Eckart Windhagen is a leader of McKinsey’s Financial Services Practice, based in Frankfurt. He is also a member of McKinsey’s Digital & AI global leadership team and of the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) Council, which advises on MGI research on global economic, business, and technology trends.
Eckart‘s client portfolio includes global and regional banks, central banks, securities exchanges and other capital markets infrastructure providers as well as selected European public sector institutions. He advises senior management on long-term business model and organizational transformations, in particular in the context of digitization and AI.
Eckart has co-led several research efforts, including MGI’s Innovation in Europe: Changing the game to regain a competitive edge; New dynamics of financial globalization; Roadmap for integrating Europe's refugees, and a Window of opportunity for Europe; as well as McKinsey reports on the Future of the Euro and The global banking industry: The triple transformation.
Published work
“Banking system resilience in the time of COVID-19,” McKinsey & Company, July 2020
“Navigating the post-COVID-19 era: A strategic framework for European recovery,” McKinsey & Company, June 2020
“How European businesses can position themselves for recovery,” McKinsey & Company, April 2020
“Europe needs to prepare now to get back to work—safely,” McKinsey & Company, April 2020
“Reviving innovation in Europe,” McKinsey Global Institute, October 2019
“Tackling Europe’s gap in digital and AI,” McKinsey Global Institute, February 2019
“Smarter analytics for banks,” McKinsey & Company, September 2018
“Are corporate bonds a bubble ready to burst?,” Financial Times, July 2018
“Rising corporate debt: Peril or promise?,” McKinsey Global Institute, June 2018
“Europe’s refugees: Refocusing on integration,” McKinsey Global Institute, May 2018
“As European banks retreat from the world stage China is stepping up,” Harvard Business Review, September 2017
“Here's what central bankers should really be focusing on at Jackson Hole,” Fortune, August 2017
“Stimulating digital adoption in Germany,” McKinsey Global Institute, July 2017
“The brightening mood of European business—and what it means for investment,” McKinsey Global Institute, May 2017
“Agility lessons from utilities,” McKinsey Quarterly, December 2015
“A window of opportunity for Europe,” McKinsey Global Institute, June 2015
Education
University of Munich
Ph.D in European competition law
University of Bonn
Undergraduate degree in law