Beyond the Agency Logo: What Buyers Are Really Evaluating: An Interview With Sharvin Shah

Sharvin Shah is the Founder of MTechZilla. As part of ITProfiles' industry research into how changing buyer expectations are reshaping technology agency selection, we spoke with Sharvin about AI, delivery teams, trust, operational discipline, financial transparency and what buyers may expect from agencies in the years ahead.

His perspective reveals a buyer conversation that is becoming more specific. AI is no longer simply about whether an agency can implement it. Buyers want to understand what happens when it fails. And when selecting an agency, they increasingly want to know not only what the company can do, but who will actually be responsible for doing it.

Want the complete industry perspective? Sharvin's insights are featured alongside those of other technology CEOs and agency leaders in ITProfiles' research on “80% of IT Agency Leaders Say Agencies Are Falling Behind, As Buyers Demand More Proof, Transparency and Results.”

Read the full ITProfiles research: 80% of IT Agency Leaders Say Agencies Are Falling Behind, As Buyers Demand More Proof, Transparency and Results

ITProfiles:

Think back to your conversations with clients over the past year. What's something buyers are asking for today that they rarely brought up just a few years ago?

Sharvin Shah:

The change is particularly visible in AI.

At MTechZilla, a growing share of engineering hires now have real AI experience because that is what clients are asking the company to build.

But the buyer conversation has changed too. As Sharvin puts it, it's no longer simply “can you add AI?” Clients are asking, “how do we know this won't embarrass us once it's live.”

That includes questions about hallucination risk and what happens when an AI system gives the wrong answer in front of a customer's own users.

For agencies, the implication is significant: AI capability increasingly needs to come with a clear understanding of reliability and risk.

ITProfiles:

What's one trend you believe agencies are still underestimating, even though buyers are already paying attention to it?

Sharvin Shah:

Buyers care about “who's actually writing their code, not just the company logo on the proposal.”

In serious client conversations, he has repeatedly seen prospects ask: “who exactly will be working on this, and will it stay the same team.”

For Sharvin, this is not a minor staffing question. It can become a deciding factor because buyers want confidence that the people they meet during the sales process are connected to the people who will actually deliver the work.

ITProfiles:

Have you ever invested in a capability before clients actually started requesting it? What convinced you it was worth making that bet?

Sharvin Shah:

AI was the clearest example.

MTechZilla began building its AI capability and hiring people with real AI expertise before most clients were directly asking for it. At the time, many conversations were still centered on traditional web and mobile development.

The decision was driven by watching how quickly the market was moving and recognizing that waiting until every client wanted AI would mean competing with everyone else for the same limited talent.

The capability has continued to evolve, including into “agentic AI”, systems that can take actions and make decisions within a workflow rather than simply generate text or answer questions.

ITProfiles:

Sometimes agencies chase the loudest trends while missing quieter shifts that have a much bigger impact. What's one industry buzzword or trend you think gets too much attention, and what should agencies focus on instead?

Sharvin Shah:

“AI-powered” gets thrown around too much.

He has seen agencies add a basic chatbot and describe the entire product as AI-powered when the underlying functionality is little more than a simple automated reply.

His recommendation is straightforward: agencies should spend less time saying they use AI and more time making sure “it actually works right when a real customer is using it.”

That distinction could become increasingly important as buyers become more familiar with what AI can, and cannot, reliably do.

ITProfiles:

Imagine you're advising a new agency launching today. What's one capability or mindset you'd build into the business from day one because you believe buyers will increasingly expect it?

Sharvin Shah:

Build a real team and a proper process from day one.

Sharvin's own experience shaped this view. MTechZilla was bootstrapped, and there were periods when the business was difficult to sustain. He eventually recognized that trying to handle everything alone was also a risk to quality.

His advice is to establish real structure early: “agile development with real sprints, QA and testing built into every cycle”, along with clear ownership so that delivery does not depend on one person remembering to check something.

For buyers, that operational discipline can matter because reliable delivery is ultimately a process, not just an individual capability.

ITProfiles:

Looking ahead to 2028, what's one thing you believe buyers will expect from agencies that still isn't considered standard practice today?

Sharvin Shah:

“Real financial transparency.”

Sharvin expects buyers to want actual evidence of how an agency is run, rather than relying solely on a polished presentation.

That could include numbers around growth, client retention and the overall health of the business. He believes that by 2028, buyers may treat this kind of transparency as a basic trust signal rather than an optional extra.

The implication is that financial stability could become part of the wider credibility assessment when buyers evaluate long-term technology partners.

ITProfiles:

If agencies ignore the trend you've talked about today, what do you think the consequences will be over the next few years?

Sharvin Shah:

Agencies without real financial transparency could lose deals to competitors that can support their claims with numbers.

He also expects buyers to become more skeptical by default, treating vague “trust us” pitches as a red flag rather than an accepted part of the sales process.

The companies that continue to look good on paper without being able to answer detailed questions may therefore find it increasingly difficult to maintain credibility with serious buyers.

Sharvin's perspective points to a broader shift in what buyers may consider evidence of a credible agency.

AI expertise matters, but so does what happens when AI fails. Technical capability matters, but so does knowing who will actually deliver the work. And a polished sales presentation may create interest, but buyers could increasingly want evidence that the business behind it is stable, transparent and capable of delivering consistently.

For agencies, the lesson is not simply to adopt more technology. It is to build the systems, teams and processes that make their claims credible.

For buyers, the questions are becoming more practical: Who will actually do the work? How will failures be handled? What processes support quality? And what evidence exists behind the agency's promises?

As those questions become more common, the agency logo may matter less than what sits behind it.