Meet McKinsey & Company’s MBA Class Of 2024

McKinsey & Company only sends its best. That’s true across every client and every engagement. Carefully chosen for their interests and track records, McKinsey teams feature proven leaders, subject experts, technology gurus, and tireless associates. Top-to-bottom, they are the A-listers who bring their A-game every day.

That’s McKinsey’s promise. In a world where many organizations lack know-how or agreement, McKinsey starts by asking the right questions. Along the way, their teams simplify issues, identify possibilities, devise strategies, and build consensus. To do that, the firm will “over index” on talent in the words of Tunde Olanrewaju, McKinsey’s managing partner for Europe. Pulling from every imaginable role, industry, and geography, they bring the best people to clients. The result is one of the most capable and conscientious lineups in business.

“[We are] developing and skilling up people so that everywhere that we show up, clients are getting our A-team,” Olanrewaju told Poets&Quants in an interview. “Our commitment to [hires] is that you will be in an A-team no matter what you’re doing. And I think that’s what people really value about being at the firm.”

FROM MEDICINE TO MCKINSEY

In 2026, McKinsey will be boosting North American hiring by 12% to beef up their A-Team. That team includes MBA hires from 2024.  Among this class, you’ll find graduates of programs as different as Harvard Business School, INSEAD, and Ohio State working out of offices as spread out as Miami, Athens, and Jakarta. McKinsey has long been, in fact, the single biggest employer of MBA grads, with nearly 13,000 alums from the M7 business schools alone.

After spending over a year at McKinsey, these newest crop of MBA hires are equipped to share the cultural nuances, best practices, and inspiring stories that make McKinsey among the most coveted destinations for graduates.

Ever hear the saying, “Is there a doctor in the house?” In McKinsey’s São Paulo office, the answer is yes – Aline Boanova, an INSEAD grad. Before joining McKinsey, she spent five years as a medical doctor across three hospitals before moving into management. Her passion? “I did some entrepreneurial work in health tech,” she tells P&Q. “I’m passionate about the combination of technology and healthcare. At McKinsey, I’ve worked in healthcare, sustainability and banking.”

Priyal Keni, a London Business School MBA and student association president, joined McKinsey’s London office in 2024. Selected as one of the UN Women 30 for 2030 Network, Keni originally gained notoriety as a seven-year member of India’s national rifle shooting team. After completing her athletic career, she founded the Play and Shine Foundation.

“I felt compelled to give back by founding a nonprofit that makes athletics more accessible to children from underprivileged backgrounds and uses it as a platform to help bridge the gender gap,” she writes. “It has been a deeply fulfilling experience to channel what I’ve learned through sport into creating opportunities for others and driving positive change.”

A “LEAP OF FAITH” TURNS INTO AN EMMY

Keni’s classmate, Ben Spencer Jones, was also hired in McKinsey’s London office. Holding an undergraduate degree in Medical Sciences and a master’s in Strategy and International Relations, Jones spent seven years as a British Army Captain, including a stint as a NATO Aide de Camp in Afghanistan. A former rowing captain whose team once won the Henley Royal Regatta, Jones considers finishing the Army’s Parachute Regiment to be his biggest achievement. Here, he was presented with a maroon beret – a symbol of the higher expectations being placed upon him.

“It may sound cliché, but that moment was more of the start of a new chapter than a conclusion – because with the beret comes new expectations,” he explains. “These are expectations to up your performance and finish “top of class” in whatever you do afterwards. That ethos has been deeply ingrained in me.”

Speaking of honors, Alexia Kyriakopoulous, another LBS grad, earned an Emmy for Innovation in Interactive Media. To some, Kyriakopoulous’s journey might seem like good fortune. However, in many ways, it was an outgrowth of her philosophy: “A comfort zone is a beautiful place, but nothing ever grows there.” In her case, it involved taking a “leap of faith” and leaving New York City to take a job in Brazil after meeting the founder of a VR gaming startup at the Tribeca Film Festival.

“I had never been to the country before, did not speak Portuguese, and knew no one in São Paulo,” she admits. “Four months later, I was entrusted to represent them in their new office in Los Angeles, where I not only helped lead projects that blended technology with storytelling, but also built partnerships with major entertainment studios.”

TAKING A SECONDMENT…IN NAPA VALLEY

Aala’a Alsheddi entered McKinsey’s Riyadh office armed with an MBA from the London Business School and a background in energy finance. In this role, she once turned a process that could sometimes take an hour or more into a simple click. “I specialized in the planning, budgeting, and financial and resource management side of drilling wells,” she explains. “For most of my career at Aramco, I worked on planning, budgeting, and controls for offshore wells.”

Before McKinsey, Luke Heisinger worked for an addiction recovery nonprofit in Philadelphia. From there, he earned his MBA at the University of Virginia’s Darden School before being hired in the Detroit office. Thanks to McKinsey’s flexibility, Heisinger – a certified sommelier – landed his dream opportunity: a secondment at Napa Valley’s Silver Oak Winery.

“The CEO is a McKinsey alum and reached out to senior partner Danielle Bozarth. I just happened to be on her team, and within weeks she made the connection and advocated for me to take the role. My secondment has given me an insider’s view of what it’s like to be responsible for strategy and execution, an experience that has made me a more effective and empathetic consultant.”

For Avery White, business school was a was about finding the right environment to grow. Sure enough, she earned a spot in the MBA Class of 2024 before finding her way to McKinsey’s Denver office. A biomedical engineer by training, she designed cardiovascular devices before business school and now splits time between consumer insights and medtech product development at McKinsey. For Jamar Williams, who operates out of the New York City office, McKinsey is a return to consulting. A Harvard Business School grad, Williams worked for Deloitte before starting his MBA, a role that included stint designing an agricultural program in rural West Africa. By the same token, Oscar Gutiérrez established Procter & Gamble’s first all-woman hackathon in Mexico City, which drew 100 participants. At McKinsey’s Mexico City office, this Booth School graduate brings industry versatility to engagements.

“In terms of expertise, I’ve worked across consumer-packaged goods—beauty at P&G, where I managed launches and public relations for leading brands, and sustainability at AB InBev, where I focused on circular economy and returnability initiatives,” Gutiérrez writes. “At McKinsey, I’ve continued working in consumer industries, and during my MBA I added entertainment through my internship at Amazon Studios.”

BRINGING DUNGEONS & DRAGONS TO DUBAI

Cassandra Esinaulo’s resume includes a decade working at firms like KPMG, Microsoft, and SAP before enrolling at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School. At the same time, Josue Sanchez started out as an American immigrant from the Dominican Republic. Eventually, he earned an Economics degree at Cornell University and collected First Class Honors during a study abroad at Cambridge University. That doesn’t include the two years at Google that preceded his time at Harvard Business School.

“At Google, I joined a rotational program and worked with clients like Procter & Gamble, Ford Motors, Target, and Samsung,” he explains. “I focused on selling YouTube advertising and pushing clients to rethink their marketing spend. That gave me exposure across industries and sparked my decision to go to business school and then into consulting.”

Looking for the new hire who can bring McKinseyites together? Start with Lien Pham, whose background includes human resources and product management in a startup that used a mobile app to teach people how to play piano. Now the Dubai-based INSEAD grad is using her love of music and games at foster togetherness at McKinsey.

“At INSEAD, I built community through board games by hosting regular game nights,” she tells P&Q. “It became my way of connecting with classmates, many of whom are still close friends. I’ve continued the tradition in Dubai, where I play violin in a community orchestra and join different Dungeons & Dragons groups, including one with McKinsey colleagues across tenure and seniority. These experiences remind me how shared passions can break down barriers and bring people together.”.

A ’GLOBAL ONE FIRM’ PHILOSOPHY

When the general public thinks of McKinsey, three words often come to mind: prestige, expertise, and reach. By reach, they mean scale. Think 40,000 employees, the largest of the MBB firms, with over 130 offices across over 70 countries. Even more stunning: according to McKinsey, there could be over 4,000 teams serving clients at one time. This size presents several advantages. Aala’a Alsheddi cites how being around so many different types of people – and the collaboration and learning it spurs – reminds her of business school. With so many locations, her career isn’t relegated to one or two offices, either.

“This diversity of backgrounds,” says Priyal Keni, “has become one of the best surprises of the McKinsey experience, says Priyal Keni. “One of the most rewarding parts of my journey is the sheer diversity of experiences and backgrounds of the people I’ve had the chance to work with. From former entrepreneurs to doctors, engineers, and everything in between, it’s incredible how much you learn simply by being surrounded by such a wide range of perspectives.”

Despite these differences, McKinsey operates off of a ‘Global One Firm’ philosophy, says managing partner Tunde Olanrewaju. By this, he means that every office is in lock step; while the London office’s surface atmosphere may feel like London, the culture aligns with the other McKinsey offices. In some ways, this is rooted in the McKinsey values of curiosity, service, excellence, and inclusiveness – a meritocracy based on apprenticeship with a mission to make a lasting impact through helping clients significantly boost their capabilities and performance.

“Many people are not necessarily used to that level of cohesiveness and mutual support,” Olanrewaju observes. “And maybe they might be even a bit reluctant to reach out thinking, ‘Well, why is this person halfway around the world going to take time out of their day to help me?’ But we’re really, really wired to help each other because we have one global incentive pool and one global way of working. So that’s, a very positive surprise.”

A VARIETY OF PEOPLE AND ENGAGEMENTS

Cassandra Esinaulo frames the firm as “impressive people doing amazing things.” Whether MBAs are working with data scientists, designers, or Ph.Ds, the resources are second-to-none, says Alexia Kyriakopoulous.

“I’m constantly collaborating with colleagues and experts from all over the world. On one project, for example, we brought in a specialist from Germany because they were the leading expert in that particular industry. That global reach and spirit of “one firm” is incredibly unique and energizing.”

A far-flung ‘Global One Firm’ naturally attracts equally diverse clients across a range of industries, cultures, and management structures. The benefit, says Ben Spencer Jones, is a continuation of the “steep learning curve” he experienced at London Business School. For Jamar Williams, McKinsey’s long client list has enabled him to gain experience in areas like healthcare, international development, and the public sector over the past year. If anything, the variety of engagements means MBAs are never doing the same things over-and-over, says Oscar Gutiérrez.

That variety closed the deal for Chase Byington, a Pittsburgh-based consultant who completed the Healthcare MBA track at Ohio State’s Fisher College. “I spoke with dozens of leaders at the firm who have MDs and asked them directly whether I should pursue medicine or consulting. They told me: if you want to hone a single craft for your entire career, go into medicine. If you want to learn about many different things and see the broader landscape, go into business. That resonated with me. I’m not the type who wants to lock into one subject forever. I enjoy moving across sectors.”

More than that, Aline Boanova, a physician, found the McKinsey mission closely paralleled what she loved about medicine. “I like to say that consultants are a lot like doctors because they diagnose problems, and then they treat them. Also in medicine, we put the patient first, and at McKinsey, we put the client first. That made the transition feel more natural.”

Next Page: McKinsey Mentorship and the Impact of AI

Page 3: Profiles of 15 MBA Hires From the Class of 2024

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