Tera is Director of Research and Economics in McKinsey’s United Kingdom and Ireland Office, working closely with the McKinsey Global Institute. She leads McKinsey’s research on productivity, technology adoption, and government effectiveness, bringing together deep expertise and more than two decades of experience in economics, public policy, innovation, technology, and leadership, as well as ten years of experience as a management consultant focusing on corporate and business-unit strategy.
Tera is a frequent author, panelist, and speaker on topics ranging from economic and innovation policy and industrial strategy to technology adoption and the future of work. She also serves as a trustee of the Royal Economic Society, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, and the United Kingdom’s Productivity Leadership Group, and is a member of the Centre for Economic Performance Policy Committee at the London School of Economics & Political Science, the Quality of Work and Productivity Expert Group, and the ScaleUp Institute’s Evidence Committee. She was previously on the board of Innovate UK, the United Kingdom’s national innovation agency, and a member of the States of Jersey fiscal policy panel. In 2018, Tera was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to economic policy.
Published work
“Confronting overconfidence in talent strategy, management, and development,” McKinsey & Company, June 2019
“The future of women at work in the United Kingdom,” McKinsey Global Institute, June 2019
“Artificial intelligence in the United Kingdom: Prospects and challenges,” McKinsey Global Institute, June 2019
“Tech for Good’: Using technology to smooth disruption and improve well-being,” McKinsey Global Institute, May 2019
"How automation could affect employment for women and minorities," McKinsey & Company, April 2019
"Brexit: The bigger picture - Revitalizing UK exports in the new world of trade," McKinsey & Company, March 2019
“Solving the United Kingdom’s productivity puzzle in a digital age,” McKinsey & Company, September 2018
“A smarter approach to cost reduction in the public sector,” McKinsey & Company, June 2018
Delivering for citizens: How to triple the success rate of government transformations, McKinsey & Company, May 2018
“Transforming a 150-year-old government agency: A CEO story,” McKinsey & Company, April 2018
“Improving outcomes with better government productivity,” McKinsey & Company, March 2018
“How smarter purchasing can improve public-sector performance,” McKinsey & Company, March 2018
“How governments can be more effective by reallocating their resources,” McKinsey & Company, March 2018
“Improving the effectiveness of tax collection: $30 in additional revenue for every $1 spent?,” McKinsey & Company, February 2018
“Accelerating the diffusion of technology-enabled business practices,” McKinsey Quarterly, February 2018
“Mitigating risk in IT megaprojects,” McKinsey & Company, January 2018
“How the public sector fits in the productivity puzzle,” McKinsey & Company, January 2018
How artificial intelligence can deliver real value to companies, McKinsey & Company, June 2017
“The opportunity in government productivity,” McKinsey & Company, April 2017
Past experience
UK Department for Business, Innovation and Skills; UK Government Economic Service
Director general; deputy head
UK Department for Transport
Chief economist; director, transport analysis and economics
UK Department of Energy & Climate Change
Chief energy economist
Bank of Finland
Financial analyst
Finnish Real Estate Bank
Consultant
Education
INSEAD
MBA
Aalto University (Helsinki University of Technology)
MSc, industrial economics