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Holger Harreis

Senior PartnerDüsseldorf

Helps organizations implement transformation rapidly, with groundbreaking levels of adoption and impact

Holger is the coleader of McKinsey’s data work around the globe. He helps organizations rapidly implement transformations, with groundbreaking levels of adoption and impact. Serving companies in all industries, he works with clients to solve business-critical issues and create positive impact and defendable barriers of competitive advantage. He focuses on banking, telecommunications, and retail, with a particular passion for the apparel and fashion sectors.

Holger and his teams use the power of data and analytics to help companies create and seize better business opportunities. Partnering with clients, Holger helps companies develop the skills, mindsets, and capabilities that underpin a long-term performance shift. Together, they work to achieve scalable and sustainable impact through transformed customer experiences, deeper supply-chain efficiency, enhanced risk management and regulatory or supervisory compliance, and stronger resilience.

In addition to his client work, Holger is a frequent author and thought leader on the cutting-edge uses of data and analytics. He and his teams are core contributors to McKinsey’s foundational research efforts, especially in the arena of data and risk-and-regulatory matters. They often collaborate with industry associations such as the Institute of International Finance and other large industry-working groups. Holger also convenes executive forums on data and analytics, digital risk, and resilience. He speaks regularly at industry events, including RiskMinds International and the G-20Y Association.

Before joining McKinsey, Holger was a theoretical physicist investigating the behavior of DNA aggregates in different conditions.

Videos

How we support digitization of the risk function

Published work

The data dividend: Fueling generative AI,” McKinsey & Company, September 2023

Generative AI: Unlocking the future of fashion,” McKinsey & Company, March 2023

Financing net zero: Banks and companies cooperating on decarbonization,” McKinsey & Company, July 2022

State of Fashion Technology Report 2022,” McKinsey & Company, May 2022

Jumpstarting value creation with data and analytics in fashion and luxury,” McKinsey & Company, October 2021

Banking imperatives for managing climate risk,” McKinsey & Company, June 2020

Fashion’s digital transformation: Now or never,” McKinsey & Company, May 2020

How chief data officers can navigate the COVID-19 response and beyond,” McKinsey & Company, April 2020

Making a Step Change in Risk Efficiency and Effectiveness,” The European Financial Review, August/September, 2019

The lending revolution: How digital credit is changing banks from the inside,” McKinsey on Risk, August 2018

The future of risk management in the digital era,” McKinsey & Company, December 2017

Living with BCBS 239,” McKinsey & Company, May 2017

Digital risk: Transforming risk management for the 2020s,” McKinsey & Company, February 2017

BCBS 239: Full compliance elusive, but systematic risk reduced,” Global Association of Risk Professionals, February 2016

A marathon, not a sprint: Capturing value from BCBS 239 and beyond,” McKinsey & Company, June, 2015

It's not just about getting your ratios right,” (PDF–195KB) McKinsey & Company, January, 2013

Risk IT and operations: Strengthening capabilities,” (PDF–3MB) Institute of International Finance and McKinsey & Company, June 2011

Past experience

Department of Theoretical Physics, University of Dusseldorf
postdoctoral research associate

National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory, Michigan State University
research associate

Education

University of Dusseldorf
PhD, theoretical physics

Michigan State University
MS, theoretical physics