Podcasts · Inside the Strategy Room

289. The CFO as growth leader: Levi’s Harmit Singh on transformation and the “Magic of the And.”

· 37 min

Episode 289. The CFO as growth leader: Levi’s Harmit Singh on transformation and the “Magic of the And.”

0:00 36:41

Levi Strauss & Co. Chief Finance and Growth Officer, Harmit Singh, joins us to share lessons from his 13-year journey transforming the iconic clothing company. Singh explains how Levi’s returned to growth, strengthened profitability, and shifted toward a direct-to-consumer model, while staying true to its purpose-driven heritage. He introduces the “Magic of the And”–his approach to driving both top- and bottom-line performance– and discusses building a performance culture, navigating volatility and tariffs with cross-functional teams, developing finance talent, and approaching AI in finance with practical use cases and discipline. Joining Harmit for this discussion is Steve Begley, a senior partner based in our New York office.

Related Insights

The State of Fashion 2026: When the rules change

How finance teams are putting AI to work today

How Nestlé’s CFO sharpens focus across a global portfolio

Support the show: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/mckinsey-strategy-&-corporate-finance/

See www.mckinsey.com/privacy-policy for privacy information

The episode on the publisher’s site (opens in a new tab)

Shows are listed from Apple Podcasts' charts and directory, and Podcast Index where it is used. Every show and episode belongs to its publisher and plays from the publisher's own feed; this site hosts none of them. Explicit shows are for adult profiles only, and children’s profiles hear only children’s shows. More about this list.