Challenge
Scaling with Structure in an Emerging Market
Tala, a mission-driven FinTech company, had extended credit to more than 5 million customers in underserved economies—but with a $145M Series E funding round and rapid team growth, they faced challenges typical of a fast-scaling, matrixed organization.
With cross-functional teams working across global markets and no established playbooks for their industry, Tala needed to:
- Achieve Strategic Clarity: Define clear company-wide objectives and enable teams to align locally while pursuing shared goals.
- Build Operational Discipline: Improve planning, ownership, and project visibility across distributed teams.
- Foster Collaboration: Maintain their supportive culture while increasing rigor in asynchronous, cross-functional execution.
- Enable Sustainable Growth: Introduce an execution rhythm that supports speed, iteration, and adaptability in a fast-evolving market.
“We’re a heavily matrixed organization in a nascent, fast-evolving industry. We chose to introduce OKRs to gain alignment, starting at the top of the company and flowing into various functions throughout the organization.” — Ishan Gupta, Senior Vice President of Operations, Tala
The Solution: A Tailored, Four-Phase Rollout
From Executive Alignment to Team Activation
Tala partnered with Wave Nine to implement a 4-phase OKR rollout that combined top-down alignment with bottom-up adoption—designed to fit Tala’s unique organizational structure and growth stage:
- Phase 1: Executive Workshops & Training
Wave Nine worked directly with senior leadership to define company-level OKRs and set a strategic direction. - Phase 2: Mid-Level Leadership Enablement
50+ directors and managers were trained to localize OKRs and manage cross-functional dependencies. - Phase 3: Cross-Functional Team Activation
Six core teams engaged in OKR workshops, tailoring goals to their workflows while ensuring vertical and lateral alignment. - Phase 4: Company-Wide Integration
With check-ins, systems, and rituals in place, Tala activated a consistent operating rhythm—enabling better decision-making, faster issue escalation, and stronger team ownership.
By adapting OKR best practices to their context, Tala created a results-focused culture that balances structure with flexibility—laying the groundwork for continued innovation and investor confidence.
