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.
&nbsp;

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.

Democratized superintelligence is coming: The world needs to get ready 

The toughest transformation problems aren’t always strategic or operational. They’re human: the instinct to play it safe, protect what’s ours, trust who we know, and wait for change to pass. Individually, these behaviors can seem perfectly rational. Collectively, they can bring a transformation to a standstill. On this episode of The McKinsey Podcast, McKinsey Senior Partner Kurt Strovink and Partner join Global Editorial Director Lucia Rahilly to discuss five collective-action problems that inhibit transformation success, and what leaders need to know to spot them early—and solve them. 

 

Any unanswered questions about this episode? Send them our way at:  TheMcKinseyPodcast@mckinsey.com

 

Theme music composed, performed, and produced by Joy Ngiaw.

The toughest transformation problems aren&rsquo;t always strategic or operational. They&rsquo;re human: the instinct to play it safe, protect what&rsquo;s ours, trust who we know, and wait for change to pass. Individually, these behaviors can seem perfectly rational. Collectively, they can bring a transformation to a standstill. On this episode of <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/mckinsey-podcast">The McKinsey Podcast</a>, McKinsey Senior Partner<a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/our-people/kurt-strovink"> Kurt Strovink</a> and Partner<a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/our-people/mathew-lee"></a> join Global Editorial Director Lucia Rahilly to discuss <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/transformation/our-insights/collective-action-collective-success-a-ceos-role-in-transformations">five collective-action problems</a> that inhibit transformation success, and what leaders need to know to spot them early&mdash;and solve them.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
Any unanswered questions about this episode? Send them our way at:&nbsp; <a href="mailto:TheMcKinseyPodcast@mckinsey.com">TheMcKinseyPodcast@mckinsey.com</a>
&nbsp;
Theme music composed, performed, and produced by Joy Ngiaw.

Why transformations stall—and where only CEOs make the difference

Over the past 100 years, humanity has made stunning advances: longer lives, higher incomes, and billions of people lifted out of poverty. Much of that progress remains uneven and incomplete, however. On this episode of The McKinsey Podcast, we share an adapted conversation from the McKinsey Global Institute’s (MGI) podcast A Century of Plenty, which draws on insights from the institute’s recent book of the same name. The book’s coauthors, McKinsey’s Chris Bradley, Marc Canal, Nick Leung, and Sven Smit, explore whether a new era of broad-based prosperity will extend into the next century. After, McKinsey Editorial Director Roberta Fusaro is joined by coauthor Sven Smit, senior partner emeritus, to discuss where the next big ideas will come from and how leaders should think about knowledge and judgment in an AI-driven world. 

For more insights from the book and to hear more from its authors, tune into MGI’s new podcast series A Century of Plenty on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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.

Over the past 100 years, humanity has made stunning advances: longer lives, higher incomes, and billions of people lifted out of poverty. Much of that progress remains uneven and incomplete, however. On this episode of <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/mckinsey-podcast">The McKinsey Podcast</a>, we share an adapted conversation from the McKinsey Global Institute&rsquo;s (MGI) podcast A Century of Plenty, which draws on insights from the institute&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/mgi/our-research/a-century-of-plenty">recent book</a> of the same name. The book&rsquo;s coauthors, McKinsey&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/our-people/chris-bradley">Chris Bradley</a>, <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/our-people/marc-canal">Marc Canal</a>, <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/our-people/nick-leung">Nick Leung</a>, and Sven Smit, explore whether a new era of broad-based prosperity will extend into the next century.&nbsp;After, McKinsey Editorial Director Roberta Fusaro is joined by coauthor Sven Smit, senior partner emeritus, to discuss where the next big ideas will come from and how leaders should think about knowledge and judgment in an AI-driven world.&nbsp;
For more insights from the book and to hear more from its authors, tune into MGI&rsquo;s new podcast series A Century of Plenty on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
The McKinsey Podcast is cohosted by Lucia Rahilly and Roberta Fusaro.
Any unanswered questions about this episode? Send them our way at:&nbsp;<a href="mailto:TheMcKinseyPodcast@mckinsey.com">TheMcKinseyPodcast@mckinsey.com </a>
Theme music composed, performed, and produced by Joy Ngiaw.

Is progress behind us, or is ‘plenty’ still possible?

Geopolitical fragmentation, the rise of AI, and growing concern about supply chain resilience are putting US manufacturing back in the spotlight. But strengthening America’s industrial base isn’t simply a matter of bringing factories home. The US imports roughly $3 trillion in manufactured goods each year, and some of its most critical supply chains would require a dramatic expansion of domestic capacity. 

 

On this episode of The McKinsey Podcast, McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) Chair and Senior Partner Shubham Singhal and Senior Fellow Rebecca J. Anderson join Editorial Director Roberta Fusaro to explore where the United States is most vulnerable, what it could cost to rebuild critical manufacturing capacity, and how AI, investment, and American innovation could change the equation.

 

Any unanswered questions about this episode? Send them our way at: TheMcKinseyPodcast@mckinsey.com

 

Theme music composed, performed, and produced by Joy Ngiaw.

Geopolitical fragmentation, the rise of AI, and growing concern about supply chain resilience are putting <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/mgi/our-research/ramping-up-manufacturing-in-america">US manufacturing</a> back in the spotlight. But strengthening America&rsquo;s industrial base isn&rsquo;t simply a matter of bringing factories home. The US imports roughly $3 trillion in manufactured goods each year, and some of its most critical supply chains would require a dramatic expansion of domestic capacity.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
On this episode of <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/mckinsey-podcast">The McKinsey Podcast</a>, McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) Chair and Senior Partner <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/our-people/shubham-singhal">Shubham Singhal</a> and Senior Fellow <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/our-people/rebecca-j-anderson">Rebecca J. Anderson</a> join Editorial Director Roberta Fusaro to explore where the United States is most vulnerable, what it could cost to rebuild critical manufacturing capacity, and how AI, investment, and American innovation could change the equation.
&nbsp;
Any unanswered questions about this episode? Send them our way at:&nbsp;<a href="mailto:TheMcKinseyPodcast@mckinsey.com">TheMcKinseyPodcast@mckinsey.com</a>
&nbsp;
Theme music composed, performed, and produced by Joy Ngiaw.

Democratized superintelligence is coming: The world needs to get ready

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