The McKinsey Podcast
Episodes
Leadership lessons from private equity CEOs
19 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Companies backed by private equity (PE) tend to transform faster and more often than public or family-owned firms do, leading to consistently outperfo...
Trust in the age of agents
05 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Many leaders can get agentic pilots rolling—but realizing ROI can mean activating thousands of AI agents enterprise-wide. Is your organization r...
What does it take to achieve and sustain growth?
19 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
McKinsey research has found that while many leaders believe they’ve adopted and implemented productive mindsets for growth, those attitudes and ...
A new way of thinking about metabolic health
05 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode of The McKinsey Podcast, Lars Hartenstein, senior fellow at the McKinsey Health Institute, and Roberta Fusaro, an editorial director a...
Special episode: 2026 Davos highlights
29 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
This is a special episode of The McKinsey Podcast covering last week’s meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos. McKinsey Senior Partners Be...
How the best CEOs are meeting the AI moment
22 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
AI has yet to deliver the ROI many leaders expected. What are they getting wrong? “This is probably the biggest, most complex transformation we&...
Special episode: McKinsey at CES 2026
09 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas offers a showcase for breakthrough AI applications, humanoid robots, advances in mobility, and more....
Rewinding 2025: A year of The McKinsey Podcast insights—in under 10 minutes
19 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This year on The McKinsey Podcast, we’ve dived into an array of topics on leadership, organizational change, and technological innovation, talki...
How agentic AI could transform travel
04 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
How AI is redefining the COO’s role
20 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
From gen AI pilots to automated supply chains, technology is reshaping how operations leaders create efficiencies, build resilience, and encourage tea...
A more accurate way to measure consumer engagement
06 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Not all consumer attention is created equal—that’s a critical lesson from McKinsey’s recent report on content creation and monetizat...
Remanufacturing: Turning old parts into new opportunities
23 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What if a product’s journey didn’t end after its first use? Remanufacturing—restoring preowned parts to perform like new—is tr...
What sets the world’s best leaders apart
09 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Most leaders set out to be the best—but few make that Mount Everest–like ascent successfully. What do the world’s most iconic CEOs d...
The promise and potential of rural America
26 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
There is no single definition of “rural America.” It comprises agricultural hubs, manufacturing centers, and fast-growing regions—ea...
Which tech trends are rising to the top of the business agenda?
11 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Global competition has intensified, and the demand for energy and computing power is growing exponentially as companies embed AI, robotics, and other ...
The changing role of the CMO—and what it means for growth
28 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Chief marketing officers are vital to strategic decision-making, but increasingly, they’re being left out of the discussions that matter most&md...
The future of work is agentic
15 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Think about your org chart. Now imagine it features both your current colleagues—humans, if you’re like most of us—and AI agent...
A conversation about valuation
31 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Don’t lose sight of the long term. It’s a core message from the eighth edition of Valuation: Measuring and Managing the Value of Companies...
What the latest trends in sporting goods mean for brands
17 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Pickleball, padel—yes, they’re hot. Nevertheless, a third of the world’s adults are inactive—and among youth, inactivity ...
Tariffs and trade: Preparing for the unpredictable
03 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
As geopolitical tensions persist, global trade dynamics are becoming increasingly complex—and many leaders find themselves on tenterhooks. On th...
Confronting the affordable-housing crisis
24 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The US housing crunch is bad—and it’s getting worse. Wider access to safe, affordable homes is vital to enabling economic mobility for all...
Data centers: The race to power AI
05 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Leaders worldwide are moving fast to deploy AI at scale. But scaling AI means more data centers—and data centers consume vast quantities of ener...
Time to revisit your M&A strategy
22 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
M&A activity is down, as is private equity investment, and companies are facing a range of new geopolitical tensions. Still, there is a path to gr...
Don’t get stuck in a rut—update how you operate
08 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 t...
Quantum computing: Game on
24 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Quantum computing has long been technology’s white whale. But in recent months, new developments suggest practical applications for this elusive...
The fashion industry faces a world in flux
11 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
One thing is clear for the fashion industry in 2025. Due to climate change, global trade uncertainties, and consumers focused on value, growth is expe...
When the career ladder breaks for women—and how to succeed anyway
27 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Career advancement is tough for everyone—but for women, it can feel particularly elusive. There’s a reason for that, according to the new ...
Gen AI is here—but where are its users?
13 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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...
McKinsey’s highlights from Mobile World Congress
05 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Companies are getting practical about how to create value from gen AI – while 5G, satellites, and innovations in phone design&nbs...
What's next for global banking?
28 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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&rsq...
Building leaders from the ground up
14 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
CEOs are confronting double the number of critical issues today compared with ten years ago. On this episode of The McKinsey Podcast, McKinsey Senior ...
Special episode: Debriefing Davos 2025
29 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The World Economic Forum was buzzing as leaders confront a world in flux. In this episode of The McKinsey Podcast, McKinsey senior partners Daniel Pac...
Navigating the new geopolitical uncertainty
16 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Yes, the changing geopolitical reality presents new risks—but like all disruptions, it may also create new opportunities. On this episode o...
Replaying a full year of The McKinsey Podcast—in just ten minutes
19 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Technology, talent, decarbonization—we explored these and many other topics this year on The McKinsey Podcast. A range of McKinsey partners...
The industries reshaping our global economy
12 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
“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’...
What will it take for working women to rise?
21 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Ten years of research on women in the workplace, conducted by McKinsey in partnership with LeanIn.Org, reveals what’s better, what’s worse...
Special episode: Climate adaptation is one key theme at COP 29
14 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This is a special, bonus episode of The McKinsey Podcast. McKinsey partner Alexis Trittipo joins us from the UN climate change conference (aka COP 2...
CEO Tufan Erginbilgiç on reinventing Rolls-Royce
08 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Since Tufan Erginbilgiç took the helm of the iconic brand, its share price has surged. Profits have more than doubled. How he did it is a case study ...
How the top UK companies have set themselves up for success
24 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
If you have an ambition but no plan behind it, you’re probably not going to get the results you’re looking for. According to recent McKinsey resea...
Rewiring for the era of gen AI
10 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It’s easy to fall in love with gen AI—but recent research suggests that realizing its value is harder than the hype. Rewired offers a playbook tha...
A net zero reality check
26 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Optimists, pessimists—who’s right? On this episode of The McKinsey Podcast, McKinsey senior partner Humayun Tai, partner Mekala Krishnan and globa...
Leading from the inside-out: Why CEOs must make time for self-reflection
12 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The greatest CEOs are necessarily driven, decisive, and confident. But McKinsey senior partner Ramesh Srinivasan, senior partner emeritus Hans-Werner ...
A look at the technology trends that matter most
05 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Innovation and interest in the tech sector remain strong, despite market challenges and dips in investment. On this episode of The McKinsey Podcast, M...
Will generative AI hurt middle managers—or help them?
22 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Bogged down, bothered, beleaguered: Many middle managers have it bad—and they can also have a bad rap. In Power to the Middle: Why Managers Hold the...
The key to accelerating AI development? Pragmatism plus imagination
08 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
While AI continues to influence the way we work in exciting new ways, it is crucial for organizations to apply guardrails to keep it safe. On this epi...
Think you know what consumers want? Think again.
25 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Consumers say they want experiences over goods. As always, they are looking to get the most value for their dollar. Even when it comes to sustainably ...
Gen AI and beyond: Where else to focus now
12 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Gen AI has rightly seized leaders’ attention. But is it also eclipsing lower-profile digital imperatives? On this episode of The McKinsey Podcast, M...
The ups and downs of global productivity
27 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Labor productivity over the past 25 years has been a success story for some, a tale of stagnation for others. Investments and digital transformation c...
A new itinerary for the tourism industry
13 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
McKinsey spoke with more than 5,000 travelers across geographies and generations as part of a recently published survey that reveals clear differences...
The case for space
30 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The universe isn’t the only thing expanding. Governments have invested in space technology for decades, and now business is accelerating its growth....
What’s new in consumer wellness trends?
16 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Pass the probiotics and the clinically effective products over the “clean and natural” ones: McKinsey’s latest research on the future of wellnes...
Gen AI talent: Your next flight risk
02 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Active users of generative AI are high value and in demand—and in many cases, poised to quit. New research reveals how to attract them, keep them en...
Everything you wanted to know about carbon removals but were afraid to ask
18 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Decarbonization has emerged as a critical tool in the fight against climate change, but it also shows promise as a means of economic acceleration acro...
CEO priorities: Where to focus as the year unfolds
04 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Over the past several years, CEOs have faced mounting uncertainty–and 2024 is proving no exception. On this episode of The McKinsey Podcast, Homayou...
Are women's prime working years in peril?
21 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Women’s healthcare has been neglected for decades. On this episode of The McKinsey Podcast, McKinsey senior partners Kweilin Ellingrud and Lucy Pér...
Analyzing the CEO–CMO relationship and its effect on growth
07 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
CEOs acknowledge the expertise and importance of chief marketing officers and their role in helping the company grow, yet there’s still a strategic ...
McKinsey’s key takeaways from Mobile World Congress
28 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This is a special, bonus episode of The McKinsey Podcast. McKinsey Partner Ferry Grijpink joins host Roberta Fusaro from the annual Mobile World Congr...
How to be a better chief of staff
22 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Confidante. Consultant. Convener. The chief of staff (COS) role sits at the intersection of leadership and support. It also comes with enormous respon...
Location, location, location: The impact of place on racial equity
08 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
There is a dramatic difference in health, economic, and social outcomes for Black US residents compared with their White neighbors. On this episode of...
McKinsey's takeaways from the World Economic Forum
27 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Geopolitics, the women's health gap, economic inclusion, and technology are a few of the themes highlighted at last week's World Economic Forum in Dav...
Busting myths about women in the workplace
25 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
For years, women have been fighting for faster career advancement and more equitable representation at work. On this week’s episode of The McKinsey ...
The changing landscape for banks
11 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Though the banking industry has had its best period since 2007, banks still need to acknowledge recent structural and macroeconomic shifts and look fo...
What business can learn from "geeks"
28 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
What is a geek? What geek norms are associated with success? Andrew McAfee will answer these questions and more. He’s a principal research scienti...
Holiday shopping: Consumer savvy and retailer responses
14 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Across the United States, consumers are continuing to spend, but they’re not opening their wallets too wide. Joining us are McKinsey partners Collee...
Getting ahead in the cloud
30 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Who is productive, and who isn’t? Here’s how to tell.
16 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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...
What AI means for travel–now and in the future
02 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
“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 pandem...
The future of real estate in a hybrid world
19 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 episo...
Funnel vision: Marketing with an investor mindset
04 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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, ...
Generative AI: How will it affect future jobs and workflows?
21 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
As companies struggle to understand the implications and applications of generative AI, one thing seems clear: AI and its future iterations are not go...
Getting to the bottom of the teen mental health crisis
07 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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, ...
Don't wait–create with generative AI
24 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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...
The path to greater productivity and prosperity in Africa
10 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 infra...
Are middle managers your next ace in the hole?
28 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Business lore is freighted with misadventures in middle management. Yet middle managers are critical to organizational health and performance, and the...
What really works when it comes to digital and AI transformations?
13 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
By now, most leaders understand the importance—or, increasingly, the inevitability—of digital and AI transformation. But fewer executives are clea...
Sustainability sells in the US consumer market
29 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 y...
A peek at the future health and wealth of our global economy
15 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Banking instability. High interest rates. Pervasive geopolitical upset. These and other headwinds are pressing powerfully against leaders’ and organ...
Getting a read on the state of organizations
01 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode of The McKinsey Podcast, McKinsey senior partners Dana Maor and Patrick Simon speak with McKinsey editorial director Roberta Fusaro ab...
How to revive US productivity
18 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Why restoring natural capital is good for business
21 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
From regular water shortages in California to a nitrogen crisis in the Netherlands, the deterioration of natural capital has had tangible consequences...
Six CEO priorities for 2023
05 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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...
A guide to investing in Black economic mobility
23 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Forty percent of Black American households don’t have high-speed, fixed broadband, according to recent McKinsey research. That digital divide is jus...
The CEO agenda: Prioritizing geopolitical risk
09 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Geopolitical risk, an issue once deferred, is now demanding immediate attention. Hear how leaders must challenge the fundamentals of how operations ha...
Women in the workplace are breaking up to break through
23 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
"Women leaders are voting with their feet," says McKinsey senior partner Alexis Krivkovich on this week’s episode of The McKinsey Podcast. She and s...
How our interconnected world is changing
09 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Globalization isn’t going away, but it is changing, according to recent research from theMcKinsey Global Institute (MGI). In this episode of The McK...
Net zero: Next moves for CEOs
27 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Net zero doesn’t have to mean zero sum. In this episode of The McKinsey Podcast, McKinsey partner Anna Moore and senior partner Humayun Tai talk to ...
New year, new tech, no problem
13 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
McKinsey analyzed 14 new trends in its latest report on business technology. Here are the three that leaders need to know about most. In this episode ...
Why on earth should business care about space?
29 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The volume of information available from space is unprecedented. McKinsey experts Ryan Brukardt and Jesse Klempner join host and McKinsey partner, Min...
The future of US manufacturing is hiding in plain sight
16 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Boring is beautiful when it drives economic prosperity. Cue industrial technology companies, whose under-the-radar successes are powering a resurgence...
Electric vehicles are here, and large-scale adoption is. . . near?
29 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
While the internal-combustion engine dominates car design, its existence contributes to global warming and detracts from electric-vehicle (EV) develop...
When things get rocky, practice deliberate calm
10 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In unusually difficult situations, a counterintuitive response to stress is what many leaders should aim for, say Jacqueline Brassey, McKinsey senior ...
Build back better relationships at work
20 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Social capital, a technical term for connectivity in the workplace, is important for helping employees execute, learn, innovate, and advance in organi...
Beyond burnout: What helps–and what doesn’t
06 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Yoga. Therapy. Meditation. Yes, wellness perks are helpful, but they’re not a panacea for workplace stress. In this episode of The McKinsey Podcast,...
Slow down attrition: Focus on what workers want
22 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Is there any way to stop the Great Attrition? McKinsey expert associate partner, Bonnie Dowling, says yes. In this episode of The McKinsey Podcast, sh...
The two-wheeled commute: Micromobility and your future
08 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Scooters. Bikes. E-mopeds. If you’re an urban dweller, you’ve probably seen a variety of these vehicles whizzing by—and you’re likely to see m...
What makes an organization 'healthy'?
25 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Lucia and Roberta are taking a summer break, so please enjoy this popular and previous episode about organizational health. Research shows that compan...
Creating good packaging for packaged goods
11 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Read more > Listen to the podcast (duration: 21:59) > Lucia and Roberta are taking a summer break, so today we feature an...
Apprenticeship gets a makeover
28 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of The McKinsey Podcast, Lisa Christensen, a McKinsey director of learning and McKinsey partner Tony Gambell speak with McKinsey execu...
Learning and earning: the bold moves that change careers
14 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Corporate attrition persists, but one way to lure employees back is to develop their knowledge, attributes, experiences—in short, their human capita...
How current global trends are disrupting the fashion industry
23 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Fashion suppliers and brands are facing significant economic and geopolitical challenges. Hear McKinsey senior partner Achim Berg speak with executive...