Li Zeng

My life before joining Merck KGaA, Germany, Darmstadt Inhouse Consulting

I was born and raised in China and completed my undergraduate studies in my hometown. After that, I moved to the United States to pursue a PhD program in Applied Physics at Northwestern University. Initially, my goal was to become a professor in academia, therefore after my PhD, I took on a postdoc position in the Chemical Engineering Department at Stanford University.

However, when my research funding ended at the conclusion of my postdoc, I found myself in need of a job. This led me to look for immediate opportunities outside academia and I ended up with Boston Consulting Group as a consultant. During my time at BCG, I worked on a diverse range of cases spanning healthcare, education, and industrial goods companies, focusing on technology advantage, operational optimization, and people and organization.

My motivation to join Merck KGaA, Germany, Darmstadt Inhouse Consulting

After spending a lot of time improving my consulting skills at BCG, I realized that I still had a strong interest in science and technology. I was drawn to Merck KGaA, Germany, Darmstadt's diverse portfolio, which covers healthcare, life science, and electronics. I found the semi materials sector at Merck KGaA, Germany, Darmstadt particularly interesting because it matched my research experience during my postdoc. As I explored this area further after joining Merck KGaA, Germany, Darmstadt, I worked on many exciting topics, such as using Artificial Intelligence to discover new materials, handling the challenges and opportunities from GenAI, and rethinking our R&D capabilities for future growth in a specific sector.

What I enjoy most at Merck KGaA, Germany, Darmstadt Inhouse Consulting

I enjoy the most about working within Merck KGaA, Germany, Darmstadt Inhouse Consulting is the extended ownership and tangible impact.

Extended ownership: Unlike the external consulting, I no longer own a specific, well-defined module within a case and need to have numerous internal alignment calls before presenting to external clients. Instead, I have the flexibility to control the overall pace of the case and take full responsibility for the deliverables.

Tangible impact: One major benefit of Inhouse Consulting is having the chance to witness the entire process from an idea to fruition. For instance, I supported a Post-Merger Integration project and was able to stay the whole time to see the colleagues from the acquired company become Merck employees one by one. This is something external consulting firms don't usually get to experience.