Chandra coleads the firm’s work in technology hardware and IT services globally. He previously led Fuel—a McKinsey company focused on start-ups—as well as our work in the software space in North America. He was also a founding partner of McKinsey’s Bangalore office.
Chandra serves some of the world’s largest and fastest-growing cloud companies—on both the software and hardware sides—on large-scale transformations, and has a track record helping clients achieve significant growth in their market capitalization. He brings deep expertise in product management and engineering.
Examples of Chandra’s recent client work include the following:
- helping a global top-five software company transform its product architecture and engineering practices from on-premises to public cloud
- leading one of the world’s largest B2B go-to-market transformations for a top cloud company, resulting in market-beating bookings growth
- crafting a leading hardware company’s strategy to enter and win in the edge-computing market
In addition to his client work, Chandra is deeply interested in the impact of technology trends on global business practices and speaks frequently on the topic at conferences and panels across North America.
Video
“TiEcon 2014: Cloud infrastructure: Leading technological trends in cloud orchestration,” panel discussion about the standards and technologies emerging to address the paradigm shift in cloud infrastructure, June 2014
“McKinsey & Company's Chandra Gnanasambandam on retail and the new consumer experience,” speech delivered at the TN Retail Conference of the Confederation of Indian Industry, August 2012
Published work
“Cloud-migration opportunity: Business value grows, but missteps abound,” McKinsey & Company, October 2021
“Hardware’s business-model shift: Finding a new path forward,” McKinsey & Company, March 2021
“Developer velocity at work: Key lessons from industry digital leaders,” McKinsey & Company, February 2021
“Transforming infrastructure operations for a hybrid-cloud world,” McKinsey & Company, October 2019
“The product management talent dilemma,” McKinsey & Company, November 2018
“New demand, new markets: What edge computing means for hardware companies,” McKinsey & Company, November 2018
“Reimagining software services for the cloud and the digital world,” McKinsey & Company, February 2018
“Grow fast or die slow: The role of profitability in sustainable growth,” McKinsey & Company, October 2017
“Innovation Is as Much About Finding Partners as Building Products,” Harvard Business Review, July 2017
“A machine-learning approach to venture capital,” McKinsey Quarterly, June 2017
“Product managers for the digital world,” McKinsey & Company, May 2017
“An executive’s guide to software development,” McKinsey & Company, February 2017
“The perils of ignoring software development,” McKinsey Quarterly, February 2015
“From box to cloud: An approach for software development executives,” McKinsey & Company, January 2015 (PDF–690 KB)
“Next-generation IT infrastructure,” McKinsey & Company, April 2014
“Online and upcoming: the Internet's impact on India,” McKinsey & Company, December 2012 (PDF–2.52 MB)
Past experience
BEA Systems
Senior director, global accounts
Sun Microsystems
Java architect
Education
Georgia Institute of Technology
MS, engineering
University of Saskatchewan
MS, engineering