Inception and McKinsey partner to raise board and executive effectiveness with AI
Inception, a G42 company, and McKinsey have entered a strategic partnership to help boards and executive teams make better decisions, operate with more discipline, and realize measurable value with AI. The collaboration combines Inception's enterprise applications for management with McKinsey's sector expertise and QuantumBlack's engineering capabilities for building and scaling AI at enterprise level.
The partnership centers on moving clients past experiments and pilots to enterprise-grade outcomes, with security and data residency built in. It targets leadership use cases that change how organizations run-where value is created and protected.
What the partnership covers
- Board and executive effectiveness: AI-enabled decision support, scenario planning, and meeting workflows that sharpen strategy and execution.
- Enterprise value realization: Operating-model rewiring-processes, roles, data, and KPIs-to turn AI investments into P&L impact.
- Sovereign AI enablement: Enterprise cloud-compliant and on-prem deployments with geofenced data access and strict governance.
- Risk reduction and adoption: Proven patterns for model risk, security, and change management to speed rollouts without surprises.
Why it matters for boards and CEOs
Industry research shows adoption is rising, yet many organizations stall after proofs of concept. Real gains show up when AI is embedded into leadership rituals, operating reviews, and frontline decisions-supported by data, tooling, and new accountabilities.
This partnership is built for that shift: from isolated tools to a leadership operating system that improves decisions, compresses cycle times, and makes value visible.
How value will be realized
- Decision flows: AI assistants that prepare board packs, surface risks, run scenarios, and track commitments.
- Performance visibility: Live KPI instrumentation and causal drivers linked to strategic themes and capital allocation.
- Operating disciplines: Standardized rituals (monthly, quarterly) with AI-generated insights, action logs, and owner follow-through.
- Controls and trust: Role-based access, audit trails, bias testing, and model lifecycle governance.
- Sovereign deployment: On-prem or geofenced setups for jurisdictions with strict data residency needs.
Security, compliance, and governance
The approach supports enterprise security standards and rigorous lifecycle management. For leaders building policy and controls, consider established references like the NIST AI Risk Management Framework and ISO/IEC 42001 for AI management systems.
Leaders' perspectives
Ashish Koshy, CEO of Inception, emphasized that the collaboration will deliver enterprise products that help senior leaders in public and private sectors decide faster, act with confidence, and show value. The focus is on combining strategic insight with proven AI capabilities so leadership teams can operate for the future.
Ben Ellencweig, senior partner at McKinsey and global leader for QuantumBlack alliances and acquisitions, noted that every industry is shifting under AI. The partnership helps boards and executives drive that shift and rewire their businesses for what comes next.
Gassan Al-Kibsi, member of McKinsey's global executive team and chair of the Middle East, Africa, Central Asia, and Turkey, underscored the urgency: CEOs and boards need speed and precision-and this collaboration is built to help them deliver both.
What boards and CEOs can do now
- Appoint a single owner: Name a C-level sponsor with clear OKRs for board and executive AI use cases.
- Pick 2-3 leadership use cases: Examples: strategy reviews, forecasting, capital allocation, risk oversight.
- Instrument decisions: Define inputs, assumptions, scenarios, and decision logs; make value and risk measurable.
- Set guardrails: Approve policy for data, privacy, model risk, and human oversight before scaling.
- Upskill the top team: Train directors and executives on AI fluency, prompts, oversight, and metrics.
- Time-box results: Run a 90-day sprint with a value review at day 30, 60, and 90.
If leadership upskilling is on your roadmap, explore curated executive learning paths here: AI courses by job role.
Looking ahead
With enterprise-grade deployments, strong governance, and a focus on outcomes, the Inception-McKinsey partnership sets a clear path for leadership teams to convert AI ambition into results. Boards and CEOs who move now will set operating advantages that compound over the next planning cycle.
Your membership also unlocks:
