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Dale Swartz

Works with startups, investors, and large organizations on growth strategy, business building, and geopolitical resilience in a dynamic global environment

Dale is a Partner in McKinsey’s Silicon Valley office and is a leader in our Aerospace & Defense, Semiconductor, and Strategy & Corporate Finance practices. He focuses on growth & innovation in strategic industries (e.g., defense, space, semiconductors, high tech) with evolving global dynamics. He also publishes extensively on trends and dynamics in those sectors.

Dale established McKinsey’s Defense Tech & Innovation Hub, which works with a range of investors and emerging players to build the next generation of disruptive dual-use ventures. He has led numerous strategic engagements for large defense & technology firms, business building efforts for startups, and dozens of transaction diligences and market analyses for investors.

Examples of his recent client work include the following:

  • Go-to-market strategy for defense startup entering commercial sector
  • Technology strategy for a U.S. defense leader
  • Corporate strategy for a global national security company
  • Geo-economic scenario-based planning for multiple firms in the semiconductor and tech sectors
  • Commercial business build sprints for leading defense player
  • Defense market entry strategy for a major commercial technology player
  • Due diligence, capital raise, and exit support for high tech ventures (recent examples include autonomy, edge computing, microelectronics, space-based communications, quantum, cleantech)

Prior to McKinsey, Dale served in several national security roles in government and public policy institutes in Washington, DC.

Published work

What comes next in defense tech?,” McKinsey & Company, March 2025

Creating a modernized defense technology frontier,” McKinsey & Company, February 2025

A rising wave of tech disruptors: The future of defense innovation?,” McKinsey & Company, February 2024

Scaling—and funding—next gen satellites for the coming commercial boom,” McKinsey & Company, March 2023

Government CHIPS on the table: How higher DOD microelectronics funding is here to stay,” McKinsey & Company, March 2023

2023 Report Card on the National Security Innovation Base,” Ronald Reagan Foundation & Institute, March 2023

A different space race: Raising capital and accelerating growth,” McKinsey & Company, November 2022

How will US funding for defense technology innovation evolve?” McKinsey & Company, November 2022

The CHIPS and Science Act: Here’s What’s In It,” McKinsey & Company, October 2022

Advancing American Innovation in the National Interest,” Aspen Strategy Group, May 2022

A Manufacturing Renaissance: Bolstering US Production for National Security and American Prosperity,” Ronald Reagan Foundation & Institute, November 2021

Education

Yale University
MBA, finance & strategy

University of Cambridge, Trinity College
MPhil, East Asian Studies

Rice University
BA, international relations