One on One with A.T. Kearney's Daniel Mahler

As the fundamentals of business continue to change, companies' priorities are shifting. From lean-and-mean product portfolios to streamlined supply chains, "less is more" seems to be the new mantra in the post-Great Recession business world. Daniel Mahler was recently appointed as A.T. Kearney's Americas Lead. Both are no stranger to the pages of Consulting —Mahler was named a Top 25 Consultant in 2008, and A.T. Kearney is a mainstay on our annual Best Firms to Work For rankings. Mahler says the firm has kicked off a major three-year growth initiative, which if successful, could "close to double" the size of the Americas practice over the next six years.

Consulting: What are your main priorities in your new position as Americas lead?

Mahler: To continue the trajectory we've been on for the last six years. We are growing at a healthy rate, the priority will be to accelerate that growth over the next five to seven years to further increase our scale and position as a global full assortment player. Number one I would say would be accelerated growth. And within that, to make sure the enablers are in place to ensure we're investing in growth below North America, so Latin America to a degree, and have a portfolio approach to invest into growing in our most important industry practices. The growth will come from two places, organically, or with a "business-as-usual" mindset, a high single-digit number. Secondly, we're planning a very concerted effort to step-change our inorganic growth with an additional high single-digit growth number on top of that over the next three years globally. The Americas region will be a focus area as part of that global three-year growth program. Just to be clear, when we talk inorganic, we don't see a big acquisition on the horizon, it will be largely accomplished through individual attraction of senior talent to the firm.