Jacques is a senior partner at McKinsey and a director of the McKinsey Global Institute, the firm’s business and economics research arm, and one of its three global co-leaders. He is also a leader in McKinsey’s Media and Entertainment, Corporate Finance, and Strategy Practices and co-leads the Digital Economy Initiative, a recently launched McKinsey knowledge program.
Since joining the firm in 1992, he has been based in Amsterdam, London, Montreal, New York, and Toronto, working primarily with media, telecom, online services, health care, fintech, travel and logistics companies on a variety of issues, including marketing and sales, digital strategy, productivity, business technology, leadership, and organization.
He has coauthored numerous publications, including McKinsey Global Institute reports on globalization, Internet of Things, Big Data, and social technologies and numerous articles in the McKinsey Quarterly as well as academic journals on industrial economics, organization, digitization of firms, and corporate finance. His research has been published in leading international media.
Jacques is a frequent speaker at conferences and universities worldwide on a range of economic and technology trends. He is a fellow at the Aspen Institute, ECORE, a think tank on economic policy in Belgium, and at KUL University. He co-leads the McKinsey Advisory Board on media management at INSEAD.
Video
Challenges of adopting automation technology
Jacques Bughin explains that while the technical and economic potential of automation is vast, organizations face several challenges to overcome before these technologies will be commonplace.
Published work
“Strong aggregate demand: Critical for reaping benefits of digitisation ,” VoxEU , March 2018
“Solving the productivity puzzle: The role of demand and the promise of digitization ,” McKinsey Global Institute, February 2018
“Why digital strategies fail ,” McKinsey Quarterly, January 2018
“Europe's economy: Three pathways to rebuilding trust and sustaining momentum ,” McKinsey Global Institute, January 2018
“What successful digital transformations have in common ,” Harvard Business Review , December 2017
“Jobs lost, jobs gained: Workforce transitions in a time of automation ,” McKinsey Global Institute, November 2017
“Five management strategies for getting the most from AI ,” MIT Sloan Review , September 2017
“A survey of 3000 executives reveals how businesses succeed with AI ,” Harvard Business Review , August 2017
“The new spring of artificial intelligence: A few early economies ,” VOX , August 2017
“Digital strategies and why some work better than others ,” Harvard Business Review , July 2017
“Stimulating digital adoption in Germany ,” McKinsey Global Institute, July 2017
“Advanced social technologies and the future of collaboration ,” McKinsey Global Institute, July 2017
“The best response to digital disruption ,” Harvard Business Review , July 2017
“How artificial intelligence can deliver real value to companies ,” McKinsey Global Institute, June 2017
“Building on Europe's nascent recovery ,” Euractiv , May 2017
“The brightening mood of European business—and what it means for investment ,” McKinsey Global Institute, May 2017
“The best response to digital disruption ,” MIT Sloan Management Review , April 2017
“The case for digital reinvention ,” McKinsey Quarterly , February 2017
“What the rise of Uber says about the gig economy today ,” Fortune , February 2017
“Harnessing automation for a future that works ,” McKinsey Global Institute, January 2017
“The age of analytics: Competing in a data-driven world ,” McKinsey Global Institute, December 2016
“Most industries are nowhere close to realizing the potential of analytics ,” Harvard Business Review , December 2016
“Global migration’s impact and opportunity ,” McKinsey Global Institute, November 2016
“Exploding myths about the gig economy ,” Vox , November, 2016
“The evolving independent economy ,” Project Syndicate, November 2016
“Poorer than their parents? A new perspective on income inequality ,” McKinsey Global Institute, July 2016
“How social tools can reshape the organization ,” McKinsey Global Institute, May 2016
“Five priorities for competing in an era of digital globalization ,” McKinsey Quarterly , May 2016
“The digital pressures weighing on telecoms ,” McKinsey Quarterly , April 2016
“Secular stagnation and low investment: Breaking the vicious cycle—a discussion paper ,” McKinsey Global Institute, April 2016
“Digital globalization: The new era of global flows ,” McKinsey Global Institute, February 2016
“Getting a sharper picture of social media’s influence ,” McKinsey Quarterly , June 2015
“Brand success in an era of Digital Darwinism ,” McKinsey Quarterly , February 2015
“Harnessing the power of shifting global flows ,” McKinsey Quarterly , February 2015
“Transforming the business through social tools ,” McKinsey & Company, January 2015
“Three ways companies can make co-creation pay off ,” McKinsey & Company, December 2014
“Global flows in a digital age ,” McKinsey Global Institute, April 2014
“The mobile Internet’s consumer dividend ,” McKinsey Quarterly , February 2014
“Organizing for change through social technologies: McKinsey Global Survey results ,” McKinsey & Company, November 2013
“Measuring the full impact of digital capital ,” McKinsey Quarterly , July 2013
“Ten IT-enabled business trends for the decade ahead ,” McKinsey Quarterly , May 2013
“Online and upcoming: The Internet's impact on India ,” McKinsey, March 2013
“Advertising in 2020: The demand for marketing on-demand ,” Chief Marketing & Sales Officer Forum, March 2013
“Capturing business value with social technologies ,” McKinsey Quarterly , November 2012
“Online and upcoming: The Internet's impact on aspiring countries ,” McKinsey Global Institute, January 2012
“The web’s €100 billion surplus ,” McKinsey Quarterly , January 2011
“Consumers driving the digital uptake: The economic value of online advertising-based services for consumers ,” IAB Europe, September 2010
Managing media companies: Harnessing creative value
Jacques has published many additional Quarterly articles and over 30 articles in leading international academic journals such as Management Science , the Review of Economics and Statistics , the Journal of Industrial Economics , and the Journal of the European Economic Association .
Past experience
Arthur Andersen
Education
Université Catholique de Louvain (Belgium)
University of Namur (Belgium)
University of Pennsylvania