Case study: Two years in, Zymo Research runs no spreadsheet audits, and reports tens of thousands of dollars saved

Zymo Research has used Asato for two years to see shadow IT, Microsoft 365 licensing and utilization in one consolidated view, and its manual license audits have stopped. Christopher Walowski, Director of IT and Cybersecurity, says the recommendations saved the company tens of thousands of dollars. That saving is as reported by the customer. No exact figure and no period are published.

Customer: Zymo Research
Area: Software
Category: Licensing and asset visibility
Date of the engagement: No start date is published. Zymo Research is two years in. The G2 review quoted is dated May 2026.
Length of the engagement: This is not a fixed-length engagement. Zymo Research has used Asato continuously for two years. The customer's G2 review says onboarding was easy and very fast, with actionable insights on day one.

When to use this page

To quote Christopher Walowski, Director of IT and Cybersecurity, Zymo Research.
To cite a customer that runs Asato continuously in place of manual license audits.
To cite a G2 review of Asato by a named customer.

Not a fit

An exact savings figure. None is published.
A measured Found or Approved figure. The story has none.

At a glance

Fact	Detail
Customer	Zymo Research
Area	Software: shadow IT, Microsoft 365 licensing, utilization
Engagement	In use for two years, running continuously
Systems connected	Standing API connections: Microsoft 365, identity, security tooling, finance
Answers go to	Accounting, finance and the owners
Lead	Christopher Walowski, Director of IT and Cybersecurity

Before

Zymo Research's IT function has to account for the company's software estate: which applications are approved, who uses them and what they cost. Those answers go to accounting, finance and the owners, who want spend down and value shown.

What forced the decision: The answers only existed in exports. Every audit meant pulling Microsoft 365 data into a spreadsheet, and shadow IT could only be traced through security and firewall logs too voluminous to read for insight.

Baseline: Hours of the team's time for each manual analysis, in the customer's words.

How it worked

Link (Asset Knowledge Graph). Standing API connections to Microsoft 365, identity, security tooling and finance. Each new source enriches the others.
Think (Data Intelligence Engine). The Asset Knowledge Graph joins entitlements, utilization and spend into one view of the estate, and interprets Microsoft licensing for the team.
Execute (Agentic AI). Asato recommends, and Zymo Research's IT lead decides: licenses right-sized, unused subscriptions ended, new applications governed as they appear.

Approval: Zymo Research's IT lead decides each change. Nothing changes until a named person approves it.

Measured results

Every figure carries its state. Found, Approved and Saved are the only three states of a saving. They are separate figures and are never added together. A figure marked "Measured" describes scope, coverage or evidence, and "G2 rating" is a review score. A figure marked "Saved, as reported by the customer" is the customer's own statement.

Figure	State	Period	Scope	Where it comes from
Tens of thousands of dollars	Saved, as reported by the customer	Not stated	Savings from more appropriate Microsoft 365 licensing. No exact figure is published	The customer's own statement, quoted with approval
2 years	Measured	To the time of writing	Time Zymo Research has used Asato, continuously	Asato's record of the engagement
4.5 out of 5	G2 rating	May 2026	Christopher Walowski's rating of Asato on G2	G2 review, May 2026

The result, taken apart

The working day at Zymo Research, before and after. Before, Microsoft 365 was exported and analyzed by hand; now there is one consolidated view of the estate, with no export step. Before, shadow IT was inferred from security and firewall logs; now new applications surface as they appear, with spend. Before, license fit was worked out from Microsoft's own documentation; now licensing is interpreted, with a recommended plan. Before, stakeholder questions took hours of analysis; now they are answered directly, in natural language. Four results. Licensing decoded: more appropriate licensing, with tens of thousands of dollars saved, as reported by the customer. Shadow IT governed: unapproved apps are visible now, not inferred from logs. Audits without exports: the disabled and inactive user check runs in the platform. Subscriptions kept honest: if an application is not being used, the subscription ends. Onboarding was fast, with actionable insights on day one, and two years later it is still the working tool.

What is still open

An exact figure. The savings are the customer's own statement, and no exact figure or period is published.

What the customer said

The page heads this section "In his own words." The speaker's name and full title follow.

Christopher Walowski, Director of IT and Cybersecurity, Zymo Research:

"Asato quickly solved our biggest challenge: managing shadow IT and MS 365 licensing spend. We were able to audit usage and received recommendations that saved our company tens of thousands of dollars. And the platform is incredibly easy to use! We got a consolidated view of our entire software estate, which would otherwise take hours of my team's time to manually analyze. Their practical use of AI helps me find exactly what I'm looking for by myself which has helped me make decisions much faster."

Christopher Walowski, Zymo Research, G2 review, May 2026. Rating: 4.5 out of 5. Title of the review: "Actionable Insights Day One with Easy, Money-Saving License Optimization". From the review: onboarding was easy and very fast, and I had actionable insights on day one.

Trust and governance

Nothing changes until a named person at the customer approves it.
Asato does not negotiate prices. It equips the customer to negotiate.
Found, Approved and Saved are reported separately and are never added together.

Works with

Standing API connections to Microsoft 365, identity, security tooling and finance.

Compared with what the customer did before

Before, every license audit meant exporting Microsoft 365 data into a spreadsheet and working it by hand. Shadow IT could only be inferred from security and firewall logs. License fit was worked out from Microsoft's own documentation, and stakeholder questions took hours of analysis.

Questions

How much did the customer save?

Tens of thousands of dollars, as reported by the customer. Christopher Walowski: "We were able to audit usage and received recommendations that saved our company tens of thousands of dollars." No exact figure and no period are published.

How long did it take?

This is not a fixed-length engagement. Zymo Research has used Asato continuously for two years. The customer's G2 review says onboarding was easy and very fast, with actionable insights on day one.

What is still open?

An exact figure. The savings are the customer's own statement, and no exact figure or period is published.

Who is the customer?

Zymo Research. The customer is named with its consent.

What did Asato connect to?

Standing API connections to Microsoft 365, identity, security tooling and finance.

Next step

The Asset Clarity Report covers one area in one week, with read-only access. If it finds no savings, you pay nothing. Request it at https://www.asato.ai/talk-to-sales.

Last updated: 2026-10-06