McKinsey and Inception partner to help boards drive AI transformation
On 10 November 2025, Abu Dhabi-based Inception, a G42 company, announced a strategic partnership with McKinsey & Company to help boards and executive teams move faster and make sharper decisions with AI.
The collaboration combines Inception's enterprise AI applications with McKinsey's strategy and organizational know-how, plus the AI depth of QuantumBlack. The focus: measurable business outcomes, executive effectiveness, and safe, scalable deployment.
What the partnership covers
- Enhancing executive effectiveness and decision cycles
- Translating AI into enterprise value and P&L impact
- Enabling secure sovereign AI solutions
- Accelerating adoption while managing risk and compliance
Who brings what
Inception designs and builds AI products and enterprise solutions. Its portfolio includes (In)Alpha for investment decisions, (In)Climate for meteorology, (In)Energy for upstream and downstream optimization, and (In)Business Suite for procurement, HR, business processes, customer experience, and generative AI use cases.
McKinsey contributes strategy, operating model, and large-scale transformation expertise, supported by QuantumBlack's track record in deploying and scaling AI across industries. Together, the intent is to ship enterprise-grade products with adoption baked in.
Why this matters for executives and boards
- Sharper decisions: Move from monthly reviews to near-real-time signals, scenarios, and actions.
- Clear value trail: Tie AI initiatives to growth, margin, cash, and risk metrics that your board cares about.
- Speed with control: Deploy use cases fast while meeting data residency, privacy, and model-risk standards.
- Operator readiness: Equip CXOs and business leads with playbooks, guardrails, and KPI baselines.
Where value could show up
- Capital allocation: (In)Alpha decision support for investment committees and portfolio steering.
- Energy operations: (In)Energy for throughput, yield, maintenance, and emissions performance.
- Climate and resilience: (In)Climate for forecasting, risk assessment, and planning.
- Enterprise functions: (In)Business Suite for procurement savings, HR productivity, process efficiency, and customer experience with genAI.
Leadership commentary
Ashish Koshy, CEO of Inception, said the collaboration will help deliver enterprise AI solutions that change how public and private sector leaders lead, decide, and act-pairing strategic insight with high-caliber AI capabilities to create measurable value.
Gassan Al-Kibsi, who chairs the Middle East, Africa, Central Asia, and Turkey at McKinsey & Company, emphasized the urgency for CEOs and boards to move with pace and precision as AI resets industry dynamics.
Ben Ellencweig, senior partner and global lead for QuantumBlack alliances and acquisitions, noted that AI is steering every industry's trajectory, and this partnership is set up to help boards and executives strengthen effectiveness and rewire businesses for what's next.
How to act in the next 90 days
- Set outcomes: Pick three board-level metrics (growth, margin, risk) and anchor AI use cases to them.
- Prioritize: Select 4-6 use cases across core operations and functions; define owners and success criteria.
- Data and risk: Confirm data residency needs, model-risk policies, and security patterns for sovereign AI.
- Pilot and scale: Launch two sprints (8-10 weeks) with embedded change management and value tracking.
- Operating model: Stand up an executive AI steering rhythm with a single view of value, risks, and decisions.
Further context
Learn more about McKinsey's work in AI here: McKinsey & Company.
For execs building skills across roles and functions, explore practical learning paths: AI programs by job role.
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