McKinsey and the World Economic Forum

As a strategic partner, McKinsey supports the World Economic Forum’s mission of improving the state of the world.

McKinsey collaborates with the Forum through multiple industry action groups, research, and publications that help inform the relevant global conversation, and by participating in the annual meeting held in Davos, Switzerland.

Latest themes

Global cooperation | Economic rebalancing | Society & equity | Nature & climate | Industry transformation | Fourth Industrial Revolution

Featured Insights

Article

Resilience for sustainable, inclusive growth
– Resilience should be seen as the ability to deal with adversity, withstand shocks, and continuously adapt and accelerate as disruptions and crises arise over time.
Article - McKinsey Quarterly

The net-zero transition in the wake of the war in Ukraine: A detour, a derailment, or a different path?
– The invasion of Ukraine will, at least initially, complicate the transition path to a net-zero economy, but this tragic development could still prove to be a turning point in accelerating progress in the medium run.
Article

The role of space in driving sustainability, security, and development on Earth
– A new report reveals five actions that leaders can take to contribute to economic development, advance global security and sustainability, and make space a safe and globally accessible domain.
Article

War in Ukraine: Twelve disruptions changing the world
– The war is devastating lives and roiling markets. Here we track the disruptions that seem likely to shape lives and livelihoods,... beyond the immediate crisis.
Article - McKinsey Global Institute

Securing Europe’s future beyond energy: Addressing its corporate and technology gap
– European leaders have shown great resolve in their initial response at scale and speed to the war in Ukraine. They will need to... build the same momentum to face the region’s slow-motion corporate and technology crisis. An estimated €2 trillion to €4 trillion of annual value could be at stake—six times the amount needed for the net-zero transition—and with it Europe’s long-term prosperity and strategic autonomy. A program of 11 actions can turn the tide.
Article - McKinsey Quarterly

Navigating inflation: A new playbook for CEOs
– Few chief executives have faced the challenge of leading a company through an inflationary spike like today’s. Lessons from... strong leaders and bold action can help CEOs make the decisions that only they can make.
Collection

The net-zero transition: What it would cost, what it could bring
– This McKinsey report offers a detailed look at the economic and societal impact of the transition to net-zero carbon emissions... by 2050.

Davos 2022

Blog Post

In Davos, shining a light on the economic future of America: Manufacturing.

– Manufacturing was once thought to be a declining industry in the US—but according to our North America managing partner, the US industrial technology sector is booming.

Davos Matters: Enduring Themes

McKinsey colleagues reflect on the themes discussed at Davos and what’s on their agenda now.

Fabian Billing, Gemma D’Auria, Enno de Boer, Rajat Dhawan, Tracy Francis, Bernd Heid, Eric Kutcher, Acha Leke, Clarisse Magnin-Mallez, María del Mar Martínez, Joe Ngai, Anand Swaminathan, and Magnus Tyreman talk about resilience, the energy transition, sustainable and inclusive growth, the Ukraine war, the future of Europe, India, Africa, and China.

World Economic Forum – McKinsey Collaborations

Mission Possible Partnership
The Mission Possible Partnership (MPP) is addressing one of the toughest challenges in climate change: decarbonizing seven of the world’s hardest-to-abate sectors by 2050. McKinsey is serving as a lead knowledge partner of the coalition, bringing over a decade of sustainability research, analytics tools and solutions, and a dedicated team of more than 30 partners and experts.

The Future of Production
Seeks to shape the future of advanced manufacturing and production through “lighthouse” factories.

The Future of Sustainable Mobility
Looks to bridge the public trust gap and accelerate the transition to cleaner, safer, more inclusive mobility systems.

The Future of Climate Risk
Addresses the future of natural capital and the clean skies of tomorrow.

Featured collaborations

Investing in women and diverse entrepreneurs to boost the post-pandemic recovery

Women and diverse individuals often run up against systemic challenges and resource scarcity when pursuing entrepreneurship and small business ownership. The greater presence of women and diverse fund founders should mitigate some of the demographic and cultural biases in the distribution of financing.
Read the article

The incumbent business as a startup machine

For the past three decades, the business world has intently watched the growth and innovation fueled by startups – and rightly so. Six of the top 10 tech companies today didn’t exist back then. But in fixating so much on this one segment of value creation, we may be collectively overlooking an even bigger opportunity: the incumbent business as a startup machine.
Read the article

Nature and net zero

This report explores natural climate solutions, which offer an opportunity to address both climate and nature crises and generate significant additional environmental, social and economic benefits.
Download the report

The Next Wave: Green Corridors

Green corridors are specific trade routes between major port hubs where zero-emission solutions are supported. A new report shows that accelerated decarbonization for the shipping industry is feasible, and could provide stakeholders with the confidence to invest, coordinate, and deliver solutions at scale by 2030.
Read the report

Road Freight Zero: Pathways to faster adoption of zero-emission trucks

This report identifies three groups of solutions can act as accelerators for faster adoption: new policy frameworks, innovative financing and service models, and coordinated roll-out of trucks and infrastructure.
Read the report

Critical insights on the path to a net-zero aviation sector

Dramatically reducing CO2 emissions by 2050 in the aviation industry will not be easy, but advanced modeling shows that it is possible—with the right ambition and investment.
Read the article

Forging ahead: A materials roadmap for the zero-carbon car

The systems-wide change needed to create circularity in the automotive sector and sometimes seem costly and prohibitive. However, as this report demonstrates, significant abatement is possible for the auto industry with very little additional added vehicle material cost.
Download the report

Clean skies for tomorrow: Sustainable aviation fuels as a pathway to net-zero aviation

A transition to carbon-neutral flying is possible and sustainable aviation fuels are the most promising decarbonization pathway in the near term.
Download the report

Ramping up operations and business activity post-COVID-19

– Four strategic actions can help companies to effectively prepare and ensure a successful ramp-up of production and business activity for a post-COVID-19 world.
Read the executive briefing

Resuming operations and business activity post-COVID-19

– Perspectives on how companies can return to work and resume operations and business activity as early as possible, while ensuring employees’ safety and preventing new infections.
Read the executive briefing

Global Lighthouse Network: Insights from the forefront of the fourth industrial revolution

– This paper looks closer at 14 “Lighthouse” manufacturers that show how end-to-end innovation in the value chain can improve productivity, operating cost, and speed to market.
Read the report

Industry’s fast-mover advantage: Enterprise value from digital factories

Manufacturing’s leaders in applying Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) digital technologies are building on their head start—generating even more value across the entire enterprise.
Read the article

The future of the last-mile ecosystem

What’s ahead for urban deliveries? This new report analyzes interventions—such as the use of electric vehicles and parcel lockers—that could lower emissions and congestion considerably.
Read the report

3 ways we can help women join the age of automation

The public, private, and third sectors need to work together to support women to make the transitions they need to thrive in the automation age, write Anu Madgavkar, Vivian Hunt, and Lareina Yee in World Economic Forum.
Read the article

How AI can improve disaster resilience and relief

Natural disasters are increasing in frequency and ferocity. Here's how AI can come to the rescue.
Read the article

How to incentivize food systems to meet the realities of the 21st century

Today’s food systems don’t address the needs of people or the planet. New research from the World Economic Forum and McKinsey lays out a road map to create the needed incentives.
Read the article

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Our core team

Fabian Billing
Managing Partner Germany and Austria, Düsseldorf
Fabian serves as the Managing Partner of McKinsey Germany and Austria
Tracy Francis
Senior Partner, São Paulo
Leads our consumer packaged goods and retail work in Latin America, helping leading consumer-focused companies drive transformations,...
Cindy Levy
Senior Partner, London
Helps global financial firms on multiyear agendas related to strategy, transactions, organization, and risk governance and culture
Sven Smit
Chairman and Director, McKinsey Global Institute, and Senior Partner, Amsterdam
Leads research on economic and business trends and works with companies to develop business strategies and transformations
Bob Sternfels
Global Managing Partner, Bay Area
Bob serves as the global managing partner of McKinsey & Company

Our Action Group and Collaboration Leaders

Enno de Boer
Partner, New Jersey
Leads the firm’s global work in digital manufacturing and collaboration with the World Economic Forum on technology adoption
Alex Dichter
Senior Partner, Boston
Helps airlines, airline-services companies, and aerospace firms develop profitable strategies and improve global operations
Eric Hannon
Partner, Frankfurt
Serves global automotive and mobility companies as a core leader of our Automotive & Assembly Practice and leads our global urban-mobility...
Detlev Mohr
Senior Partner, Stuttgart
Leads McKinsey's global Travel, Logistics & Infrastructure Practice, codevelops firm thinking on sustainability and future mobility,...
Robin Riedel
Partner, Bay Area
Co-leads the McKinsey Center for Future Mobility
Andreas Tschiesner
Senior Partner, Munich
Advises companies on strategic questions and challenges related to technology and innovation, with a key focus on large-scale...

World Economic Forum Young Global Leaders

Senior Partner, Abu Dhabi

Rima Assi
Partner, Boston

Megan Ann Greenfield

Partner, Munich

Solveigh Hieronimus
Partner, Istanbul

Bengi Korkmaz

Partner, Tokyo

Yuito Yamada

World Economic Forum Young Global Leaders Alumni

Senior Partner, Riyadh

Gassan Al-Kibsi
Senior Partner, Munich

Adam Bird
Senior Partner, New York

Pierre M. Gentin
Senior Partner, Mumbai

Alok Kshirsagar
Senior Partner, Johannesburg

Acha Leke
Partner, Philadelphia

Erwann Michel-Kerjan
Leader, Global Publishing, New York

Raju Narisetti

Highlights from previous years

Blog Post

The Davos Agenda: What we shared and heard

– The virtual event gathered 1500 global leaders for hundreds of discussions around the theme “A crucial year to rebuild trust.”

Davos 2020: What mattered
– McKinsey’s global managing partner Kevin Sneader shares his notes from this year’s World Economic Forum Annual Meeting.

Davos 2019: Four big themes
– Which topics dominated at Davos this year? What was the general outlook? Kevin Sneader, our global managing partner, offers a first-hand perspective.
Learn more