterprise paper process typically 4–6 weeks. March 31 close impossible without immediate initiation.
P3 P6
Conor — push Pragya for named contacts by 2026-02-28; send MSA proactively
R2 Timing Extreme timeline compression — 35 days to close
Known
• Agent builds this week → pilot complete March 6 → business case March 9–12 → Vi readout March 13 → close March 31.
• No slack in schedule. Any slip cascades.
• Marketing offsite next week could shift priorities.
Zero-margin timeline. Single delay in any workstream pushes past Q1. Paper process alone could consume entire remaining window.
P6 P8
Conor — maintain weekly checkpoints; escalate any slip immediately
R3 Political Single-threaded through Pragya Singh
Known
• Pragya is the only path to Vi Chau. If she stalls, deal stalls.
• No direct Optimizely-to-Vi relationship built.
• Pragya blocking time this week but bandwidth concern flagged.
If Pragya deprioritizes, gets pulled into other work, or loses internal credibility, entire deal momentum stops. No backup path to EB.
P1 P2 P3
Conor — build parallel path via Kim/Alex CMO summit mid-March; Patrick to explore Alex Kim relationship
R4 Technical Pilot scope risk — all three agents must validate before executive case
Known
• 2/23: “Pragya requires ALL THREE agents validated in pilot (not just one) before building executive case for Vi.”
• Scope reduced to ~20 pages per agent but still ambitious for 10-day pilot window.
If any single agent underperforms, Pragya will not bring business case to Vi. Three points of failure instead of one.
P5 P8
Franz (FDE) — agent builds complete by 2026-02-28; Conor — define success criteria per agent before pilot starts
R5 Political Economic buyer (Vi Chau) not directly engaged
Known
• Vi targeted for mid-March readout but no direct Optimizely relationship exists.
• Path is Pragya → Alex Kim → Vi — executive triangle active but indirect.
• CMO summit mid-March is potential access point.
EB has no context on Optimizely value, no relationship equity. Cold readout with Vi increases rejection risk.
P1 P9
Conor/Patrick — prep exec outreach briefing for Kim/Alex CMO summit; target Vi pre-brief before March 13
R6 Technical CMP adoption struggles could undermine Opal positioning
Known
• 2/20: “Only Siobhan fully adopted CMP, rest of team struggling.”
• Opal positioned as CMP adoption accelerant.
• If team associates Optimizely with difficult tools, Opal pitch loses credibility.
Opal framed as solution to CMP problem — but if adoption problem is deeper, adding Opal compounds complexity rather than solving it.
P4 P5
Conor — frame Opal value independent of CMP; ensure pilot agents don’t depend on CMP proficiency
R7 Political Internal experimentation friction and leadership skepticism
Known
• 2/20 debrief: open friction between Pragya and Brandon.
• Michael Lam exploring analytics as replacement for experimentation.
• Leadership skepticism runs deep on Optimizely experimentation value.
Negative experimentation sentiment could bleed into Opal evaluation. If leadership views Optimizely relationship as troubled, new $250K investment faces headwinds.
P3 P4
Patrick — manage Brandon relationship; Conor — ensure Opal narrative is independent of experimentation health
R8 Political Marketing team alignment uncertain — offsite could shift priorities
Known
• 2/20: Marla agreed marketing team should join pilot — “good overlap.”
• Marketing offsite next week could reprioritize.
• Marketing agents depend on Marla’s team participating.
If marketing deprioritizes or opts out of pilot, one of three required agents loses its validation path. Triggers R4.
P3 P7
Conor — send de-pressure email per Patrick’s recommendation; confirm marketing participation post-offsite
Mitigation Cross-Map
P1 ELT Exec Bridge
Risks: R3, R5
Kim/Alex CMO summit mid-March for Vi Chau access
P3 Back-channeling / Political Intel
Risks: R1, R3, R7, R8
Paper process contacts via Pragya; marketing sentiment post-offsite; experimentation politics
P5 Technical / Architecture Risk Session
Risks: R4, R6
Agent success criteria definition; CMP-independent pilot design
P6 Commercial Alignment Session
Risks: R1, R2
MSA initiation; parallel paper processing to protect timeline
P8 Own Internal Business Case Structure
Risks: R2, R4
Pre-build framework so Pragya iterates quickly March 9–12
P9 Customer-facing Exec 1-Pager
Risks: R5
Vi Chau pre-brief document for March 13 readout
Action Plan — Must-Do Priorities
1 P3 P6 Surface paper process contacts — push Pragya for legal, procurement, compliance names
Linked Risks R1, R2
Owner Conor
Why Paper process is the longest-lead item and hasn’t started. Every day without named contacts is a day lost from a 35-day window.
Due 2026-02-28
2 P5 Define agent success criteria and validate pilot design with Franz
Linked Risks R4, R6
Owner Conor + Franz
Why Pragya requires all three agents to pass. Need explicit pass/fail criteria agreed before pilot starts to avoid subjective rejection.
Due 2026-02-28
3 P8 Pre-build business case framework for Pragya
Linked Risks R2, R4, R5
Owner Conor
Why March 9–12 iteration window is only 4 days. If business case structure isn’t ready for Pragya to populate with pilot data, Vi readout slips.
Due 2026-03-06
4 P1 P9 Prepare exec outreach briefing for Kim/Alex CMO summit — target Vi Chau pre-brief
Linked Risks R3, R5
Owner Conor + Patrick
Why Vi Chau has zero context on Optimizely value. A cold March 13 readout with no prior exec touch is high-risk. CMO summit mid-March is the access window.
Due 2026-03-07
5 P3 Confirm marketing team participation post-offsite
Linked Risks R8, R4
Owner Conor
Why Marla’s verbal agreement pre-offsite needs reconfirmation. Marketing agent is one of three required for pilot validation.
Due 2026-03-03
Action Plan — Secondary Tasks
Internal Exec Support

Top Risks Requiring Exec Help

What We’ve Already Done to Mitigate

Specific Requests from ELT / SLT