The McKinsey Podcast

Hosted by McKinsey & Company

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Episodes

100

Latest episode

Oct 2026

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EN-US

About the show

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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60 recent

October 15, 202621 min

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: financial security, regardless of race, income, or geography. On this episode of The McKinsey Podcast , Senior Partner Diana Ellsworth and Partner JP Julien join Editorial Director Roberta Fusaro to explore findings from the survey—offering employers, educators, and policymakers a clearer picture of what would move the needle for many Americans. The McKinsey Podcast is cohosted by Lucia Rahilly and Roberta Fusaro. Any unanswered questions about this episode? Send them our way at: TheMcKinseyPodcast@mckinsey.com Theme music composed, performed, and produced by Joy Ngiaw. See www.mckinsey.com/privacy-policy for privacy information

October 8, 202617 min

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 Geopolitics Ziad Haider joins Editorial Director Roberta Fusaro to unpack five tools for sharpening foresight: horizon scanning, scenario planning, contingency planning, simulations, and tabletop exercises. They discuss why so few companies use these tools at scale, how AI is starting to reshape geopolitical risk assessment, and why human judgment remains essential for seeing around corners. The McKinsey Podcast is cohosted by Lucia Rahilly and Roberta Fusaro. Any unanswered questions about this episode? Send them our way at: TheMcKinseyPodcast@mckinsey.com Theme music composed, performed, and produced by Joy Ngiaw. See www.mckinsey.com/privacy-policy for privacy information

October 1, 202618 min

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. Physical AI could begin to change that, expanding the range of tasks machines can perform reliably, safely, and economically. That means more than robots that can outpace Usain Bolt; it means intelligent, adaptable systems that “sense, decide, and act based on the physical world around them,” according to McKinsey Senior Partner Mark Patel . And that physical world is “full of corner cases.” On this episode of The McKinsey Podcast , Patel and McKinsey Partner Ani Kelkar join Global Editorial Director Lucia Rahilly to explain what physical AI looks like, where it could create value, and what leaders should know now to begin taking advantage of its potential for impact. The McKinsey Podcast is cohosted by Lucia Rahilly and Roberta Fusaro. This episode has been adapted from our McKinsey Live webinar series . See www.mckinsey.com/privacy-policy for privacy information

September 24, 202624 min

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 is also cofounder of Sierra—which helps some of the world’s biggest companies build sophisticated AI agents, including about 40 percent of the Fortune 50. Taylor speaks with Eric Kutcher , McKinsey senior partner and chair of North America, about where AI is already reshaping customer service, sales, and software engineering; why open-weight models will always have a place despite the frontier labs’ cost advantage; and why he thinks the data center buildout—despite its real financial risk—is a bet the US needs to make. In this recurring series on The McKinsey Podcast , Kutcher speaks with top CEOs about the practice of leadership. The McKinsey Podcast is regularly cohosted by Lucia Rahilly and Roberta Fusaro. See www.mckinsey.com/privacy-policy for privacy information

September 17, 202624 min

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 behaviors can seem perfectly rational. Collectively, they can bring a transformation to a standstill. On this episode of The McKinsey Podcast , McKinsey Senior Partner Kurt Strovink and Partner Mathew Lee join Global Editorial Director Lucia Rahilly to discuss five collective-action problems that inhibit transformation success, and what leaders need to know to spot them early—and solve them. Any unanswered questions about this episode? Send them our way at: TheMcKinseyPodcast@mckinsey.com Theme music composed, performed, and produced by Joy Ngiaw. See www.mckinsey.com/privacy-policy for privacy information

September 10, 202610 min

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 The McKinsey Podcast , we share an adapted conversation from the McKinsey Global Institute’s (MGI) podcast A Century of Plenty , which draws on insights from the institute’s recent book of the same name. The book’s coauthors, McKinsey’s Chris Bradley , Marc Canal , Nick Leung , and Sven Smit, explore whether a new era of broad-based prosperity will extend into the next century. After, McKinsey Editorial Director Roberta Fusaro is joined by coauthor Sven Smit, senior partner emeritus, to discuss where the next big ideas will come from and how leaders should think about knowledge and judgment in an AI-driven world. For more insights from the book and to hear more from its authors, tune into MGI’s new podcast series A Century of Plenty on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. The McKinsey Podcast is cohosted by Lucia Rahilly and Roberta Fusaro. Any unanswered questions about this episode? Send them our way at: TheMcKinseyPodcast@mckinsey.com Theme music composed, performed, and produced by Joy Ngiaw. See www.mckinsey.com/privacy-policy for privacy information

September 3, 202625 min

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 bringing factories home. The US imports roughly $3 trillion in manufactured goods each year, and some of its most critical supply chains would require a dramatic expansion of domestic capacity. On this episode of The McKinsey Podcast , McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) Chair and Senior Partner Shubham Singhal and Senior Fellow Rebecca J. Anderson join Editorial Director Roberta Fusaro to explore where the United States is most vulnerable, what it could cost to rebuild critical manufacturing capacity, and how AI, investment, and American innovation could change the equation. Any unanswered questions about this episode? Send them our way at: TheMcKinseyPodcast@mckinsey.com Theme music composed, performed, and produced by Joy Ngiaw. See www.mckinsey.com/privacy-policy for privacy information

August 27, 202621 min

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 below 40 percent,” says Danielle Bozarth, global leader of McKinsey’s Retail and Consumer Packaged Goods Practices . In this episode of McKinsey Podcast , Bozarth joins Senior Partner Clarisse Magnin and Global Editorial Director Lucia Rahilly to talk about AI-powered shopping and other trends reshaping consumers’ path to purchase—and what brands need to do differently to keep up with them. The McKinsey Podcast is cohosted by Lucia Rahilly and Roberta Fusaro. This episode has been adapted from our McKinsey Live webinar series . Any unanswered questions about this episode? Send them our way at: TheMcKinseyPodcast@mckinsey.com Theme music composed, performed, and produced by Joy Ngiaw. See www.mckinsey.com/privacy-policy for privacy information

August 20, 202623 min

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 Podcast, McKinsey senior partner and North America chair Eric Kutcher, speaks with Andrew Schlossberg, president and CEO of Invesco, about navigating market volatility, putting AI directly in employees' hands rather than dictating it from the top, and slowing down to speed up. In this recurring series on The McKinsey Podcast, Kutcher speaks with top CEOs about the practice of leadership. The McKinsey Podcast is regularly cohosted by Lucia Rahilly and Roberta Fusaro. Theme music composed, performed, and produced by Joy Ngiaw. See www.mckinsey.com/privacy-policy for privacy information

August 13, 202624 min

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 & Infrastructure Practice. And that’s just one of the many ways airlines are reinventing the premium experience for a burgeoning customer segment: the affluent vacationers now occupying seats once dominated by corporate road warriors. In this episode of The McKinsey Podcast , Saxon talks with Global Editorial Director Lucia Rahilly about why premium leisure travel is on the rise, what that means for airline economics, and how it’s prompting carriers to rethink everything from pricing to service to cabin design and product innovation. The McKinsey Podcast is cohosted by Lucia Rahilly and Roberta Fusaro. Any unanswered questions about this episode? Send them our way at: TheMcKinseyPodcast@mckinsey.com Theme music composed, performed, and produced by Joy Ngiaw. See www.mckinsey.com/privacy-policy for privacy information