Inside the Strategy Room

Sourcing and retaining talent is an evergreen challenge for companies, and it is even more important to realizing value creation goals in private capital backed companies. In this episode we hear from two of our experts on the subject. Marla Capozzi is a partner in our Boston office and a leader and founder of CEO Alpha, our initiative to deliver outperformance for private company CEOs and future...

Organizations often struggle to adapt to change, whether technological, economic, or geopolitical. Yet change is inevitable, especially as technology evolves. This week, we are joined by retired Central Intelligence Agency Director John Brennan, who, from 2013 to 2017, transformed the agency’s organizational structure to better meet its full potential. John spoke with Megan McConnell, a partner ba...

McKinsey innovation leader Erik Roth speaks with Shiprocket cofounder and CEO Saahil Goel about how he built his e-commerce logistics company into a highly successful platform that is helping launch new entrepreneurs all over India. Related Insights  Follow The Committed Innovator podcast: https://omny.fm/shows/the-committed-innovator   Read the transcript: https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/st...

This week, we feature a conversation between Alex Gorsky, former chair and CEO of Johnson & Johnson, and Andy West , senior partner and global coleader of our Strategy and Corporate Finance Practice. Alex discusses his approach to developing strategy, the challenges and rewards of developing a successful innovation and M&A pipeline, and his approach to decision-making and building a star t...

This week, we discuss strategies for navigating geopolitical uncertainty with the authors of a recent article on the subject. Michael Birshan is a senior partner and co-leads our Strategy & Corporate Finance practice globally and also serves on the McKinsey Global Institute Council, Ziad Haider is a partner and our global director of geopolitical risk, and Olivia White is a senior partner and...

Senior partners Alex D’Amico , Michael Birshan , and Andy West join us for a conversation about the latest developments in the field of strategy. They discuss how generative AI will change strategy creation, the importance of developing distinctive insights as part of the strategy process, and how to avoid social dynamics from derailing your organization’s best-laid plans. Related insights: Strate...

This week, Sandy Boss, Senior Managing Director at global investment firm BlackRock and Chair of BlackRock UK, joins us on the podcast. In a conversation with Michael Birshan , a senior partner and the global coleader of our Strategy & Corporate Finance Practice, Sandy shares her insights on geopolitics and the energy transition as well as her ‘five Cs’ for CFOs looking to take an investor’s p...

Companies have endless initiatives and plans, all with the promise to transform the organization and deliver attractive financial returns. However experience indicates companies should focus on building an institutional capability that has the power to separate them from the rest. To discuss how to build this superpower we’re joined by Brad Mendelson , a senior partner based in our Cleveland Ohio...

We’re joined by three McKinsey M&A experts to discuss the ways that generative AI is being used to streamline and improve the M&A process, from target identification to deal execution. Ben Ellencweig leads our work in M&A, alliances, and partnerships globally for QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey . Rui Silva helps lead our work across a range of M&A topics, including how to execute larg...

This week, we’re joined by senior partners Kurt Strovink and Ramesh Srinivasan , coauthors, along with Hans-Werner Kaas and Dana Maor, of a new McKinsey book,  The Journey of Leadership: How CEOs Learn to Lead from the Inside Out . It is the first-ever look behind the curtain at McKinsey’s step-by-step approach to helping leaders transform both professionally and personally. It introduces a new, m...

This week, we’re joined by Scott Herren , Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Cisco Systems, and Eric Kutcher , Senior Partner and Chair of McKinsey & Company, North America. They discuss the rationale for Cisco's recent acquisition, the role of CFOs in driving change within a company, the impact of AI on finance, and the current geopolitical and economic climate. Related i...

This week, we return to the CFO journey and discuss how CFOs can drive outperformance in the middle years of their tenure. We’re joined by Ankur Agrawal , a partner in our New York office, a leader in our Strategy and Corporate Finance and Healthcare practices, and the leader of our CFO and finance service line in the Americas. Christian Grube is a partner in our Munich office, leader in our Strat...

This week, we discuss how companies can create value in today’s complex business environment and communicate that value effectively to investors by demonstrating strategic clarity and consistency amid uncertainty. Our guests are Justin Sanders , a partner in New York and a leader in our Corporate Finance Practice, and Cassandre Danoux, a partner in London who leads our Joint Ventures and Alliances...

This week, we are joined by John Di Bert , CFO of Air Canada, and John Kelleher , a senior partner based in Toronto and the global co-leader of our Finance and Capital Markets service line. Recorded at our recent CFO forum in London, this discussion delves into how Air Canada is positioning itself for sustainable growth and stability, the key financial strategies that other CFOs can apply in simil...

This week, we delve into a McKinsey.com report on family-owned businesses (FOBs) that demonstrates how, by combining four critical mindsets with five strategic actions, FOBs have a chance to quadruple their value in the next decade while maintaining resilience. Our guests are  Eduardo Asaf who is a partner in McKinsey’s Mexico City office,  Acha Leke , who is a senior partner in our Johannesburg o...

This week, Yuval Atsmon , the newly appointed head of McKinsey's finance function, joins us to share his perspectives on the chief finance role. Yuval is also a client-serving senior partner in our firm's Technology, Media & Telecommunications, and Consumer Packaged Goods practices, where he’s focused on helping companies with growth-led transformations. Yuval is based in London, where we reco...

Leading the finance function of a large company comes with a broad mandate requiring wide-ranging capabilities and experience. This week, three experts join us to explain how CFO hopefuls can acquire the credentials that matter most today. Ankur Agrawal is a partner in our New York office and a leader in our Strategy and Corporate Finance and Healthcare Practices. He also heads our CFO and Finance...

In today's episode, we discuss the top 10 questions boards should ask to ensure comprehensive cybersecurity oversight. We’re joined by Justin Greis , a partner in our Chicago office who leads McKinsey’s cybersecurity work in North America; Daniel Wallance, a senior expert in our New York office who focuses on cybersecurity and technology resilience in financial institutions, critical infrastructur...

We discuss the challenges and opportunities of building new businesses within an organization during a transformation. How should business leaders balance the need for transformation with pursuing new business ventures? What is the role of strategy in business reinvention? What evidence is there that optimizing the core business and building new businesses translates into higher performance?  Our...

Innovation in online gaming requires keeping up with a broad mix of changes, including digital advances, audience desires, and artistic trends. In this episode, McKinsey innovation expert Erik Roth talks with Mihir Vaidya , the chief strategy officer of Electronic Arts , about these unique aspects of innovating in the gaming industry.   We hope Erik and Mihir’s conversation will be valuable for al...

In today's episode, we delve into practical strategies that organizations can implement to effectively manage and adapt during times of uncertainty. We explore a range of approaches, including scenario planning, risk management, cultivating leadership skills, and leveraging technology. Our guests also underscore the critical need for agility and swift decision-making when facing unpredictable cond...

We are excited to present a special bonus episode of the Deal Volume podcast, which is produced by our Private Capital Practice . Our guest host for this episode is Brian Vickery , a partner in the practice who is joined by the practice's leaders, senior partners Fredrik Dahlqvist and David Quigley, to discuss key insights from the 2024 edition of our Global Private Markets Review. We hope you enj...

Today’s discussion covers several topics from our recent report on top M&A trends. We’re joined by senior partners Jake Henry and Mieke Van Oostende, who co-lead our M&A work globally, and senior partners Michael Birshan and Andy West, who co-lead our Strategy and Corporate Finance Practice. We discuss the changing landscape of M&A, the shift from consolidation to growth and capability...

The need for board-level strategic conversations on geopolitical risk is urgent. To discuss how boards can guide companies through an increasingly complex geopolitical environment, we’re joined by Jon Huntsman Jr. Jon is a former US governor and diplomat who has spent nearly two decades in US public service at the state, national, and international levels. He sits on the boards of Ford, Mobileye,...

Midcap companies have vast opportunities to increase their performance and scale if they reinvent how they work.  M idsize companies  don’t dominate the headlines and investor attention the way large corporations do, but they represent more than 40 percent of the global workforce and account for approximately one-third of most economies’ GDP. However, the productivity of small and midsize business...