Varun leads our Aerospace and Defense Practice in the Americas. In this capacity, he serves as a core Americas Advanced Industries leader.
A strong advocate for tech-enablement, Varun previously led our Americas manufacturing work, where he focused on the shift from regular to digital manufacturing. He co-led the creation of our Digital Capabilities Center in Chicago. He was also one of the architects of a multiyear knowledge collaboration with the World Economic Forum on the Future of Production.
Since joining McKinsey in 1998, Varun has used his organizational, commercial, operational, manufacturing, and supply-chain expertise to help industrial companies thrive, particularly in the aerospace, private-equity, and high-tech sectors. Varun has led corporate-wide transformations for a range of advanced industries and private-equity portfolio businesses, often helping to accelerate comprehensive turnaround efforts.
Examples of his work include the following:
- driving multifunctional transformations (such as pricing, design-to-value, lean, and sales effectiveness) for several private-equity portfolio companies to increase profitability
- overseeing a multiyear global cost-savings initiative across functions and programs for a major aerospace company
- working with a major high-tech company to drive a transformation of the supply chain and planning function
Varun began his McKinsey career in our Johannesburg office and transferred to the San Francisco office in 2001. He serves on the leadership council of Tipping Point, a Bay Area organization that screens local nonprofits and then supports their efforts to educate, employ, house, and otherwise assist people in need. He also serves on the advisory board of the Center for a New American Security, an independent, bipartisan, nonprofit organization that develops strong, pragmatic, and principled national-security and defense policies