From passion to impact: How McKinsey’s newest senior leaders are shaping their industries
What does it take to turn deep passion into meaningful, lasting impact? For McKinsey’s newest class of senior partners and distinguished partners—a newly introduced role recognizing unparalleled expertise in a critical topic or geography—the answer is deeply personal. Across industries, geographies, and disciplines, these leaders have built careers rooted in curiosity, conviction, and a drive to solve complex problems that matter.
The stories below from a few of these leaders span AI, philanthropy, public sector transformation, and beyond—and highlight the experiences that shaped them and how they hope to shape the future.
Holger Hürtgen, distinguished partner, Düsseldorf
Holger Hürtgen is a pioneer in McKinsey’s most advanced technology work. A global expert on AI-powered growth, he is trusted by boards and CEOs, not to mention his McKinsey colleagues, who see him as both an extraordinary mentor and a technical coach down to the code level.
Working with clients from leading grocers and telecoms to retailers and chemical conglomerates, his expertise and published research range from the use of gen AI in retail to the rise of machine learning in finance and hiring practices.
A former teaching assistant and software developer, Holger joined McKinsey more than 19 years ago as the firm’s first data scientist in Germany, when the work was “essentially Excel on steroids.” It was a long way from machine learning techniques and AI, let alone the agentic organizations and end-to-end autonomous workflows he now works with as a leader of QuantumBlack.
Holger blazed a unique path at McKinsey: jumping from the internal data science role to a client-facing senior expert role, then to expert partner, and now distinguished partner.
“I became mildly obsessed with this idea: When experts work with clients directly, the true magic happens,” he says. “When I understand directly from the client what the business problem is, I can translate it into my machine room and ensure nothing is lost in translation.”
Murat Gursoy, senior partner, Baku
Murat Gursoy’s path to senior partner has been shaped by a long-standing commitment to public impact. Before joining McKinsey, he spent more than two decades in government and international organizations, working to drive economic development, help small and medium-size enterprises grow, and strengthen institutions. He continues to pursue those passions today at the firm.
Across Ankara, Doha, Baku, and beyond, Murat helps economies modernize and diversify, working with ministers and leaders overseeing finance, taxes, water, agriculture—and the economy overall. His work has helped increase access to World Health Organization–approved drugs, bring hundreds of electric buses into service to replace traditional fleets, upskill thousands of employees, and lay the groundwork for increased foreign direct investment.
Today, Murat leads McKinsey’s Baku office, working with governments and leading institutions that shape the national strategy and transformation. He measures impact in deeply personal terms: “For me, it’s whether it’s something I will proudly talk about with my children and grandchildren … something that stays with me.”
Tracy Nowski, senior partner, Washington, DC
Tracy Nowski built and leads McKinsey’s work in the philanthropy sector, part of the firm’s Social Sector Practice. She helps private and corporate foundations, as well as high-net-worth individuals, maximize the impact of their philanthropic grantmaking through strategic, organizational, operational, and governance support.
While in college, Tracy ran an after-school program for at-risk girls in South Boston. This built her conviction that when women have access to resources—healthcare, education, market opportunities, and caregiving—it has a ripple effect that benefits families and communities.
She became a lawyer, working in legal and advocacy roles at not-for-profit organizations focused on women’s rights. This drew her to philanthropy as a critical systemic lever to driving change at scale for women and girls—which drove her to develop the firm’s work to strengthen the sector.
“A strong and innovative civil society is more important than ever,” she says. “That’s why I’ve focused my career on helping courageous philanthropists fuel the breakthroughs we need to advance economic mobility, reduce inequality, and improve health outcomes.”
Alex Abdelnour, senior partner, Atlanta
When large distributors and manufacturers look to accelerate growth, many turn to Alex Abdelnour, the founder of McKinsey’s distribution work within the Industrials Practice. An expert in data-driven commercial transformation, Alex advises distributors of automotive, industrial, concrete, and construction supplies (and a lot more) on pricing, sales excellence, and go-to-market strategy.
A husband and father of four, Alex grew up in Lebanon before moving to the United States to pursue a PhD in engineering at Georgia Tech—an experience that shaped both his analytical rigor and global perspective. In dozens of published articles, keynotes, CEO roundtables, webinars, and partnerships with leading trade organizations, Alex makes the case that the future will reward companies that truly understand their customers and act on data with speed and precision.
“Not all sectors are built equally,” he says. “My goal is to help organizations build resilient, insight-driven commercial engines that can adapt, grow, and lead in an increasingly uncertain world.”
Deirdre McGinty, senior partner, New York
Deirdre McGinty is a leader in healthcare AI transformation, helping organizations use advanced data and technology for systemwide impact and improved patient care.
Her passion for healthcare came from her mother, a nurse, and Deirdre felt her calling was to make a systemic difference in how healthcare is delivered.
She maximizes impact as a client leader—helping organizations build new businesses and reimagine workflows with AI—and by creating and operating McKinsey tools, such as Nebula, a healthcare data and insights platform.
She leads a team of over 100, who help her create innovative solutions to complex client challenges at a critical moment for the sector.
“Capturing value from data and AI requires us to move beyond stand-alone solutions and embed technology into how organizations operate. That’s how we deliver better outcomes, at scale, in a way that is both sustainable and transformative,” she says.
Alex Liu, distinguished partner, Minneapolis
For more than two decades, Alex Liu has guided CEOs and executive teams through complex, large-scale mergers and acquisitions in industries including healthcare, financial services, technology, retail, and consumer brands.
McKinsey’s go-to expert for complex integrations, Alex advises CEOs and boards from the highest levels of strategy down to the most specific details. He is equally comfortable discussing McKinsey’s M&A approach in front of 300 executives working through a merger or behind the mic for a podcast on M&A strategy.
“What drew me to the work was being a trusted adviser during one of the most significant, career-defining moves of their lives,” Alex says. “I’m there to help them think through tough decisions and understand the trade-offs.”
Alex counsels leaders to pay particular attention to postmerger management: historically, a critical point where transactions can fall short of their expected benefits. Much of his research, writing, and client counseling focuses on M&A’s potential to be a launchpad for significant, lasting change—not just a one-time event but an opportunity to fundamentally transform how organizations operate, grow, and compete.
“Building and maintaining a transformational mindset is critical,” Alex says in the widely cited article “When a transaction forges a transformation.” “It’s the only way leaders can devise bold integration strategies that create sweeping—not just incremental—change and lasting value.”
Noriko Kuya, senior partner, Tokyo
Trained in applied physics, Noriko Kuya brings deep analytical rigor to fundamental human challenges: how to lead through change, align leadership, and unlock the full power of an organization’s people.
Serving a number of Japan’s major industrial, manufacturing, and logistics companies, Noriko is known for the depth of her client relationships, her instincts in counseling senior leaders in sensitive situations, and her ability to build trust, such as when she helped create the Japan Bower Forum to bring CEOs together for candid conversation and deeper reflection.
What started as a bold, slightly uncomfortable idea—confidential sessions where top leaders could openly discuss unique challenges with their peers—has become an essential forum for dozens of CEOs.
“We weren’t sure if this kind of format would work,” says Noriko, who leads McKinsey’s People and Organizational Performance Practice in Japan. “But our partners and senior partners have tremendous relationships with CEOs. We saw room to make something special happen.”
Facing a surge of AI disruption, as well as geopolitical risks and heightened global competition, “clients feel the sense of urgency more than ever,” Noriko says. “Many are ready to act to seize opportunities or solve long-standing issues. Our work helps them unleash the united power of their organizations. That’s what I’m most excited about.”
Anke Raufuss, senior partner, Sydney
Anke Raufuss joined McKinsey in 2007, helping banking clients just as the global financial crisis intensified. From that fraught beginning came a long-term passion for helping clients build their resilience in the face of existential risks.
“It was such an intense time,” says Anke, now one of our leading global risk experts. With a PhD in mathematics, she was predisposed to love numbers, but she learned something more about herself: “I loved fixing things. In some ways, I loved being a crisis manager.”
Over her 19 years with McKinsey, Anke has moved thousands of miles to stay ahead of the critical risk needs of clients: from Frankfurt to London to Sydney, with plenty of time spent in New York and Singapore in between, “following the crises,” as she puts it, supported by a strong network of senior colleagues and peers.
Anke advises boards and CEOs of leading financial institutions on risk management—particularly nonfinancial risks—as well as adjacent areas including financial crime and AI delivery. From overhauling companies’ balance sheets and risk culture to navigating complex regulations, she leads some of McKinsey’s largest and most critical risk programs.
Given the scale and intensity of today’s threats, no framework can prevent every disruption, Anke said at the global risk industry’s main annual gathering, where she is a regular speaker. But strong leaders can prepare to sustain critical operations through disruption—“and then withstand, recover, and emerge even stronger.”
