Rodney Zemmel

Global Head of the Operating Team at Blackstone

Speaker

Rodney W. Zemmel is Global Head of the Blackstone Operating Team. He leads a group of operating executives and functional leaders that partner with our 250 portfolio companies and their CEOs to help drive value for our investors across a wide range of areas such as talent, data science and AI transformation, cybersecurity, procurement, energy efficiency, operational excellence, and others.

Before joining Blackstone in 2025, Mr. Zemmel spent nearly three decades at McKinsey, most recently as the Global Leader of McKinsey Digital, which helps clients across a range of industries better harness the power of data and AI, modernize core technology, build new digital business, and fuel growth. He also led Firmwide AI Transformation at McKinsey, an effort to best deploy AI innovations across the company’s client service and operations. Previously, among other roles, he was the Managing Partner for McKinsey’s New York and Northeast offices in the United States.

Mr. Zemmel earned his BA/MA in Natural Sciences, First Class Honors, and his PhD in Molecular Biology from the University of Cambridge. He is a coauthor of the books Go Long: Why Long-Term Thinking Is Your Best Short-Term Strategy and the Wall St Journal best-seller Rewired: The McKinsey Guide to Outcompeting in the Age of Digital and AI.