Lovely began his career in 2017 as an intern at McKinsey, and later became a full-time employee. He was assigned to projects for ICE and Rikers Island and other clients— this experience became crucial for some of his work.[2]
In 2019, Lovely wrote an article in Current Affairs, originally published anonymously, which detailed former projects run by McKinsey, commented on the secretive office culture of the firm, and information on employee's access to luxury food and accommodations. The article was later attributed to Lovely.[2][3]
Lovely interviewed R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe in 2021 for Jacobin, touching on topics like apartheid, democratic socialism, and Stipes' upbringing as a military brat.[4]
In 2022, CBS Sunday Morning ran a segment on Walt Bogdanich and Michael Forsythe's book, When McKinsey Comes to Town, which covers the firm's recruiting practices, its sway over global industries and its impact on information sharing. Lovely served as a source for the book along with fellow McKinsey alum Erik Edstrom; both were interviewed as part of the segment. Many of Bogdanich and Forsythe's other sources remained anonymous.[5] Lovely covered similar subject matter in The Nation's September 2023 cover story "Confessions of a McKinsey Whistleblower",[6] which was subsequently translated and republished in Le Monde Diplomatique.[7]
Lovely has covered the environmental impact of pescatarian diets for Vox and the role of technological progress in metascience for BBC Future.[8][9]
In 2025, The Nation announced its new publishing imprint, OR Books. Lovely was listed among the imprint's inaugural authors. His book, Obsolete, critiques the AI boom.[10]
The National Review published an article in 2023 challenging Lovely's assessment of McKinsey, with particular attention to amorality in higher education systems, DEI and ESG corporate standards, and McKinsey's relationship with governments.[1]