Wayne Lynch, Managing Partner, Vaco – Dallas

In an interview with Invest:, Managing Partner Wayne Lynch highlighted the growth of Vaco’s Dallas office, driven by North Texas’ strong economy and an influx of businesses and talent. He attributed the office’s success to a strong culture, emphasizing the firm’s ability to provide tailored solutions beyond traditional talent services.

What is Vaco’s footprint in North Texas and some key milestones from the past year?

Vaco is a global professional services firm providing consulting, managed services, and talent solutions. Our Dallas office is one of over 45 across North America, and we’ve built a phenomenal culture here. We’ve experienced consistent year-over-year growth and love working in the Dallas market — both with our clients and candidates.

What makes Dallas an ideal market for Vaco, and what do you think sets Vaco Dallas apart in this thriving environment?

The Texas economy has been strong for years, and that’s a major factor. We’ve seen a significant influx of companies and people moving here, which has created tremendous job opportunities, especially in our core areas—technology, accounting, finance, and operations. While other regions faced challenges in 2024, Dallas remained a strong and resilient market.

After 20 years, I think it’s clear that Vaco’s success is no accident. I’m incredibly proud of our team and the culture we’ve built. North Texas is known for being a friendly place, but our team feels like family.

We have great leadership — I’m not talking about myself, but the incredible individuals leading each line of business. When you have a team that genuinely enjoys their work and values the company culture, success naturally follows.

One of our three original founding partners, Brian Waller, who serves as Chief Executive Officer, continues to uphold the entrepreneurial spirit upon which Vaco was built. This environment empowers individuals to be creative in developing solutions for their clients, fostering collaboration, passion, and sustained success.

What industry or sector is currently driving Vaco’s demand?

At Vaco, we’re industry-agnostic, though we have specialized practices supporting various sectors. We offer much more than traditional talent solutions — our services include accounting and risk advisory, technology enablement, supply chain, consulting, and managed services with offshore, nearshore, and onshore capabilities.

When clients work with Vaco, they’re getting much more than recruiting support. Our focus is on understanding their business challenges and delivering tailored solutions. For example, I lead our technology practice, but we also have a strong accounting and finance team in Dallas. Clients often come to us needing a project manager with specific experience, which we handle daily.

We also support clients through complex initiatives like mergers and acquisitions, providing pre- and post-deal due diligence through our specialized divisions. Whether its systems implementations or strategic consulting, we have the expertise to support our clients across a wide range of needs.

When clients come to you, what are the most sought-after services you’ve seen in the past year? 

There are clear trends. When clients come to us — whether it’s for accounting, finance, or technology — it usually boils down to two key challenges: bandwidth or talent. For instance, a company might be undergoing a new implementation or developing a product, and while their existing team is excellent, they may not have the bandwidth to complete the project within the desired timeframe. In other cases, they may face a skills gap — perhaps they’re working with a new technology their team isn’t familiar with. Whether they need a key consultant to guide them through the process or an entire project team built from the ground up, we have the capability to meet their needs.

How are you advising clients around innovation and technology? 

Industries with heavy regulations — like healthcare and law — tend to adopt new technologies more cautiously due to compliance requirements. However, across the board, artificial intelligence is leading the way.

At the core of all these innovations is data. Whether it’s AI, machine learning, robotic process automation, or cybersecurity, it all revolves around managing and protecting data. Data is both an asset and a potential burden, so companies are focusing heavily on how to protect their own data and their clients’ data.

For example, last year, our Dallas team built a data analytics group for a Fortune 50 company. We assembled a team consisting of a data scientist, a data engineer, and ten data analysts. From project approval to onboarding, the entire process took about two weeks—showcasing our ability to respond quickly and efficiently to our clients’ needs.

How do you support your clients in staying compliant and secure while implementing new technologies?

We invest time in understanding each client’s unique challenges and goals, crafting customized solutions that drive measurable results. Whether clients seek to optimize operations, implement new technologies, or attract top talent, we align our expertise with their business priorities to ensure sustainable success. From strategy to implementation, we stick with our clients through every step of the process. 

Our experts across Vaco’s portfolio of companies focus on compliance, testing, and day-to-day risk management, offering deep support beyond staffing solutions. Compliance and keeping pace with new technologies are ongoing concerns for every business, and while companies can invest limitless resources into them, the key is balancing investment with risk. We help them achieve that balance effectively.

What skill sets are most in demand right now, and how do you support workforce development?

Workforce development, in the sense of training junior professionals into senior roles, isn’t necessarily our niche. Our clients typically don’t come to us for entry-level talent; they want solutions — experienced professionals who can step in and contribute immediately.

Our focus is on helping clients build specialized teams based on experience, industry knowledge, and technical skills. While demand continues to evolve, there are about ten core competencies that our recruiting teams proactively focus on year-round. With that framework, when a client needs a full-stack developer, for example, our teams aren’t starting from scratch.

In 2023 alone, we interviewed over 5,000 professionals in Dallas. That means when a client approaches us with a hiring need, we already have a network of pre-vetted candidates ready to go. Some of our recruiters might have a list of 25 to 30 qualified candidates they’ve engaged with in the last year — people who are eager to work with Vaco.

Regarding talent development, our goal is to place the best people on assignments, help solve client challenges, and then redeploy them to new projects once their engagement ends. We build a strong talent bench, with proven professionals who have delivered results for our clients.

With the evolution of work — hybrid models, remote and in-person — how has your hiring process adapted?

Even before the pandemic, we put a lot of effort into our hiring process to ensure we weren’t just a resume service. We’ve always required our recruiting teams to meet candidates face-to-face before considering them for project assignments.

Going virtual has improved our ability to deliver. Now, virtual interviews allow us to meet with candidates more efficiently, expanding our reach and accelerating the process — while still maintaining our rigorous evaluation standards.

How is Vaco supporting the local community of North Texas? 

Our team is deeply connected to the North Texas community, and we’re active in many professional groups and charities. On the technology side, we’re involved with organizations like the Society of Information Management (SIM), the Greater Irving-Las Colinas Chamber of Commerce, and the Economic Development Council. We’re also members of Tech Titans and several other key organizations across the area.

Supporting our community is an integral part of our culture at Vaco. In fact, we established our own nonprofit organization, Vaco Cares, which focuses on giving back through volunteerism, charitable donations, and support for local causes. We are long-time supporters of the American Heart Association and Go Red for Women campaign. Our team in Dallas is also actively involved with The Bridge Breast Network and Lena Pope. 

What’s your outlook and top priorities for the next two to three years?

Growth. I feel confident about the North Texas economy and the opportunities it presents. Companies continue to migrate here, and with that, I believe Vaco’s Dallas office is poised for continued expansion. We have a fantastic, highly tenured team, and in our industry, there’s really no substitute for experience and longevity in the marketplace.