The McKinsey Podcast
McKinsey & Company
100 episodes
The McKinsey Podcast, our new flagship podcast series, takes you inside our global firm, and features conversations with experts on issues that matter most in business and management. McKinsey & Company is a management-consulting firm that helps businesses, governments, and not-for-profit organizations realize their most important goals. Topics covered in this series include strategy, technology, leadership, marketing, operations, organization, and the role of business in society.
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What trends are influencing the food and beverage industry?
For decades, food and beverage companies could count on population growth and geographic expansion to create results. That engine has sputtered out, and investors have punished the sector for it—the industry shed…
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Place, purpose, and the path to economic mobility
What does a better life actually look like to Americans? The McKinsey Institute for Economic Mobility surveyed 30,000 of them and found that, despite today’s polarized discourse, two-thirds share the same top goal:…
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The playbook for seeing around geopolitical corners
Geopolitical surprise has become a permanent cost of doing business—and a one-size-fits-all approach to scenario planning can’t keep pace with it. In this episode of The McKinsey Podcast, Partner and Global Director of…
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The hidden value of physical AI
Nearly half of all paid work hours are tied to physical tasks, from moving and making things to inspecting equipment and transporting goods. Today, much of that work remains beyond the reach of traditional automation.…
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Democratized superintelligence is coming: The world needs to get ready
What happens when AI agents can reason through problems well enough to complete real work on their own? This episode of The McKinsey Podcast offers answers to that question and more from OpenAI’s chair Bret Taylor, who…
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Why transformations stall—and where only CEOs make the difference
The toughest transformation problems aren’t always strategic or operational. They’re human: the instinct to play it safe, protect what’s ours, trust who we know, and wait for change to pass. Individually, these…
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Is progress behind us, or is ‘plenty’ still possible?
Over the past 100 years, humanity has made stunning advances: longer lives, higher incomes, and billions of people lifted out of poverty. Much of that progress remains uneven and incomplete, however. On this episode of…
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Made in America, again? Rethinking US manufacturing resilience
Geopolitical fragmentation, the rise of AI, and growing concern about supply chain resilience are putting US manufacturing back in the spotlight. But strengthening America’s industrial base isn’t simply a matter of…
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Consumers don’t trust AI advice. They turn to it anyway.
Shoppers are awash in product recommendations. But do they trust them? “We found significant skepticism around algorithm-driven channels like social media, and in particular generative AI, where the trust level is…
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Earning and sustaining trust in the age of AI
As artificial intelligence reshapes what investors expect from their advisors, asset managers are being pressed to move faster without eroding the trust that took decades to build. On this episode of The McKinsey…
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How premium leisure travel is rewriting airline economics
Window or aisle? These days, if you’re at the front of the plane, you don’t have to choose: “Everything is about having direct aisle access from every seat,” says Steve Saxon, coleader of McKinsey’s Travel, Logistics &…
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Are you settling for a “B+" life?
Do you feel stuck in the career you have? Suzy Welch, an NYU professor and author of Becoming You: The Proven Method for Crafting Your Authentic Life and Career (HarperCollins Publishers, May 2025), has your back. In…
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The new advantage in the age of AI: Building in the real world
The next era of value creation may be defined less by digital innovation alone and more by the ability to build, operate, and scale physical assets. On this episode of The McKinsey Podcast, co-CEO of Hines Laura…
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The human advantage in an AI economy
Could AI transformation be exhausting humans rather than optimizing their performance? As artificial intelligence transforms how we work, organizations face a new challenge: ensuring people have the brain health and…
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What the 2026 World Cup reveals about the next generation of sports fans
As sports become an even bigger engine of economic growth, the defining challenge isn’t identifying tomorrow’s fans; it’s recognizing that many of them are already filling stadiums, attending World Cup watch parties,…
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The real AI advantage
The first wave of AI adoption has been all about efficiency gains. But what happens when everyone else, using the same tools, is experiencing the same productivity improvements? Where will competitive advantage come…
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The serial builder advantage: Why repeat innovators win
In an era of economic uncertainty and accelerating technological disruption, creating new businesses has become less of a growth option and more of a strategic imperative. In this episode of The McKinsey Podcast,…
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What it takes to become—and remain—an effective CEO
Long before someone takes the corner office, they need to build the skills and rapport that will help them thrive once they move in. That CEO journey is the focus of this episode of The McKinsey Podcast with McKinsey…
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AI is turning every company into a software company
As AI capabilities accelerate, nearly anyone can create software. The real business constraint is no longer code, but judgment: how quickly an organization can learn, adapt, and redeploy talent at scale. In this…
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The world is changing. Can fashion keep up?
Affordable luxury: It may sound like an oxymoron, but in an uncertain economy, it’s striking a chord with cautious consumers looking for value—and expecting more from the brands they buy. “Brands are actively thinking…
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How CEOs can navigate the new era of trade
Tariff tumult. Shifting geopolitical alliances. AI acceleration. Structural shifts are reshaping global trade. On this episode of The McKinsey Podcast, McKinsey Senior Partner Shubham Singhal and McKinsey Partner…
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Move first or fall behind: How AI is rewriting the rules of banking
McKinsey’s latest research on global banking demonstrates that artificial intelligence isn’t just another efficiency play for financial institutions; it represents a fundamental shift in how these companies manage…
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The next era of healthcare is personal
For more than a century, medicine has largely followed a one-size-fits-all model—but that paradigm is beginning to break. On this episode of The McKinsey Podcast, Stéphane Bancel, CEO of Moderna, joins Eric Kutcher,…
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Sell, close, or continue? The transfer of US businesses is at a crossroads
A historic wave of ownership transitions is set to reshape the backbone of the US economy. The fate of jobs, local spending, and wealth creation all hinge on whether enough qualified—and diverse—buyers can step in to…
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Rewiring for AI: From ambition to advantage
As generative and agentic AI reshape how work gets done, the real divide isn’t who has the best ideas—it’s who can turn them into real results at speed and scale. In this webinar, McKinsey Global Editorial Director…
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The rise of the human–AI workforce
Most leaders herald the promise of AI, but many employees see it as a looming threat—a modern echo of Annie Oakley’s classic lines: “Anything you can do, I can do better. I can do anything better than you.” What does…
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What great leaders know about not knowing it all
People often expect their leaders to have all the answers; David Novak built his career by challenging that assumption. On this episode of The McKinsey Podcast, the former CEO and cofounder of Yum! Brands and current…
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Follow the money: How FDI is redrawing the global economy
Foreign direct investment (FDI) used to sit in the background—important, but distant from day-to-day strategy. That’s no longer true. Today, massive capital commitments into areas like AI, semiconductors, and clean…
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Can the US sustain its competitive edge?
The US has had a phenomenal run of success: at 250 years old, it’s home to the world’s most competitive economy, accounting for more than a quarter of global GDP and more than half of the world’s top 100 companies. But…
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AI is everywhere. The agentic organization isn’t—yet
Yes, AI is astonishing: fast, powerful, and learning every day. But even as leaders strike up new pilots across their organizations, most still struggle to translate experimentation into enterprise value—and now,…
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Leadership lessons from private equity CEOs
Companies backed by private equity (PE) tend to transform faster and more often than public or family-owned firms do, leading to consistently outperforming their peers. Marla Capozzi and Sacha Ghai, McKinsey leaders,…
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Trust in the age of agents
Many leaders can get agentic pilots rolling—but realizing ROI can mean activating thousands of AI agents enterprise-wide. Is your organization ready? “Agency isn’t a feature—it’s a transfer of decision rights,” says…
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What does it take to achieve and sustain growth?
McKinsey research has found that while many leaders believe they’ve adopted and implemented productive mindsets for growth, those attitudes and ambitions don’t always translate into the behaviors and actions necessary…
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A new way of thinking about metabolic health
On this episode of The McKinsey Podcast, Lars Hartenstein, senior fellow at the McKinsey Health Institute, and Roberta Fusaro, an editorial director at McKinsey, discuss the findings from McKinsey’s recent research on…
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Special episode: 2026 Davos highlights
This is a special episode of The McKinsey Podcast covering last week’s meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos. McKinsey Senior Partners Becca Coggins and Shelley Stewart III speak with Global Editorial Director…
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How the best CEOs are meeting the AI moment
AI has yet to deliver the ROI many leaders expected. What are they getting wrong? “This is probably the biggest, most complex transformation we’ve seen—but it’s 80 percent business transformation and 20 percent tech,”…
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Special episode: McKinsey at CES 2026
McKinsey’s Bill Wiseman, Bob Sternfels, Martin Kellner, and Steffen Fuchs were on the ground at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. In this special episode of The McKinsey Podcast, they tell us about…
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The future of work is agentic
Think about your org chart. Now imagine it features both your current colleagues—humans, if you’re like most of us—and AI agents. That’s not science fiction; it’s happening. And it’s happening relatively quickly,…
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Don’t get stuck in a rut—update how you operate
People are asked to update the operating systems on their phones all the time. What if leaders applied that same kind of polishing and bug fixing to themselves? McKinsey research shows that executives who periodically…
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What's next for global banking?
Banking has had a couple of very good years—the best, in fact, since the global financial crisis of 2007–09. Yet to some, the industry’s outlook seems less buoyant than recent profitability might suggest. On this…
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Quantum computing: Game on
Quantum computing has long been technology’s white whale. But in recent months, new developments suggest practical applications for this elusive technology could finally be within reach. “Quantum has been five to ten…
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The fashion industry faces a world in flux
One thing is clear for the fashion industry in 2025. Due to climate change, global trade uncertainties, and consumers focused on value, growth is expected to be slow. However, despite the negative environment, McKinsey…
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The industries reshaping our global economy
“A bank and a steel company can walk into a bar and not have much to do with each other. But once one of the arena companies walks in, we’re all involved.” That’s McKinsey Global Institute director Chris Bradley. On…
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Data centers: The race to power AI
Leaders worldwide are moving fast to deploy AI at scale. But scaling AI means more data centers—and data centers consume vast quantities of energy. On this episode of The McKinsey Podcast, McKinsey’s Jesse Noffsinger…
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Gen AI is here—but where are its users?
Gen AI is evolving fast—but employee adoption is slow for most companies. On this episode of The McKinsey Podcast, we feature an episode of our technology podcast, At the Edge. Tech visionaries Navin Chaddha, managing…
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Which tech trends are rising to the top of the business agenda?
Global competition has intensified, and the demand for energy and computing power is growing exponentially as companies embed AI, robotics, and other technologies into their everyday business processes. McKinsey’s…
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Building leaders from the ground up
CEOs are confronting double the number of critical issues today compared with ten years ago. On this episode of The McKinsey Podcast, McKinsey Senior Partners Daniel Pacthod and Kurt Strovink, along with McKinsey…
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Rewinding 2025: A year of The McKinsey Podcast insights—in under 10 minutes
This year on The McKinsey Podcast, we’ve dived into an array of topics on leadership, organizational change, and technological innovation, talking to McKinsey’s most seasoned experts about how to lead during times of…
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How agentic AI could transform travel
Yes, dreaming up your next getaway can be exhilarating. But booking it? Often less so. For many customers, the thrill of travel risks getting lost in logistics, says McKinsey Senior Partner Jules Seeley. On this…
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Productivity first: AI and the COO agenda
From gen AI pilots to automated supply chains, technology is reshaping how operations leaders create efficiencies, build resilience, and encourage teamwork. On this episode of The McKinsey Podcast, McKinsey Senior…
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