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Brendan Gaffey

Senior PartnerDallas

Coleads the global Technology, Media & Telecommunications (TMT) Practice, empowering TMT clients to grow in size, value, capabilities, and influence

Brendan coleads McKinsey’s global Technology, Media & Telecommunications (TMT) Practice and is the North American TMT practice leader. He previously led Fuel—a McKinsey offering focused on start-ups and venture capital—as well as digital and AI-focused offerings for clients in the Southern US office. Brendan also sits on a McKinsey committee that is responsible for deploying over $500 million in investment funds to accelerate the decarbonization of the planet.

Brendan has extensive experience in supporting growth, strategy, operational scaling, sales, and marketing at a range of TMT clients, from mobile operators to hyper-growth start-ups. He is one of the firm’s leading experts on wireless broadband technologies, mobile virtual-network operators, and the overall wireless ecosystem.

Examples of Brendan’s recent client work include the following:

  • contributing to two of the largest M&A transactions in the North American telco market from end to end
  • driving return-on-sales improvement from pricing transformation at a large software as a service (SaaS) provider
  • collaborating on a tier-one communications platform as a service (CPaaS) and digital ID SaaS player for an integrated mobile/fixed telecom operator
  • leading a four-year transformation of a major telecom asset (a top- and bottom-line-focused operating model reboot)
  • working closely with a global growth equity investor to drive accelerated growth and value creation for the fund and its portfolio companies

Before joining McKinsey, Brendan received a PhD from Yale University and a BA from the University of Notre Dame.

Published work

The network is the product: How AI can put telco customer experience in focus,” McKinsey & Company, February 2024

Beyond the hype: Capturing the potential of AI and gen AI in TMT,” McKinsey & Company, February 2024

Outsmarting the 5G smartphone challenge: How telcos can reinvent their handset business,” McKinsey & Company, January 2020

Are your customers becoming digital junkies?,” McKinsey Quarterly, July 2011

Education

Yale University
PhD in electrical engineering

University of Notre Dame
BS in physics