Maximizing Tech and Design to Solve Problems

Rakhi Rajani – Associate Partner – QuantumBlack, a McKinsey company

I studied Psychology, Engineering and Spatial Design and have always had a hand in inventing new tech, but what I really care about is how to bring human intelligence and machine intelligence together by creating ways for human cognitive processes and computing power to work more effectively. 

I joined McKinsey as the VP of Design in 2016, with a varied career that included setting up and leading Innovation teams, R&D Labs, Foresight departments and Product Management and Design teams in both big companies and start-ups. That’s quite a range but what it gave me was insight and war stories from being on the inside trying to scale new things. 

These learnings have helped me serve clients in creating the teams they need to prepare for the future. I focus on innovation, working with organizations to create the next thing and I advise companies on how they can strategically benefit from emerging technology and build use cases created with human-centric methods at the core. 

In my current role as an Associate Partner at QuantumBlack, I’ve found myself able to combine my perspectives to solve some pretty challenging client problems – from helping Governments learn how to take advantage of the Fourth Industrial Revolution in order to create more relevant citizen services, to helping Pharmaceutical clients develop new tech-enabled drug delivery protocols, to defining a ‘city brain’ for smart cities, and working with automotive companies to develop mobility (not car!) solutions for 30 years from now. These situations have been technical (experimenting with IoT, AI, ML, 3D Printing, 3D Mobility, etc.), human-centric and strategic. 

Our teams have access to the world’s leading functional and industry experts; formal and informal mentors; and tech-leadership trainings to help you learn, grow, and perform at your best. With tech hubs located in more than 50 offices around the world, I’ve had the opportunity to work in cross-functional teams to create solutions to our clients’ challenges. 

McKinsey has given me the autonomy and flexibility to make my own career using disruptive tech platforms and methodologies as well as the ability to experiment with emerging tech. Only here, can you build a product from scratch one day, and manage a large-scale tech team the next.  

From day one, I was part of an agile team dedicated to helping some of the world’s most innovative organizations perform at their best. My colleagues include more than 4,000 data scientists, software engineers, agile consultants, data engineers, digital marketers, product managers, and designers. We joined McKinsey for the opportunity to apply tech into complex, important challenges, and continue learning and growing whilst also advancing our disciplines.

From the C-suite to the front line, we partner with our clients to transform their organizations in the ways that matter most to them. This means embedding these very current skills into core processes and mindsets; building capabilities that help organizations and people thrive; and developing excellence in execution to ensure actions translate into outcomes, quickly and sustainably.

Our clients’ needs are constantly changing, so we continually seek new and better ways to serve them. To do this, we are bringing new talent into the firm, acquiring new companies, and developing new capabilities.

We are also helping lead the way – internally, with clients, and through extensive research – to achieve gender parity in the workplace. We are delighted to partner with Women Who Code whose mission statement reflects practical application of equity, opportunity and bringing together diverse groups!

Tech careers at McKinsey

For more information on an inspiring, tech career at McKinsey, visit mckinsey.com/TechCareers, and stay tuned for our upcoming WWCode-McKinsey programs.