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Mark Patel

Advises clients across sectors on sustainability with a focus on climate technologies; leads client work across industrial, high-tech, and semiconductor sectors

Mark focuses on serving clients where technologies come together in hard and complex ways for maximum global impact. He coleads the McKinsey Platform for Climate Technologies and founded and leads our Internet of Things (IoT) work globally. He is also a leader in our global Semiconductors Practice and a member of the McKinsey Technology Council.

Mark engages with clients across sectors on strategy and operational topics. He has experience leading a diverse set of engagements, from high growth programs to turnarounds. In all cases, he works closely with management to define a plan and deliver impact.

A passionate believer in the impact that disruptive technologies will have on improving our lives, work, climate, society, and health, Mark has committed his client and professional focus to these issues.

Mark has led programs to support some of the most iconic companies in advanced industries to embrace disruptive technologies across products and operations. He combines an understanding of technology with deep operational experience. His recent work has also included supporting clients in the development of resilient global supply chains and navigation of future manufacturing strategy.

As a leader within our global sustainability work, Mark helped identify 12 global priority technologies and coleads a team of over 500 colleagues now engaged to directly support clients in the development and scaling of the most important technologies for the net-zero transition. Mark is also a champion for decarbonization in key sectors. He coleads our work to support decarbonization in semiconductors, an effort that’s close to his heart and experience.

Mark has hands-on experience in building early-stage high-growth businesses. Prior to McKinsey, he was part of a management team involved in synthetic biology and renewables, which moved from lab to commercial scale and IPO in less than five years. He has also worked in European mobile application software businesses, building on novel natural language progression technology. Mark started his career as an automotive engineer.

Published work

Exploring new regions: The greenfield opportunity in semiconductors,” McKinsey & Company, January 2024

Carbon removals: How to scale a new gigaton industry, McKinsey & Company, December 2023

Preview: What would it take to scale critical climate technologies?,” McKinsey & Company, December 2023

Beyond the fab: Decarbonizing Scope 3 upstream emissions,” McKinsey & Company, October 2023

Domain-specific architectures and the future of compute,” McKinsey & Company, July 2023

Cybersecurity for the IoT: How trust can unlock value,” McKinsey & Company, April 2023

CO2 removal solutions: A buyer’s perspective,” McKinsey & Company, February 2023

Keeping the semiconductor industry on the path to net zero,” McKinsey & Company, November 2022

Carbon removals at the forefront of McKinsey’s inaugural Green Business Building Summit in Stockholm,” McKinsey & Company, September 2022

Sustainability in semiconductor operations: Toward net-zero production,” McKinsey & Company, May 2022

Delivering the climate technologies needed for net zero,” McKinsey & Company, April 2022

IoT value set to accelerate through 2030: Where and how to capture it,” McKinsey & Company, November 2021

Building new businesses in industrials,” McKinsey & Company, November 2020

How the semiconductor industry can emerge stronger after the COVID-19 crisis,” McKinsey & Company, June 2020

Coronavirus: Implications for the semiconductor industry,” McKinsey & Company, April 2020

A game plan for quantum computing,” McKinsey Quarterly, February 2020

How industrial incumbents can create new businesses,” McKinsey & Company, November 2019

Radically rethink your strategy: How digital B2B ecosystems can help traditional manufacturers create and protect value,” McKinsey & Company, August 2019

Growing opportunities in the Internet of Things,” McKinsey & Company, July 2019

Unlocking value from IoT connectivity: Six considerations for choosing a provider,” McKinsey & Company, March 2018

Past experience

Amyris
Senior vice president, commercial operations

Ford Motor Company
Engineer, manufacturing and development

Education

Stanford University
MBA

Selwyn College, University of Cambridge
MEng; BA, manufacturing engineering