Long-term value creation is foundational to building strong companies and economies, yet many leaders struggle to ensure that well-conceived, well-executed strategies receive full recognition from investors. Senior Partner Ryan Davies and Associate Partner Jacob Marcus join us to discuss how to anticipate investor reactions, assess opportunities to outperform expectations, and embed an investor mindset into decision-making to build greater resilience.

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Private equity 2026 outlook: Clearer view, tougher terrain

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Long-term value creation is foundational to building strong companies and economies, yet many leaders struggle to ensure that well-conceived, well-executed strategies receive full recognition from investors. Senior Partner&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/our-people/ryan-davies">Ryan Davies</a>&nbsp;and Associate Partner Jacob Marcus join us to discuss how to anticipate investor reactions, assess opportunities to outperform expectations, and embed an investor mindset into decision-making to build greater resilience.
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<a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/private-capital/our-insights/global-private-markets-report">Global Private Markets Report 2026</a>
<a href="https://omny.fm/shows/inside-the-strategy-room/293-private-equity-2026-outlook-clearer-view-tougher-terrain">Private equity 2026 outlook: Clearer view, tougher terrain</a>
<a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/transformation/our-insights/unlocking-full-potential-five-practices-reshaping-pe-value-creation">Unlocking full potential: Five practices reshaping PE value creation</a>
<a href="https://omny.fm/shows/inside-the-strategy-room/306-transforming-value-creation-in-private-equity-portfolio-companies">Transforming value creation in private equity portfolio companies</a>
<a href="https://omny.fm/shows/inside-the-strategy-room/304-the-coming-wave-of-business-transfers">The coming wave of business transfers</a>
<a href="https://omny.fm/shows/inside-the-strategy-room/302-what-every-ceo-can-learn-from-private-equity">What every CEO can learn from private equity</a>
<a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/how-ceos-can-play-the-long-game-in-a-shortsighted-world">The CEO&rsquo;s Guide to the Investment Galaxy</a>

We talk with McKinsey partners and corporate executives on the challenges they face creating lasting strategies in a fast-changing world. We also examine the different ways these executives approach these challenges and the new and innovative ways they think of creating a vision for their enterprises.

What does it take to survive in a world of constant change? More than ever, enterprises need to create strategies that can meet current needs but also adapt to future demand. A regular series of interviews with McKinsey partners and corporate executives.

Inside the Strategy Room

The world is moving faster, and as upheaval becomes the norm, vast business opportunities will be within the grasp of the extraordinary few.  But it takes bold people and courageous approaches to seize those opportunities and create value.

In each episode of our weekly podcast, we interview the world’s highest-performing CEOs, CFOs, innovators, and McKinsey experts and discuss how they build the courage, clarity, conviction, and cohesion that allow their businesses to win by moving faster than the world around them. 

The world is moving faster, and as upheaval becomes the norm, vast business opportunities will be within the grasp of the extraordinary few. &nbsp;But it takes bold people and courageous approaches to seize those opportunities and create value.
In each episode of our weekly podcast, we interview the world&rsquo;s highest-performing CEOs, CFOs, innovators, and McKinsey experts and discuss how they build the courage, clarity, conviction, and cohesion that allow their businesses to win by moving faster than the world around them.&nbsp;

313. Driving value with an investor mindset

As we enter the fourth quarter, we look to where M&A stands and how dealmakers can finish strong. We also explore how AI is rewriting the traditional M&A playbook: success no longer comes from scale alone, but from building intelligent platforms and capabilities that compound over time to drive growth. Benjamin Houssard, Kameron Kordestani, Alex Liu, and Tobias Lundberg walk through how to leverage AI to turn a series of transactions into a self-reinforcing growth engine.

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Culture in M&A

Using M&A to launch a transformation

As we enter the fourth quarter, we look to where M&amp;A stands and how dealmakers can finish strong. We also explore how AI is rewriting the traditional M&amp;A playbook: success no longer comes from scale alone, but from building intelligent platforms and capabilities that compound over time to drive growth. <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/our-people/benjamin-houssard?cid=cl4c-cml&amp;sid=%7b%7blead.SFDC%20Id:default=CL4C%7d%7d">Benjamin Houssard</a>, <a href="https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fin%2Fkameronkordestani%2F&amp;data=05%7C02%7CClare_Kitada-SYDN%40external.mckinsey.com%7C1185d76734c84e6ba02a08df1f06e638%7Ccc8936bc93824fff87cb6f55999549e7%7C0%7C0%7C639263786669490784%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=U6lvMeK4p%2FIbHkg%2BxvXK7o6iErUkoOrlYSpEoP47zaM%3D&amp;reserved=0">Kameron Kordestani</a>, <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/our-people/alex-liu?cid=cl4c-cml&amp;sid=%7b%7blead.SFDC%20Id:default=CL4C%7d%7d">Alex Liu</a>, and <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/our-people/tobias-lundberg">Tobias Lundberg</a> walk through how to leverage AI to turn a series of transactions into a self-reinforcing growth engine.
Related insights
<a href="https://prod.mckinsey.com/capabilities/m-and-a/our-insights/top-m-and-a-trends">2026 M&amp;A trends: Navigating a rapidly rebounding market</a>
<a href="https://prod.mckinsey.com/capabilities/m-and-a/our-insights/technology-m-and-a-ai-enters-its-industrial-phase">Technology M&amp;A: AI enters its industrial phase</a>
<a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/m-and-a/our-insights/five-steps-to-strengthen-m-and-a-capabilities-no-matter-the-starting-point">Five steps to strengthen M&amp;A capabilities, no matter the starting point</a>
<a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/m-and-a/our-insights/gen-ai-in-m-and-a-from-theory-to-practice-to-high-performance">Gen AI in M&amp;A: From theory to practice to high performance</a>
<a href="https://prod.mckinsey.com/capabilities/m-and-a/our-insights/advanced-industries-geopolitics-economics-and-technology-drive-m-and-a">Advanced industries: Geopolitics, economics, and technology drive M&amp;A</a>
<a href="https://omny.fm/shows/inside-the-strategy-room/in-conversation-culture-in-m-a">Culture in M&amp;A</a>
<a href="https://omny.fm/shows/inside-the-strategy-room/192-using-m-a-to-launch-a-transformation">Using M&amp;A to launch a transformation</a>

325. M&A heading into Q4: How AI is reshaping value creation

As AI models become increasingly sophisticated, organizations and their leaders need to maintain awareness of the opportunities and challenges each new model can present. Specifically, the newest Frontier Lab LLMs are able to chain together and exploit vulnerabilities in even the most sophisticated organizations. Charlie Lewis and Marie-Claude Nadeau join us to discuss the threats posed by these models and how organizations can stay ahead of rapidly emerging cybersecurity challenges while also realizing their benefits.


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Cybersecurity and trustworthy systems

The speed problem: How frontier AI exposes weakness in enterprise cybersecurity

Quantum is almost here: Are you and your systems ready?

Deploying agentic AI with safety and security: A playbook for technology leaders

As AI models become increasingly sophisticated, organizations and their leaders need to maintain awareness of the opportunities and challenges each new model can present. Specifically, the newest Frontier Lab LLMs are able to chain together and exploit vulnerabilities in even the most sophisticated organizations. <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/our-people/charlie-lewis">Charlie Lewis</a> and <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/our-people/marie-claude-nadeau">Marie-Claude Nadeau</a> join us to discuss the threats posed by these models and how organizations can stay ahead of rapidly emerging cybersecurity challenges while also realizing their benefits.
 Related insights
<a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/tech-and-ai/our-insights/the-top-trends-in-tech">McKinsey Technology Trends Outlook 2026</a>
<a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/tech-and-ai/our-insights/the-top-trends-in-tech#cybersecurity-and-trustworthy-systems">Cybersecurity and trustworthy systems</a>
<a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/risk-and-resilience/our-insights/the-speed-problem-how-frontier-ai-exposes-weakness-in-enterprise-cybersecurity">The speed problem: How frontier AI exposes weakness in enterprise cybersecurity</a>
<a href="https://prod.mckinsey.com/capabilities/risk-and-resilience/our-insights/quantum-is-almost-here-are-you-and-your-systems-ready">Quantum is almost here: Are you and your systems ready?</a>
<a href="https://prod.mckinsey.com/capabilities/risk-and-resilience/our-insights/deploying-agentic-ai-with-safety-and-security-a-playbook-for-technology-leaders">Deploying agentic AI with safety and security: A playbook for technology leaders</a>

325. Addressing AI Frontier Lab model risks and opportunities

Episode description

Executives have more data, more frameworks, and more advice than ever, and yet their confidence in their strategies keeps falling. Andy West, Tim Koller, and Whitney Zimmerman, authors of our forthcoming book Strategy and Value: The Four Foundations That Drive Long-Term Performance, join us to discuss how winning companies leverage the four foundations that drive long-term performance and value creation

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Strategy and Value: The Four Foundations That Drive Long-Term Performance

Strategy’s biggest blind spot: Erosion of competitive advantage

How to maximize competitive advantage (podcast)

Ten Timeless Tests: Have you tested your strategy lately? 

How top economic performers lean into their competitive advantage to guide their strategy

Valuation: Measuring and managing the value of companies

 

Episode description
Executives have more data, more frameworks, and more advice than ever, and yet their confidence in their strategies keeps falling. <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/our-people/andy-west?cid=cl4c-cml&amp;sid=%7b%7blead.SFDC%20Id:default=CL4C%7d%7d">Andy West</a>, <a href="https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fin%2Ftimkoller%2F&amp;data=05%7C02%7CClare_Kitada-SYDN%40external.mckinsey.com%7C7875f620e57d42762bfd08df1dbaa813%7Ccc8936bc93824fff87cb6f55999549e7%7C0%7C0%7C639262359712776817%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=KYa1NIG0Oree44OSE0ImMepkyDz3gAdYOwRTmqBa%2FRs%3D&amp;reserved=0">Tim Koller</a>, and <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/our-people/whitney-zimmerman">Whitney Zimmerman</a>, authors of our forthcoming book <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/mckinsey-on-books/strategy-and-value">Strategy and Value: The Four Foundations That Drive Long-Term Performance</a>, join us to discuss how winning companies leverage the four foundations that drive long-term performance and value creation
Related insights
<a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/mckinsey-on-books/strategy-and-value">Strategy and Value: The Four Foundations That Drive Long-Term Performance</a>
<a href="https://prod.mckinsey.com/capabilities/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/strategys-biggest-blind-spot-erosion-of-competitive-advantage">Strategy&rsquo;s biggest blind spot: Erosion of competitive advantage</a>
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmeGg9ruEhk&amp;list=PLFUo1mP7MU2M&amp;index=7">How to maximize competitive advantage</a> (podcast)
<a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/have-you-tested-your-strategy-lately">Ten Timeless Tests: Have you tested your strategy lately?&nbsp;</a>
<a href="https://prod.mckinsey.com/capabilities/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/how-top-economic-performers-lean-into-their-competitive-advantage-to-guide-their-strategy">How top economic performers lean into their competitive advantage to guide their strategy</a>
<a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/valuation-measuring-and-managing-the-value-of-companies">Valuation: Measuring and managing the value of companies</a>
&nbsp;

313. Driving value with an investor mindset

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