Boston Consulting Group elects Christoph Schweizer as next CEO

01 June 2021 Consultancy.uk

Christoph Schweizer has been confirmed as the next Chief Executive Officer of Boston Consulting Group. He will take office in October 2021, having been accepted by a global ballot of the strategy giant’s managing directors and partners.

Over the last nine years, Rich Lesser has led Boston Consulting Group (BCG) as its CEO. Over the course of his three terms at the helm, Lesser has seen the MBB strategy consultancy triple its business, and more than double its workforce to over 22,000 employees. At the same time, his tenure saw BCG expand its footprint from 42 to 51 countries. Central to this growth has been a rapid expansion in capabilities, particularly in the realms of digital and analytics work – which now represent nearly 40% of BCG’s revenues, up from less than 10% a decade ago.

The firm launched and scaled BCG Digital Ventures to collaborate with clients to build and accelerate the growth of digital business, and BCG GAMMA to deliver cutting-edge advanced analytics, machine-learning, and AI capabilities, while BCG Platinion brings technology know-how to support digital transformations in partnership with BCG’s sector and function teams. Meanwhile, Lesser has also championed BCG’s leadership on climate change, including its industry-first commitment to reach net-zero impact by 2030, and backed a diversity and inclusion drive in all its markets. Today, women represent 44% of BCG’s global staff and 35% of its Executive Committee.

Christoph Schweizer and Rich Lesser

After a long time at the head of the firm, however, Lesser will step into the role of Global Chair in October 2021 – as incumbent Hans-Paul Bürkner assumes the position of Global Chair Emeritus. Stepping into Lesser’s shoes, BCG has announced that his successor will be the firm’s current Head of Central and Eastern Europe and the Middle East, Christoph Schweizer.

Lesser said of the appointment, “As our next CEO, Christoph brings integrity, vision, and bold leadership to help our clients successfully navigate out of the global crisis and thrive in the new reality. I’ve had the pleasure of working closely with Christoph as he has successfully built strong, diverse teams and robust, resilient businesses in a wide range of countries around the world, as well as cutting-edge capabilities in our practices.”

CEO-elect

Schweizer has held his current position since 2017, in the latest chapter of his 23-year BCG career. Over this time, he has also spent time in BCG’s New York office from 2007 to 2012, and is currently based in Munich, having worked with clients on every continent.

“I’m incredibly grateful to our partners for the trust they’ve placed in me to lead this world-class organisation as we enter a new chapter of unprecedented change, challenge, and opportunity for our clients and for the world,” said CEO-elect Schweizer. “It’s an honour to build on Rich’s incredible legacy of growth and expansion of capabilities, and in leading BCG with such integrity.”

The incoming CEO will take up his post in the autumn, having been elected in a process in which every one of the nearly 1,500 managing director and partners had an equal vote. In a statement following the vote, he pledged to continue to support BCG clients in “solving their most important and complex problems, to attract and champion diverse talent, and to tackle the world’s toughest challenges, such as climate change.”

The news follows the recent announcement that BCG rival McKinsey & Company’s 650-strong senior partner team had finalised the selection of the firm’s next Global Managing Partner. Following the surprise ousting of previous boss Kevin Sneader in the early rounds of the process, Bob Sternfels eventually won the race to replace him.

The third MBB member, Bain & Company, is led by Manny Maceda meanwhile. As a career management consultant, he was named worldwide managing partner of Bain in November 2017 and took the helm in March 2018, becoming the first Asian leader in Bain & Company's history.

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