QuantumBlack, our advanced analytics firm, is expert at turning minute variations in performance into a competitive edge. But when it comes to reach, we are thinking big.
Since we acquired the firm over three years ago, our partnership has allowed us to grow QuantumBlack from its original base in London to nine offices around the world, including two new locations in Asia: Tokyo and Singapore.
Almost 40 percent of our work today involves some form of digital transformation including analytics, and our QuantumBlack expansion reflects our commitment to bringing our expertise to clients across the globe.
Jeremy Palmer, CEO of QuantumBlack, announced the new Asia offices at a client event last week.
“Singapore is the hub of Southeast Asia. It has a vibrant mix of international companies and great local names, and a strong commitment to progress and technology,” he said. “And Japan has the third largest economy in the world, a prized engineering history, and a mind-set of continuous improvement, with its Six Sigma and other methodologies. It’s an ideal fit with the way we work—using analytics to continually improve our clients’ performance.”
The Singapore office will be led by Wojtek Krok, a McKinsey partner. He built McKinsey’s Analytics Practice in his home country of Poland in 2015 and has now returned to Singapore, where he earned his MBA.
“This is exactly the right time to scale analytics for Singaporean and Southeast Asian clients in high growth markets such as Indonesia and Thailand,” Wojtek explains. “A number of them have done an initial pilot or two and are ready to move quickly beyond that point.”
According to Wojtek, the QuantumBlack protocol allows companies to create both a technical and organizational foundation for applying analytics. “We activate the data sources, get the technology in place, and build the skills teams need to create a replicable process to implement again and again,” he says.
Unlike in other regions, Wojtek adds, many Southeast Asian companies view their data as an opportunity to launch whole new businesses. “For example, a telecom provider might try using its data to start a new consumer-rating arm,” he says. “Companies here are eager to look beyond applying analytics to improve performance.”
In Singapore, the QuantumBlack team of data scientists, engineers, machine-learning specialists, and technical architects work side by side with McKinsey strategists, digital experts, and industry specialists. They also work with designers who can help visualize the complex output of a data model for an application or user interface.
In addition to serving clients, the team has been actively building an analytics community in Singapore. They are collaborating with academics at three local universities on topics such as Explainable AI (XAI) and Kedro, an open-source software tool QuantumBlack released in June. They are also participating in conferences and competitions, and hosting a series of meetups for young tech professionals.
Meanwhile, in Japan, McKinsey partner and now QuantumBlack leader Tomoharu Hirayama, believes that many businesses are at a turning point. “Many of our clients here have done a data-driven proof of concept or a use case or two, enough for leaders to recognize that analytics now has to be a core competency,” Tomoharu explains.
Tomoharu and his team have helped retailers and consumer product companies use analytics to fine-tune pricing and product assortment and they’ve also helped financial-services institutions use the technology to generate leads and reduce risk. Elsewhere, they’ve taught a heavy equipment manufacturer how to use data to sharpen operations.
“With the QuantumBlack protocol, we can help businesses advance from one-off use cases and apply analytics to reinvent core processes, such as automotive production lines and pharmaceutical research and development,” he says.
Like their counterparts in Singapore, the analytics team in Tokyo is also building local ties. They recently participated in a symposium on artificial intelligence (AI) for social good, and they will be hosting a series of meetups for data professionals while continuing their outreach to local start-ups.
“Regardless of location, all QuantumBlack clients benefit from our global network,” Jeremy is quick to point out. “This includes knowledge sharing from on-the-ground cases in our client work as well as our research with academia on issues such as XAI. People with unique experience can move throughout the QuantumBlack network and work with clients where needed.”
Both Singapore and Tokyo will integrate with the firm’s Sydney location, completing the QuantumBlack circuit in Asia. Where might they head next? “Our global network is enough now that we can serve clients wherever we are,” Jeremy said. “For the time being, this is about right.”