It was a cold November day in 2013 when I joined McKinsey’s Gurugram office. Though the weather was freezing, excitement was sky-high. The warm, friendly, welcoming team made me feel comfortable, and the anticipation of joining something big brought me joy deep within.
Before I joined the firm, I worked primarily with e-commerce start-ups. The Indian e-commerce market was taking off, and I was head of product for Rocket Internet’s biggest and fastest growing venture in India, jabong.com
McKinsey presented the chance to join an established, global firm, and the opportunity to work with top professionals in industries beyond e-commerce. I joined the firm as a product manager, and since then I believe I have grown as a professional and as an individual.
Growing as a leader
I was a bit nervous in the beginning, but in just a few weeks I realized I belonged to a fast paced, super-talented team of high-performing colleagues. The team’s focus on delivering impact and the opportunity to create real client difference was exhilarating, and the scale of my projects was like nothing I had ever experienced.
The firm has given me an opportunity to solve problems in different industries and sectors that impact millions of people around the globe. Over my tenure at the firm, I’ve worked in agritech, healthtech, digital media, retail, e-commerce, automobiles, and heavy industries.
On one project, I built a health-tech ecosystem serving half a million doctors in India. On another, I led product conception and development on a team of more than 100 people to build one of the largest digital media platforms for a client in Southeast Asia with a user base of almost a third of the country’s population.
When I first joined McKinsey, the product management discipline was new to the firm and many of the non-digital native organizations we serve. We saw the digital media platform project as an opportunity to demonstrate the importance of integrating product management into our work. I had the chance to lead product management from the start, build the client’s capabilities, and act as interim head of product.
The project became a blueprint for how to utilize product management while building a digital business. Since them, product management as a function has become core to initiatives in Southeast Asia and India, including our Leap by McKinsey projects. Today I lead digital engagements, client development initiatives, diagnostic phases for digital builds and transformations, even design and technology teams during product design and build.
Advice for candidates
McKinsey offers more than 12 clear career paths for technologists, and I was drawn to the freedom to be entrepreneurial and drive impact for our clients and the firm.
I lead regional product manager recruitment and help new product managers in India onboard and succeed at the firm. If you are considering McKinsey, be assured the possibilities and variety of work is endless and the impact we deliver is phenomenal.
Outside of work
I’m an avid reader and traveler and love visiting wildlife sanctuaries. Being part of a worldwide firm has given me the opportunity to travel, work globally and experience different cultures. I’m also a proud father of a six year old, and fulfill all my childhood dreams through my little friend. The firm provides absolute flexibility to maintain my work life balance and the choice to pace my work.
About Aman
Aman is a product manager in McKinsey’s Gurugram office. He has bachelor’s in electrical engineering from Kurukshetra University in India and a master’s in computer science from Marist College in the United States. Prior to joining McKinsey, Aman was a product leader with jabong.com & tradus.com, both e-commerce startups, a product manager with Aristocrat, an entertainment company, and a business analyst with GE Corporate and Western Union.
For more information on McKinsey's product management career paths, visit mckinsey.com/TechCareers.