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Ani Kelkar

PartnerBoston

Advises incumbents, investors, and disruptors in automotive, aerospace, industrial automation, and robotics sectors on topics including strategy, growth, and operations.

Dr. Ani Kelkar is a partner based in McKinsey’s Greater Boston office and is a leader within the firm’s advanced industries practice. In this capacity, he serves clients along the entire automotive, aerospace, and defense value chain, ranging from suppliers and OEMs to distributors and services providers.

Additionally, Ani is a core leader within the McKinsey Center for Future Mobility (MCFM) in the Americas and oversees its work with disruptors. He leads the advanced automation and autonomy sector within MCFM and serves industrial automation, robotics, and autonomous systems disruptors. He also works with investors looking to capture opportunities arising from major mobility trends, such as autonomous driving, electrification, software-defined vehicles, shared mobility, and connectivity. Ani has authored several publications on the topics of automation and autonomous systems.

Examples of his client work include the following:

  • delivering a step-change improvement in margin and operational performance through a comprehensive transformation of the supply chain organization for a defense OEM
  • embedding early warning systems across supply chain and quality organizations to shift to proactive operating models and reduce operational disruptions for an aerospace OEM
  • driving value capture as part of a “merger of equals” to deliver deal synergies in an accelerated timeline for an automotive supplier
  • collaborating on strategy design and go-to-market “war room” to drive a 100 percent topline growth rate for a robotics disruptor
  • evaluating multiple transactions across autonomous systems across people and goods mobility, leading to a $1 billion investment by innovation fund for a growth investor

An engineer by training, Ani earned his PhD from Purdue University and bachelor’s from the Institute of Chemical Technology in India. In addition to his work at McKinsey, he serves as a director at ICT Foundation, an organization established to help promote and support educational activities at his alma mater.

Published Work

Will autonomy usher in the future of truck freight transportation?,” McKinsey & Company, September 2024

Navigating unknowns: Auto insurance questions in a new mobility era,” McKinsey & Company, April 2024

Autonomous vehicles moving forward: Perspectives from industry leaders,” McKinsey & Company, January 2024

What technology trends are shaping the mobility sector?,” McKinsey & Company, February 2024

Unlocking the industrial potential of robotics and automation,” McKinsey & Company, January 2023

Where does shared autonomous mobility go next?,” McKinsey & Company, January 2023

Driverless Cars Are Losing to Driver-ish Cars,” The Atlantic, October 2023

Something’s coming: How US companies can build resilience, survive a downturn, and thrive in the next cycle,” McKinsey & Company, September 2022

The road to affordable autonomous mobility,” McKinsey & Company, January 2022

What's next for Autonomous Vehicles,” McKinsey & Company,” December 2021

Past Experience

Chevron
Engineer

Soytronics
Cofounder

Education

Purdue University
PhD, chemical engineering

Institute of Chemical Technology
BS, chemical engineering