This is a profile image of Piotr Pikul

Piotr Pikul

PartnerToronto

Leads McKinsey’s global client service in major capital projects for the basic materials sector, serving leading mining & metals companies in commodities ranging from base and precious metals to coal to agricultural commodities. Brings deep expertise in capital productivity and cost turnarounds.

Piotr has extensive experience in serving metals & mining and other basic materials clients—across commodities including base metals, precious metals, potash, uranium, bitumen, and coal. He leads McKinsey’s global work on major capital projects in the basic materials sector, and also brings particular expertise in cost turnarounds.

Piotr’s client service experience includes:

  • Co-leading a 4-year partnership with a leading mining company to build a $5 billion copper project in South America. This work resulted in cost savings and risk mitigation worth $1 billion
  • Helping a major nickel-copper mining project drive a comprehensive value improvement effort for across capex, opex and schedules—achieving a $260 million increase in net present value (NPV)
  • Supporting a major open-pit gold project design and deliver a capex reduction and schedule acceleration effort which improved NPV by $120 million
  • Helping a large mining company select the value-maximizing design concept for a mining processing facility—identifying $500 million in capex reduction potential
  • Working with a leading coal mining company to drive an external spend transformation that achieved $100 million in annual savings
  • Supporting a major cost reduction program for a large South American copper mining company, delivering annual savings of around $250 million—including external spend savings of 20-30% on major contracts

Piotr was based in Warsaw and Chicago before moving to Toronto in 2013.

Published work

Seize the decade: Maximizing value through pre-construction excellence,” McKinsey & Company, September 2023

Investing in Canada’s future: How to get capital spending right,” McKinsey & Company, May 2023

Generative scheduling: Saving time and money in capital projects,” McKinsey & Company, September 2022

Avoiding mistakes of the past: A CEO’s checklist in a commodity upswing,” McKinsey & Company, August 2018

Capital project value improvement in the 21st century: Trillions of dollars in the offing,” McKinsey & Company, August 2018

Small doesn't mean unprofitable: Unlocking new value from small-to-medium metal and mining projects,” McKinsey & Company, January 2018

Getting big mining projects right: Lessons from (and for) the industry,” McKinsey & Company, February 2017

Education

Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management
MBA

University of Exeter
MA, European studies

Poznan University of Economics
MA, economics