Tariffs and shifts in global trade have been dominating this year’s headlines. What can businesses do to navigate this moment of geopolitical uncertainty and volatility in the global economy? “Decision-makers should go beyond mitigating the downside of the new trade measures and look for opportunities that the changes may present,” write Cindy Levy, Shubham Singhal, and Zoe Fox in “Tariffs and global trade: The economic impact on business.” Meet Cindy, Shubham, and other authors behind some of our recent geopolitics insights and be prepared for what’s ahead.
Cindy Levy, London
Cindy currently coleads McKinsey’s geopolitics strategy team, as well as the firm’s global climate finance agenda and initiatives. Cindy previously led McKinsey’s global Risk & Resilience and Financial Services Practices in the United Kingdom. Since joining McKinsey in 1992, she has gained extensive experience in helping financial institutions address their most complex business challenges with a particular focus on strategy, corporate finance, enterprise risk management, and culture. Between 2021–2024, she was an elected member of McKinsey’s board (Shareholders Council) and cochair of the senior partner election committee.
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Varun Marya, Bay Area
Varun leads McKinsey’s global Advanced Industries Practice, which includes the automotive, industrials, semiconductor, and aerospace and defense sectors. He previously led the Aerospace & Defense Practice, focusing on large-scale performance transformations, end-to-end digitization, and the development of new business models. Since joining McKinsey in 1998, Varun has used his organizational, commercial, operational, manufacturing, and supply-chain expertise to help industrial companies thrive, particularly in the aerospace, private equity, and high-tech sectors.
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Jeongmin Seong, Tokyo
Jeongmin is a partner at the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI), McKinsey’s business and economics research arm. His research focuses on global connections, including trade reconfiguration, shifting capital flows, and their impact on economies and firms. Jeongmin’s work also includes technology, innovation, and economic transitions in Asian economies, where he is based. Prior to joining MGI, Jeongmin worked with companies around the world, focusing on consumer-facing industries including consumer electronics, retail, and automotive as an associate partner at McKinsey’s Greater China office.
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Sebastian Sjöberg, Stockholm
Sebastian is the managing partner of the McKinsey office in Sweden. He specializes in serving principal investors through the full ownership cycle, from strategy to sourcing, M&A, due diligence, exit preparations, and IPOs. He brings extensive cross-sector experience and a long track record of serving private equity clients, having most recently led McKinsey’s Private Equity Practice in the Nordics. He also serves financial institutions on strategy and transformative change.
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Shubham Singhal, Detroit
Shubham coleads McKinsey’s efforts to help leading institutions navigate and adapt to the evolving realities of today’s shifting geopolitical landscape. Prior to that, he was the global leader of McKinsey’s Social, Healthcare and Public Entities (SHaPE) Practice from 2020 to 2024, global leader of McKinsey’s Healthcare Practice from 2016 to 2020, and leader of McKinsey’s Americas Healthcare Practice from 2012 to 2016. Shubham also led McKinsey’s COVID-19 response efforts globally from 2020 to 2022 and is currently a member of McKinsey’s Shareholders Council.
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Brooke Weddle, Washington DC
As a leader in the firm’s People & Organizational Performance Practice, Brooke helps organizations across the world achieve sustained performance through transformation. Globally, she leads the Change Leaders Forum, McKinsey’s executive capability-building series on transformational change, and the firm’s organizational work in advanced industries (aerospace and defense, automotive, and electronics). In addition, she leads the firm’s culture-and-change management work in North America. Most recently, Brooke led McKinsey’s portfolio of digital solutions, overseeing global client delivery of proprietary analytics tools for performance and health transformations.
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