consulting for growth & performance
your strategic projects
companies and private equity firms
500 industry-experienced elite consultants
regions throughout the world
growth and performance
About us
VISION
OUR EXPERTS,
YOUR GROWTH
what we want to do
We are rethinking business consulting. Leaner. More direct. More individual. brains implements challenging projects in the business expansion, sales & services, transformation & performance, operations & IT sectors in flexible and pragmatic ways. Growth initiatives, digitization and sustainability are just as much part of our core competencies as increasing productivity and organization. Our clients are executives, CEOs and board members of EURO STOXX and DAX corporations, medium-sized companies and private equity firms.
We have a highly qualified network of consultants that consists of 500 top project managers. This enables us to select experts for each client who meet the client’s specific requirements. By assembling a team especially for you we will determine what you need and what you don’t need! This will allow us to minimize costs without sacrificing quality. We save on the appliances, not on the expertise.
brains stands for conceptual and operational support from a single source. We provide customized solutions and implement them effectively. In Germany, Europe and other regions throughout the world.
CONCEPT
MAXIMUM PERFORMANCE,
SIMPLE IMPLEMENTATION
what we do
We offer our clients maximum performance with minimum complexity. This is why we focus on lean approaches, efficient project solutions using fully involved consultants. We guarantee specific one-off solutions, customized project approaches and effective implementations. Usually we have one to three consultants working on a project over a period of two to six months.
Initially we will work with you to define your basic situation and your objectives, the schedule and the type and scope of the support that you will need. This briefing will be promptly followed by our project proposal with approach, work content and the profiles of the consultants we have selected to work with you based on their relevant experience, skills and state-of-the-art project approaches. You will then be able to discuss the approach and the objectives with the proposed consultants before specifying your budget and making your decision. We will support you end-to-end in implementing and realizing your objectives during the project phase. We will ensure your long-term project success through regular impact and progress evaluations, flexible adjustment of a success fee for the consultants as well as project audits after completing the project.
TEAM
Leadership team
your contact partner
We will find the best consultants and methods for your growth and optimization projects. Our network enables us to access top consultants and methods and make them available to medium-sized companies. We implement projects in a lean and efficient way, true to our “lean consulting – high impact” motto.
Dr. Mark Weigelt
Founding Partner / Munich
Mark Weigelt holds a doctorate in business informatics and he studied business administration and electrical engineering at the Friedrich-Alexander University in Erlangen-Nuremberg. He was the CEO of a-connect Germany, held management positions at UBS, was also a partner at Roland Berger as well as being a consultant for the Boston Consulting Group in Europe, Germany and North America.
In 2016 he founded his own consulting company: brains. As CEO & founding partner, he supports multinationals and medium-sized companies during their growth and performance projects. He focuses on business expansion, sales & services and operations & IT for the industrial goods & services, banking, insurance & stock markets as well as the consumer goods & retail sectors.
Dr. Jürgen Kerner
Senior Partner / Munich
Jürgen Kerner holds a doctorate in business administration and is a mechanical engineer. He studied business administration at Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich and the Technical University of Berlin, as well as mechanical engineering at the Technical University of Munich and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
He worked as a partner for a-connect, in various management positions for BMW and as a management consultant for McKinsey & Company in Munich and London.
As a senior partner, Jürgen Kerner supports corporations in the semiconductor, pharmaceutical and med-tech industries as well as mid-sized companies in private equity ownership. His functional expertise covers strategy development, M&A and the steering of profitability programs.
Marina Maier
Head Network & Operations / Munich
Marina Maier worked at a-connect Germany for four years before joining the brains team in
2017. She brings many years of experience from the international 5-star hotel industry as she
was assistant director of sales and an EMEA major account manager at Micros Inc. (now Oracle).
She also worked for Qlik, the business intelligence technology company.
Being the operations manager at brains, she focuses on expanding and optimizing our network
of consultants. She and her team use various database systems and state-of-the-art search technologies to identify the best consultants for each client’s challenges. She is also responsible
for optimizing company processes such as contract and financial management.
Dr. Christian Saller
Advisory Board Member / Berlin
Christian Saller holds a doctorate in mathematics and an MBA with honors from the London Business School. He has held positions at Giga Digital Television, VC Target Partners and as a consultant at Monitor in both Europe and the USA.
As CEO of Swodoo, the flight search engine, he was responsible for building up the company until it was sold to Kayak, its American competitor. As part of the management team there, he was involved in its IPO on the U.S. tech exchange Nasdaq and the subsequent sale of the company to Priceline, the world’s leading online travel company. He is a general partner at HV Capital and an advisor at brains.
partner team
your contact partner
Dr. Stephan Schönwälder
Senior Partner / brains alliance / Munich
Stephan Schönwälder holds a Ph.D. in economics from University of Stuttgart-Hohenheim and a master’s degree in computer science from Technical University of Munich.
As partner and managing director he was responsible for the Middle East Region at Russell Reynolds Associates and most recently a managing director in their Munich Office. Prior to this he was a partner with McKinsey & Company in their financial services practice as well as the business technology office (now McKinsey Digital) with a geographic focus on clients in Germany, Central Europe, and the Middle East.
As senior partner brains alliance Stephan Schönwälder advises clients in the financial services industry as well as family-owned businesses and technology firms. His functional focus is strategy, operational improvement, organizational & talent development, IT & digitization as well as international growth.
Dr. Christoph Haupenthal
Partner / brains alliance / Munich
Christoph Haupenthal holds a doctorate in natural sciences from University Hospital Essen. He previously studied biology at Ruhr University Bochum.
In his more than 20 years as top management consultant, he supported globally active companies in transformations, reorganizations, process optimizations, carveouts as well as on digitalization and sustainability.
As partner of the brains alliance, Christoph Haupenthal advises companies in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries as well as in medical and laboratory technology. Moreover, he steers brains consulting teams at both corporate and medium-sized companies (the latter usually being private equity owned).
Dr. Klaus Kukovetz
Partner / brains alliance / Barcelona
Klaus Kukovetz holds a doctorate in business administration and economics from the University of Graz. He obtained his Ph.D. in International Management from the University of St. Gallen (HSG), Switzerland.
His professional career is characterized by a wide range of international experience. Klaus gained valuable expertise as associate principal at McKinsey & Company in Munich and London. Additionally, he is the founder of two digital platforms and an alternative finance investor in the lending sector.
In his role as partner of brains alliance, Dr. Klaus Kukovetz advises primarily companies in the pharmaceutical and life sciences, financial services, and technology sectors. His comprehensive functional expertise includes strategic and operational improvement programs, major transformation initiatives, and post-merger integration projects. Based in Barcelona, he contributes his expertise and international experience.
CONSULTANT
OUR NETWORK, YOUR TEAM
how we work
brains has a network of over 500 highly qualified independent consultants. When requested we look for experienced consultants at senior and/or junior level for dealing with the specific project challenges presented by our clients. We use the expertise within our network for the best possible project approach and its successful implementation. We can systematically search our digital platform in 20 industries, 40 competencies and 800 competency sectors. State-of-the-art search algorithms enable us to always find the most suitable consultants and methods for our clients.
Many of our consultants are McK, BCG or Bain alumni and have additional industry or start-up experience. They have expertise ranging from business expansion and sales to transformation and operations, specifically for the industrial, financial services, life science, automotive, consumer and private equity sectors. You can rely on it: We will find a match. We bring our clients together with the appropriate consultants and support them through a customized project approach. This means that you will benefit from a reliable and competent contact partner from the beginning to the end of your project.
Business expansion & digitization
Independent consultant since 2017
10 years at McKinsey & Oliver Wyman
International, multilingual, creative
„BI changes the world“
Business expansion & digitization
Independent consultant since 2011
8 years at Boston Consulting & Bayer
Conceptual, entrepreneurial, result-oriented
„Top line growth makes the difference“
Sales & Services
Independent consultant since 2014
9 years at Arthur D. Little & ZS Associates
Entrepreneurial, financing professional, proactive
„Entrepreneurial thinking is key“
Transformation & Performance
Independent consultant since 2014
12 years McKinsey & founder
Conceptually strong & hands-on
„Whatever it takes – we‘ll find a solution“
Operations & IT
Independent consultant since 2013
9 years McKinsey & Industry
Analytical, creative, hands-on
„Let‘s make it happen“
Industrial Goods & Services
Independent consultant since 2013
9 years at Bain & an industrial company
Industrial expert, conceptual, results-orientated
„Impact for my client is my permanent goal“
Banks, insurance companies & stock exchanges
Independent consultant since 2016
9 years at McKinsey & consulting
Financial expert, analytical, result-oriented
„Passionate to slove complex challenges“
Life Science & Health Care
Independent consultant since 2009
10 years McKinsey & Start-up
Life science expert, strong leader, entrepreneurial
„A satisfied customer is the best business strategy of all“
Automobiles & Transport
Independent consultant since 2008
11 years at McKinsey & an investment company Automobile & railway expert, result-oriented
„Numbers, data, facts first“
Consumer Goods & Retail Markets
Independent consultant since 2020
18 years at Booz & Company & a retail company
Retail expert, analytical, strong leader
„The truth always lies with customers“
Digitization & sustainability
Independent consultant since 2017
10 years at McKinsey & Oliver Wyman
International, multilingual, creative
„You can ignore facts, you cannot ignore the consequences“
Digitization & sustainability
Independent consultant since 2017
10 years at McKinsey & Oliver Wyman
International, multilingual, creative
„Business Intelligence changes the world“
Sales & Services
Independent consultant since 2008
15 years at Boston Consulting & a start-up
Conceptual, strong implementation skills, entrepreneurial
„Communication is everything“
Transformation & Performance
Independent consultant since 2011
25 years Roland Berger & industry
Structured, team player, result-oriented
„Strategic thinker delivering practical solutions“
Operations & IT
Independent consultant since 2011
8 years at Booz & Company
Structured, tech-savvy, entrepreneurial
„Sensibility for culture is key“
Industrial Goods & Services
Independent consultant since 2002
9 years at Oliver Wyman & consulting
Production expert, team player, hands-on
„Energy drives output drives success“
Banks, insurance companies & stock exchanges
Independent consultant since 2016
15 years at Oliver Wyman, Simon Kucher & insurance Insurance expert, conceptual, strong implementation skills
„Transformation means strategy, means implementation“
Life Science & Health Care
Independent consultant since 2012
15 years McKinsey & Industry
Analytical, structured, strong in implementation
„No input, no output“
Automobiles & Transport
Independent consultant since 2012
16 years A. T. Kearney & Mechanical and plant engineering
Finance-oriented, CFO and CRO, strong in leadership and implementation
„Leading example and clear communication are the keys for success“
Consumer Goods & Retail Markets
Independent consultant since 2016
5 years at McKinsey & an investment company Consumer goods expert, conceptual, entrepreneurial
„Go big or go home“
Private Equity & Investment Companies
Independent consultant since 2018
18 years at Booz & Company
Analytical, broad industry experience, strong implementation skills
„Put first things first“
Origin of the consultants
Germany 45%
Austria & Switzerland 15%
Great Britain 5%
Belgium & Netherlands 10%
Italy & Spain 5%
France 10%
Romania, Hungary, Eastern Europe 5%
Other 5%
REFERENCES
REFERENCES
& AWARDS
what we have achieved
brains has worked successfully for various EURO STOXX and DAX corporations, medium-sized companies and private equity firms. We design and implement business expansion or digitization initiatives for our clients, support them in increasing sales and service productivity, transformation and performance programs as well as optimizing operations, IT and their supply chains.
In 2020 and 2021, we received the “Best Consultants” award from “brand eins” / “statista”, based on a survey of 1,500 executives.
2022 and 2023, Dr. Mark Weigelt and brains GmbH were honored with the Management Consulting Award for Europe as well as the Global Excellence Award by the magazines CEO Today and AI International.
brains’ clients are satisfied customers – and 95% of them would recommend us to others.
OUR AWARDS
Consulting company rankings
Consultant network for strategic projects
Companies often need top consultants for strategic initiatives. A study by brains shows that independent management consultants and consultant networks are increasingly being used for this purpose. Excellent project results can always be realized when efficiency, expertise and quality are planned and controlled in a targeted manner.
Many EURO STOXX and DAX companies are among our clients
We also work for many medium-sized companies and private equity firms
PUBLICATIONS
OUR
PUBLICATIONS
brains in the press
We regularly publish studies and background research about management consulting, strategic implementation and consultant network topics in our “brains impact” series. They examine various aspects of our work such as the successful implementation of strategic projects, flexible performance programs or supporting productivity and digitization. These articles are widely circulated and frequently cited in the trade press.
brains.impact.
#FOCUSSING
#SYSTEMIZING
PUBLISHED IN
HARVARD BUSINESS MANAGER
Business consulting on a network basis. brains in Harvard Business Manager.
PUBLISHED IN
BOARD REPORT
Business consulting on a network basis. brains in Board Report. 19 to 21
“What do clients expect from consultant networks? brains, a provider based in Munich, examined this in a study that was made exclusively available to Harvard Business Manager. […] According to the survey, independent management consultants are most often booked for strategy issues (75 percent), followed by organizational (51 percent) as well as sales, marketing and product issues (46 percent). If clients commission these people through a consultant network they then see the huge advantage in being able to set up lean and therefore inexpensive projects – using smaller teams than those from classic consulting companies such as McKinsey, Boston Consulting Group or Roland Berger. […] The expertise of our independent consultants is specifically demanded for various trend issues. “Digitization of business processes” takes first place in the relevance ranking (95%), followed by “smart data & AI” (88%) and operational excellence (87%) (see Fig. 4). The authors of the study point out that consultants who have a conceptual command of these issues as well as having the skills to implement them efficiently in conjunction with client teams and to tackle them operationally are usually in particularly high demand”. (Harvard Business Manager, 8/2018)
“It is becoming apparent that there is a considerable need for lean project solutions with one or two project managers and this is often a combination of senior and junior managers. […] A network-based business consultancy such as brains GmbH provides clients and consultants with crucial support for the essential success factors. […] A network-based business consultancy closes the gap between a straight search
for suitable individuals and the required integral, but as simple as possible, project solution through a corresponding infrastructure and the associated processes”. (Board Report 3/2017)
ALLIANCE
NETWORK EXPERIENCE,
ACHIEVE MORE TOGETHER
our brains alliance platform
The 400 consultants in our network have the necessary experience and in-depth expertise to understand a company’s specific initial situation and to develop the optimum project and team approach to realize the project’s objective. Our work is based on experience gained from more than 10,000 projects, difficulties to be overcome and success realized and this gives us the trust of our clients.
We firmly believe that the close cooperation within our network of consultants is a significant advantage for our way of working and our clients benefit from it.
This is why we provide our top consultants with a platform through our brains alliance, in which we bundle expertise and project approaches specifically according to their expertise and industry knowledge. Contact us – and become a partner of our brains alliance as a consultant.