Eric Bartels

Eric’s career reflects a rare combination of scientific depth, operational leadership, and enterprise-scale strategy across the agricultural and food sectors. After earning his Ph.D. in Mathematics from the University of Oxford and conducting early research in neural networks and bioinformatics at the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, he joined McKinsey & Company. As a Partner, he advised clients in the chemicals and life sciences industries on strategy, innovation, marketing, and organizational transformations.

Eric later joined Syngenta, where he led corporate development and played a central role in shaping the company’s global strategy, including its expansion into the biologicals market. He also held leadership positions in marketing and R&D. He then returned to McKinsey as a Partner, where he established and led the firm’s Ag & Food Chain practice, advising many of the world’s most influential agrifood companies.

Most recently, Eric served as Global Head of Biological Products and Chief Science Officer at Indigo, where he transformed the company’s biologicals portfolio and held end-to-end responsibility for the business, encompassing early discovery, product development, commercial launch, and revenue ownership.

Eric currently serves as a Senior Advisor to McKinsey & Company and to several agricultural technology startups, as well as to innovation agencies of the Federal Government of Germany.