The McKinsey Podcast

For years, women have been fighting for faster career advancement and more equitable representation at work. On this week’s episode of The McKinsey Podcast, McKinsey senior partners Alexis Krivkovich and Lareina Yee talk with global editorial director Lucia Rahilly about the 2023 Women in the Workplace report —and specifically, our newest research on where progress is happening, where it’s not, an...

Though the banking industry has had its best period since 2007, banks still need to acknowledge recent structural and macroeconomic shifts and look for ways to evolve with markets. On this episode of The McKinsey Podcast , McKinsey senior partner Alex Edlich and partner Reinhard Höll join editorial director Roberta Fusaro to discuss the findings of McKinsey’s Global Banking Annual Review . They ou...

What is a geek? What geek norms are associated with success?  Andrew McAfee will answer these questions and more. He’s a principal research scientist at the MIT Sloan School of Management and author of the new book, The Geek Way: The Radical Mindset that Drives Extraordinary Results . This is a guest episode from McKinsey’s Forward Thinking podcast, with co-host and McKinsey partner Michael Chui....

Across the United States, consumers are continuing to spend, but they’re not opening their wallets too wide. Joining us are McKinsey partners Colleen Baum and Tamara Charm who say retailers that offer personalized promotions, same-day delivery, and “buy now, pay later” plans are more likely to capture cautious consumers’ holiday spending. Learn more about US consumers’ holiday shopping behaviors a...

We’ve all heard lots about cloud technology, but, according to new McKinsey research , only 20 to 30 percent of industries are using it regularly and at scale. On today’s episode of The McKinsey Podcast, McKinsey senior partners Mark Gu and James Kaplan share findings from the report, “In search of cloud value: Can generative AI transform cloud ROI?” They talk about why cloud technology is essenti...

If productivity is down in your organization, it may be a sign that at least some employees are unmotivated and unhappy—and that other employees are feeding on that dissatisfaction, further eroding productivity and creating attrition. On this episode of The McKinsey Podcast , McKinsey senior partner Aaron De Smet and partner Angelika Reich talk about McKinsey’s latest research on employee producti...

“Revenge travel.” It’s what a lot of people are doing these days–hitting the runways in big numbers to make up for time lost during the pandemic. McKinsey recently partnered with Skift, a leading travel industry news site, to write a report about travel in the age of AI. McKinsey partners Alex Cosmas and Vik Krishnan join global editorial director Lucia Rahilly to discuss a new report on travel in...

Hybrid work has roiled the real estate market—and it’s here to stay, according to  new research from the McKinsey Global Institute . On this episode of  The McKinsey Podcast , McKinsey senior partners Aditya Sanghvi and Jonathan Woetzel chat with global editorial director Lucia Rahilly about how the persistence of the pivot to working from home has transformed the places we work, live, shop, and s...

When times get tough, marketing budgets are among the first ones cut. But such cutbacks can be shortsighted. On this edition of The McKinsey Podcast, McKinsey senior partner Kelsey Robinson chats with cohost and editorial director Roberta Fusaro about why chief marketing officers should instead be empowered to adopt an investor mindset—that is, focus on eliminating inefficient spending and reinves...

As companies struggle to understand the implications and applications of generative AI, one thing seems clear: AI and its future iterations are not going anywhere. On this episode of The McKinsey Podcast , senior partner Kweilin Ellingrud and partner Saurabh Sanghvi share findings from McKinsey’s latest report on gen AI with editorial director Roberta Fusaro and explain why companies must pivot to...

The stakes are high when it comes to tackling the unprecedented mental health issues facing today’s teens. In this episode of The McKinsey Podcast , global editorial director Lucia Rahilly speaks with McKinsey partner and coleader of the McKinsey Health Institute Erica Coe and the founding president and medical director of the Child Mind Institute, Harold Koplewicz, about what the struggle means f...

Good things will come to those companies that don’t wait. McKinsey AI experts Michael Chui and Alex Singla discuss McKinsey’s new report about the generative AI opportunity with global editorial director Lucia Rahilly. Hear how companies should immediately seize the gen AI opportunity to gain competitive advantage. But first, McKinsey senior partner Kelsey Robinson points out a consumer spending d...

By 2050, about 25 percent of the world’s population will be from the African continent. What can be done now to support Africa’s educational infrastructure, bountiful resources, and technological innovation? On this episode of The McKinsey Podcast , McKinsey partner Mayowa Kuyoro and senior partner Acha Leke share details from their latest research on Africa and outline the strengths and assets th...

Business lore is freighted with misadventures in middle management. Yet middle managers are critical to organizational health and performance, and they are only becoming more so as work continues to transform, according to the new book Power to the Middle: Why Managers Hold the Keys to the Future of Work (Harvard Business Review Press, July 2023). On this episode of The McKinsey Podcast, authors E...

By now, most leaders understand the importance—or, increasingly, the inevitability—of digital and AI transformation. But fewer executives are clear about how to knit systems, people, and processes together in the most productive way. McKinsey senior partners Eric Lamarre, Kate Smaje, and Rodney Zemmel have written Rewired: The McKinsey Guide to Outcompeting in the Age of Digital and AI (Wiley, Jun...

When you’re grocery shopping and see a product that claims it’s “good for the planet” or “society” - are you more inclined to buy it? If yes was your answer, you’re not alone. This is according to a joint study by McKinsey and Nielson IQ about US consumer behavior and spending. Today we’re sharing an episode from the McKinsey on Consumer and Retail podcast that talks all about it. Regular programm...

Banking instability. High interest rates. Pervasive geopolitical upset. These and other headwinds are pressing powerfully against leaders’ and organizations’ attempts to be more productive and create more economic value. In this episode of The McKinsey Podcast , senior partner Sven Smit puts these trends in context. He shares findings from the McKinsey Global Institute’s latest Future of Wealth re...

On this episode of The McKinsey Podcast , McKinsey senior partners Dana Maor and Patrick Simon speak with McKinsey editorial director Roberta Fusaro about three of the ten most asked-about shifts featured in the recently released State of Organizations report: increasing speed and strengthening resilience, the hybrid workplace, and building capabilities in a rapidly changing workplace. After, it c...

Once an engine of US power and prosperity, US labor productivity has grown at a sluggish 1.4 percent since 2005. Imminent challenges such as workforce shortages, debt, inflation, and the cost of energy could be ameliorated with higher productivity. On this episode of The McKinsey Podcast, Olivia White , a McKinsey senior partner and a director of the McKinsey Global Institute, and McKinsey partner...

From regular water shortages in California to a nitrogen crisis in the Netherlands, the deterioration of natural capital has had tangible consequences—and given rise to a reckoning within business and government. On this episode of The McKinsey Podcast , McKinsey partner Josh Katz and associate partner Caroline De Vit talk with global editorial director Lucia Rahilly about a recently published spe...

Over the past few years, CEOs have found themselves repeatedly recalibrating in the wake of shock after shock. As 2023 shapes up to be another year of uncertainty, stable ground may continue to seem elusive. In this episode of The McKinsey Podcast , Homayoun Hatami, senior partner and managing partner for global client capabilities, and chief client officer Liz Hilton Segel talk about what matters...

Forty percent of Black American households don’t have high-speed, fixed broadband, according to recent McKinsey research . That digital divide is just one of eight investment opportunities that have the highest potential to move the needle on Black economic mobility. On today’s episode of The McKinsey Podcast , McKinsey senior partner Shelley Stewart III speaks with editorial director Roberta Fusa...

Geopolitical risk, an issue once deferred, is now demanding immediate attention. Hear how leaders must challenge the fundamentals of how operations have traditionally been run to adapt to a multipolar world. In this episode of The McKinsey Podcast, senior partner Andrew Grant and global director of geopolitical risk Ziad Haider speak with to global editorial director Lucia Rahilly about McKinsey’s...

"Women leaders are voting with their feet," says McKinsey senior partner Alexis Krivkovich on this week’s episode of The McKinsey Podcast . She and senior partner Lareina Yee speak with global editorial director Lucia Rahilly to dig into the latest Women in the Workplace research . They break down the reasons behind “the great breakup” and what organizations must do to materially value diversity,...

Globalization isn’t going away, but it is changing, according to recent research from the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI). In this episode of The McKinsey Podcast , MGI director Olivia White speaks with global editorial director Lucia Rahilly about the flows of goods, knowledge, and labor that drive global integration—and what reshaping these flows might mean for our interconnected future. After,...