QuantumBlack

QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey, helps organizations develop AI-enabled businesses and deploy machine-learning and agentic AI systems. Its work covers AI strategy, operating-model design, capability building and responsible deployment across customer, commercial, service and operational workflows. QuantumBlack Labs develops engineering tools and reusable technology; its offerings include Horizon, a set of AI development tools.

Founded in 2009, QuantumBlack began with work in Formula One before expanding its application of AI to business challenges. It is now led by Debasish Patnaik, a McKinsey senior partner who also helps shape its platforms, product suite and enterprise deployment approaches. Its engineering contributions include Kedro, an open-source Python framework that it donated to the Linux Foundation.

Kedro helps data engineers and data scientists turn experimental code into reproducible, maintainable pipelines. It separates data access from processing logic: a data catalog handles loading, saving and file-based versioning, while pipeline abstractions resolve dependencies between Python functions. Templates and reusable components support collaboration, and deployment options span single machines and distributed infrastructure. The framework is hosted by the LF AI & Data Foundation.