Rewiring with technology A data scientist on helping organizations reshape grow and capture value with AI

April 11, 2025 — Sohrab Rahimi, a partner at McKinsey and a data scientist, shares his journey and insights on how AI can transform organizations. Born in Iran and later moving to the U.S., Rahimi diverged from his family’s orthodontics business to pursue a career in AI. Self-taught in programming during high school, he further honed his skills through formal statistics coursework and online learning, eventually earning a PhD and joining QuantumBlack, McKinsey’s AI division.

From Theory to Impact

Rahimi’s early work focused on optimization and forecasting models, which laid the groundwork for Frontline AI, McKinsey’s workforce management platform. This tool leverages AI to optimize operations, automate tasks, and create AI agents that assist or even replace human roles. Rahimi has filed multiple patents and remains deeply involved in the technical side of AI applications.

Human-Centric AI Solutions

Rahimi emphasizes the importance of designing AI solutions that improve how people work. His projects include:

• Voice and chat agents to automate customer interactions.
• Copilots for call center reps, providing real-time summaries and suggestions.
• Back-office tools for generating appeal letters or processing complex workflows.

He stresses the need for collaboration with frontline users to ensure adoption and impact. “We’ve seen big breakthroughs when we slow down to codesign with users,” he says.

Lessons from the Field

One high-stakes project involved a real-time AI agent that faltered under edge cases. Rahimi’s team rebuilt the system with better monitoring and guardrails, reinforcing that “reliability is not just a feature, it’s a mindset.”

Leadership and Team Culture

As a leader of McKinsey’s data science guild, Rahimi fosters psychological safety, encouraging open dialogue and challenging ideas. “Good teams make time for tough questions, and great teams act on them,” he notes. He values McKinsey’s culture of ambition and adaptability, where teams push boundaries while remaining flexible.

Advice for Aspiring Technologists

Rahimi’s advice to young technologists: “Stay close to real problems. Tools will come and go, but understanding the context and user ensures lasting impact.”

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