Leaders worldwide are moving fast to deploy AI at scale. But scaling AI means more data centers—and data centers consume vast quantities of energy. On this episode of The McKinsey Podcast, McKinsey’s Jesse Noffsinger and Pankaj Sachdeva speak with Global Editorial Director Lucia Rahilly about what needs to happen to build new, bigger data centers quickly, as well as to sate their growing hunger for power.

Articles mentioned: 

A generational shift: The future of foreign aid

Risk rebalancing: Five important geopolitical-risk questions for CIOs

Theme music composed, performed, and produced by Joy Ngiaw

Leaders worldwide are moving fast to deploy AI at scale. But scaling AI means more data centers&mdash;and data centers consume vast quantities of energy. On this episode of <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/mckinsey-podcast">The McKinsey Podcast</a>, McKinsey&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/our-people/jesse-noffsinger">Jesse Noffsinger</a> and <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/our-people/pankaj-sachdeva">Pankaj Sachdeva</a> speak with Global Editorial Director Lucia Rahilly about what needs to happen to build new, bigger data centers quickly, as well as to sate their growing hunger for power.
Articles mentioned:&nbsp;
<a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/social-sector/our-insights/a-generational-shift-the-future-of-foreign-aid">A generational shift: The future of foreign aid</a>
<a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/mckinsey-digital/our-insights/risk-rebalancing-five-important-geopolitical-risk-questions-for-cios">Risk rebalancing: Five important geopolitical-risk questions for CIOs</a>
Theme music composed, performed, and produced by Joy Ngiaw

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.

The McKinsey Podcast features conversations with experts from global management-consulting firm McKinsey & Company, focusing on the issues that matter most in business and management.

The McKinsey Podcast

Our flagship series The McKinsey Podcast 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.

Our flagship series The McKinsey Podcast takes you inside our global firm, and features conversations with experts on issues that matter most in business and management. McKinsey &amp; 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.

Data centers: The race to power AI

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.

Geopolitical surprise has become a permanent cost of doing business&mdash;and a one-size-fits-all approach to scenario planning can&rsquo;t keep pace with it. In this episode of <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/mckinsey-podcast">The McKinsey Podcast</a>, Partner and Global Director of Geopolitics <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/our-people/ziad-haider">Ziad Haider</a> 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: <a href="mailto:TheMcKinseyPodcast@mckinsey.com">TheMcKinseyPodcast@mckinsey.com</a>
Theme music composed, performed, and produced by Joy Ngiaw.

The playbook for seeing around geopolitical corners

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.

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 &ldquo;sense, decide, and act based on the physical world around them,&rdquo; according to McKinsey Senior Partner <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/our-people/mark-patel">Mark Patel</a>. And that physical world is &ldquo;full of corner cases.&rdquo;
On this episode of <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/mckinsey-podcast">The McKinsey Podcast</a>, Patel and McKinsey Partner <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/our-people/ani-kelkar">Ani Kelkar</a> 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 <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/mckinsey-live/webinars/physical-ai-the-hidden-value-pools-leaders-are-missing">McKinsey Live webinar series</a>.

The hidden value of physical AI

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.

 

What happens when AI agents&nbsp;can reason through problems well enough to complete real work on their own?&nbsp;This episode of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/mckinsey-podcast">The McKinsey Podcast</a>&nbsp;offers answers to that question and more from OpenAI&rsquo;s chair Bret Taylor, who is also cofounder of Sierra&mdash;which helps some of the world&rsquo;s biggest companies build sophisticated AI agents, including about 40 percent of the Fortune 50.&nbsp;Taylor speaks with&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/our-people/eric-kutcher">Eric Kutcher</a>, 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&rsquo; cost advantage; and why he thinks the data center buildout&mdash;despite its real financial risk&mdash;is a bet the US needs to make.&nbsp;
In this recurring series on The McKinsey Podcast, Kutcher speaks with top CEOs about the practice of leadership.
The McKinsey Podcast&nbsp;is regularly cohosted by Lucia Rahilly and Roberta Fusaro.
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Data centers: The race to power AI

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