In addition to driving the digital agenda for McKinsey Digital in Germany, Niko is part of the global IoT leadership team. He has experience as a consultant to senior executives at major companies to position themselves in the newly arising digital ecosystems of smart mobility, connected building, digital commerce, and Industry 4.0.
He specializes in projects related to corporate strategy, organizational development, and IT and technology transformation and has assisted companies in a broad array of industries, including telecommunications, media, consumer electronics, automotive, consumer goods, and manufacturing.
Recent projects Niko has guided to a successful outcome demonstrate both the breadth and depth of his expertise. For a global telecommunications provider, he aided in the development of a digital strategy, from the transformation road map to the business architecture to IT and technology. For another, he helped conceptualize and implement an open innovation platform as well as an analytics capability. In the rapidly expanding arena of connected-building technology, Niko provided digital strategy-design and transformation support for an international smart-metering company, a heating-system manufacturer, and an international home-appliances enterprise. He also supported a large machinery manufacturer during its 2-year digital transformation journey.
In the healthcare sector, Niko provided a digital-maturity assessment and positioning for an international health-insurance company and its subsidiaries, and he guided the digital transformation for a health-products company, including related functional requirements, a capability assessment, and process and solution design.
As a highly regarded expert on digital transformation and trends in different industries, Niko is often invited to professional and media discussions of industry trends and digitization. Additionally, he is an honorary professor at the University of Regensburg, Germany, where he is cochair of innovation and technology management, and he has been a visiting professor at the University of Georgia, Terry College of Business, teaching courses on international business strategy.
Published work
“Quantum computing use cases are getting real—what you need to know,” McKinsey & Company, December 2021
“A manufacturer’s guide to scaling Industrial IoT,” McKinsey & Company, February 2021
“Will quantum computing drive the automotive future?,” McKinsey & Company, September 2020
“How the German Mittelstand is mastering the COVID-19 crisis,” McKinsey & Company, May 2020
“Beyond COVID-19: Rapid steps that can help machinery and industrial automation companies recover,” McKinsey & Company, May 2020
“Coronavirus: Industrial IoT in challenging times,” McKinsey & Company, April 2020
“Data sharing in industrial ecosystems,” McKinsey & Company, April 2020
“Leveraging industrial software stack advancement for digital transformation,” McKinsey & Company, August 2018
“Achieving business impact with data,” McKinsey & Company, April 2018
“Eins oder Null: Wie Sie Ihr Unternehmen mit Digital@Scale in die digitale Zukunft führen,” Germany: Econ Fachbuch, April 2017
“Digital machinery: How companies can win the changing manufacturing game,” McKinsey & Company, December 2017
Herausforderung Transformation, Berlin: Springer, 2010
Interactive Broadband Media: A guide for a Successful Take-Off,” Springer Vieweg, 2002
Widerstand erfolgreich managen, Germany: Campus Fachbuch, 1988
Past experience
Intershop Communications
Vice chairman, supervisory board
Accenture
Managing director, managing partner
Mücke, Sturm & Company
Managing director, managing partner, senior advisor
Education
University of Trier
PhD, strategy and general management
Diploma, business administration
University of Regensburg
Honorary Professor, Innovation and Technology Management