- McKinsey executive Matthew Fitzpatrick is leaving the firm to become CEO of Invisible Technologies.
- Fitzpatrick led QuantumBlack Labs, developing AI software and tools for companies.
- Invisible Technologies, a company focused on AI training, is valued at $500 million, the company said.
One of McKinsey & Company’s top executives is leaving the firm for Silicon Valley’s new promised land: the AI industry.
after 12 years at McKinsey, Matthew Fitzpatrick, senior partner and global head of QuantumBlack Labs – the software and research and development arm of the firm’s AI division QuantumBlack – is stepping down.
During his tenure, Fitzpatrick led teams that helped companies scale AI projects and oversaw the development of tools like Kedro, an open-source analytics and machine learning library that McKinsey said has been downloaded more than 17 million times since launch. her in 2019.
In his next role, he will serve as CEO of Invisible Technologies, a key company in the AI industry that has kept a relatively low profile.
Invisible Technologies specializes in data pre-training, the initial phase of training for large language model developers, and post-training, which helps refine models for companies adopting the technology. Invisible Technologies was valued at $500 million by 2024, according to a press release from the company.
Fitzpatrick said he believes Invisible can help businesses tackle one of the biggest challenges of the moment – effectively integrating AI into their operations.
“Despite the hype around AI, we’re at a point where less than 10% of AI models reach deployment and production because enterprises don’t have the experience to evaluate, train and operationalize them,” Fitzpatrick said in the company’s press release . . “This is where Invisible shines. I’m bullish that we can help customers cross the chasm and realize the massive potential of AI.”
Fitzpatrick told BI that the move came about through conversations with Invisible founder Francis Pedraza, whom he met through a networking organization.
“It’s the most critical under-the-radar artificial intelligence company in the US that I’ve ever seen, and it’s been involved in all the model training for the last five years, but it’s done very little publicity of any kind about it.” he said.
He said he sees companies that have a strong demand for Invisible’s services. The challenge, however, is “not to grow so fast that we in any way sacrifice quality,” he said.
Somesh Khanna, a former colleague of Fitzpatrick, said BI Fitzpatrick had built a reputation for changing McKinsey’s talent pool, bringing more engineers and employees with quantitative skills to the group. McKinsey told BI that it now employs 7,000 people as technologists, designers and product managers. Fitzpatrick was responsible for overseeing 1,000 of them, a Fitzpatrick representative told BI.
“The biggest thing is that in the McKinsey model of the past it was very difficult for atypical profiles like PhDs or data engineers or scientists to integrate into the firm’s culture. McKinsey’s philosophy was focused on getting amazing talent and learning these McKinsey individuals. approach to problem solving and client service,” said Khanna, a senior partner who retired from the firm in May after nearly three decades. BI.
“These guys, the new team that Matt was hiring and developing, were even more different—people who were basically hands-on keyboard guys, not power pointers.”
Khanna said Fitzpatrick was critical in integrating this new breed of talent with deep technical skills into the firm.
Fitzpatrick will be succeeded at QuantumBlack Labs by McKinsey senior partner Tomás Lajous.
