In this interview, we delve into the remarkable story of how Per (Pär) Edin, Artificial Intelligence Leader and former Board Committee Chair at KPMG LLP, embarked on his path to success in the world of artificial intelligence and professional services. Join us as Per shares his experiences, notable accomplishments, leadership style, and the values that have guided him along the way. Discover what sets his leadership approach apart, how he navigated pivotal career moments, and his vision for the future of the professional services industry in an era defined by rapid technological change. Get ready to be inspired by Per’s journey as a leader and his relentless pursuit of innovation, transformation, and excellence.
The Journey to Leadership
Per Edin’s earliest memory is watching one of the moon landings on a black-and-white television in Sweden. This formative experience sparked a lifelong fascination with technology and exploration. His professional journey began as a young graduate engineer at the European Space Agency, where he worked on satellite communication and the application of space technology to mitigate natural disasters. From the outset, Per was driven by a desire to leverage technology and data-driven insights to deliver meaningful benefits to people—a core principle that has guided every step of his career.
Over the years, Per advised senior executives at world-leading technology companies during his seventeen-year tenure at McKinsey & Company, where he focused on strategy and transformation. He later served as the Global Head of Strategy and Transformation for Cisco Services and was appointed to the Board of KPMG LLP, where he chaired the Operations and Technology Committee during the transformative rise of Generative AI.
Artificial intelligence has been a central theme throughout Per’s professional life, dating back to his first internship in 1992 at a European startup called AI System. His early work evolved into pioneering the use of machine learning for practical business applications while helping build KPMG’s strategy practice nearly a decade ago. Today, he leads AI services sales for KPMG clients globally, continuing to drive innovation and transformation in the field.
Core Leadership Values
Per’s leadership style is built on foundational values of courage, kindness, and teamwork. He believes deeply in unlocking the full potential of people, fostering trusted and enduring relationships with family, friends, colleagues, and clients—many of which have lasted for over fifty years.
While his passion for cutting-edge technology remains strong, Per is equally captivated by the human side of transformation—how to motivate, inspire, and role-model change. He focuses on enabling people to adopt new technologies and overcome behavioral barriers that have been ingrained in the human mind since the stone age. This human-centric leadership approach has empowered him to succeed in challenging roles such as redesigning McKinsey & Company’s largest leadership and development program, driving large-scale organizational transformations as an executive at Cisco, and fostering cross-functional sales collaboration at KPMG.
Pivotal Career Moments
Per’s career is defined by several pivotal decisions that shaped his professional trajectory. One of the earliest turning points was his decision to transition from the space industry into strategy consulting at McKinsey & Company. This shift broadened his leadership perspective, allowing him to solve complex problems for hundreds of clients and gain global exposure across Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas.
Another defining moment came when Per accepted an offer to leave consulting to join one of his clients, Cisco, as a senior executive. He turned down a competing offer from a major telecommunications company to pursue an opportunity that relocated his family permanently to Silicon Valley. This experience placed him at the epicenter of the AI revolution and allowed him to learn from world-class leaders, including then-CEO John Chambers.
Finally, Per’s decision to join KPMG marked a new chapter driven by his belief that AI’s disruptive power would shape the future of professional services. Serving as a Board Director for five years, he gained invaluable insight into how effective collaboration between the Board and management is critical for long-term success. His tenure coincided with major disruptions such as CEO succession, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the advent of Generative AI, each of which tested and strengthened his leadership acumen.
Vision for the Professional Services Industry
Having been at the forefront of the Generative AI era, Per envisions the professional services industry rapidly transitioning into the Agentic AI phase, accelerating toward Artificial General Intelligence. He foresees exponential advancements in AI capabilities and affordability that will outpace human adoption, which continues to grow linearly.
This widening gap between technological potential and practical implementation will create significant advantages for organizations that adopt AI effectively at scale. Per believes the future of work will be defined by hybrid organizations where human workers and AI-enabled digital colleagues collaborate seamlessly, driving productivity, creativity, and business transformation. Such a shift will challenge traditional workforce structures, training models, and management practices.
The Pivotal and Changing Role of Innovation
Innovation has been a constant theme throughout Per’s journey—from his early days in the space industry to his leadership roles transforming global organizations with AI. He views innovation as both an art and a science, thriving when companies maintain a broad perspective that encompasses both what to build and how to work.
Per believes innovation occurs unpredictably across organizations, not solely within centralized programs. In an AI-enabled world, innovation opportunities will multiply as tools empower individuals to bring ideas to life simply by describing them in natural language, accelerating both prototyping and execution. However, he notes that while incremental innovation can emerge from a firm’s center, truly disruptive breakthroughs are best driven by small, cross-functional teams operating at the edge of the organization.
Balancing Risk-Taking and Strategic Planning
Per emphasizes that as companies enter the next phase of AI-driven transformation, they face unprecedented uncertainty and speed of change. The exponential evolution of AI capabilities contrasted with linear adoption creates a growing disparity between what is technically possible and what organizations currently realize.
In this environment, traditional risk management and strategic planning must become more intertwined. The risks of inaction may now outweigh those of bold experimentation. Companies must focus on operational resilience and agile iteration rather than static, long-term strategies. Per suggests that this new paradigm may favor both disruptive startups that move quickly and incumbent organizations that can harness their scale and relationships to outpace competitors.
Contributions Affecting the Professional Services Industry
Recognizing AI as the most transformative force of the coming decade, Per made the decisive choice to leave his role as global lead partner for some of the most successful companies in the industry to dedicate his full attention to KPMG’s AI transformation following the launch of ChatGPT. His aim is to help reshape the firm—home to over 275,000 employees—and equip it with services that help thousands of client organizations navigate their AI journey responsibly. By doing so, Per sees an opportunity to positively impact an entire ecosystem of companies employing millions of workers and touching billions of customers worldwide.
Key Trends or Disruptions in 2025
Per identifies Agentic AI as the most significant technological disruption in 2025, emerging less than three years after the rise of Generative AI. This advancement promises to automate an expanding range of human activities and introduces the concept of autonomous digital employees and teams.
Yet, Per highlights a critical challenge: motivating humans to integrate AI into their daily workflows and capturing tacit organizational knowledge. He notes the irony that AI was modeled on the human brain, yet deeply ingrained cognitive defense mechanisms now slow the adoption of tools that could significantly enhance their productivity.
Technological Advancements That Define the Future
Beyond AI, Per points to quantum computing and fusion power as transformative technologies on the horizon. Quantum computing holds the potential to vastly increase computational power, solving complex deterministic problems and accelerating AI’s capabilities. Fusion power, once viable at scale, could revolutionize global energy production, reduce dependence on fossil fuels, and shift geopolitical dynamics.
Per envisions these three technologies—AI, quantum computing, and fusion power—converging to accelerate innovation even further, with each amplifying the impact of the others in shaping a new technological era.
In conclusion, Per Edin’s journey reflects a remarkable blend of visionary leadership, technological curiosity, and human-centered values. From his early fascination with space exploration to his current leadership in artificial intelligence, he has consistently sought to harness innovation for the greater good. His career demonstrates the power of courage, adaptability, and lifelong learning in navigating disruption and driving meaningful transformation. As industries move into an AI-enabled future, Per’s insights and experiences offer a guiding light for leaders striving to balance technology with humanity, ensuring progress that is both responsible and inspiring.
