AI has yet to deliver the ROI many leaders expected. What are they getting wrong? “This is probably the biggest, most complex transformation we’ve seen—but it’s 80 percent business transformation and 20 percent tech,” according to McKinsey’s North America Chair Eric Kutcher. “That’s different from how most people have thought about it.” On this episode of The McKinsey Podcast, Eric speaks with Global Editorial Director Lucia Rahilly about how CEOs can deliver on AI’s revolutionary potential—and meet this “legacy moment” successfully.

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

AI has yet to deliver the ROI many leaders expected. What are they getting wrong? &ldquo;This is probably the biggest, most complex transformation we&rsquo;ve seen&mdash;but it&rsquo;s 80 percent business transformation and 20 percent tech,&rdquo; according to McKinsey&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/our-people/eric-kutcher">North America Chair Eric Kutcher</a>. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s different from how most people have thought about it.&rdquo; On this episode of <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/mckinsey-podcast">The McKinsey Podcast</a>, Eric speaks with Global Editorial Director Lucia Rahilly about how CEOs can deliver on AI&rsquo;s revolutionary potential&mdash;and meet this &ldquo;legacy moment&rdquo; successfully.
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.

How the best CEOs are meeting the AI moment

The US has had a phenomenal run of success: at 250 years old, it’s home to the world’s most competitive economy, accounting for more than a quarter of global GDP and more than half of the world’s top 100 companies. But America also confronts a raft of new challenges—mounting national debt, eroding infrastructure, slipping test scores, persistent income disparity, and more—that could threaten its historical momentum.

“I don’t bet against the US,” says McKinsey’s North America Chair Eric Kutcher. “If you believe in entrepreneurial spirit as core to who we are, then you have to believe this success will continue. But it’s not a foregone conclusion. There’s a lot that must happen to enable it.”

In this episode of The McKinsey Podcast, Kutcher and Senior Partner Olivia White speak with Global Editorial Director Lucia Rahilly about new McKinsey Global Institute research on what drives the US’s competitive edge—and what leaders need to do to maintain that edge in the AI era.

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

The US has had a phenomenal run of success: at 250 years old, it&rsquo;s home to the world&rsquo;s most competitive economy, accounting for more than a quarter of global GDP and more than half of the world&rsquo;s top 100 companies. But America also confronts a raft of new challenges&mdash;mounting national debt, eroding infrastructure, slipping test scores, persistent income disparity, and more&mdash;that could threaten its historical momentum.
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t bet against the US,&rdquo; says McKinsey&rsquo;s North America Chair <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/our-people/eric-kutcher">Eric Kutcher</a>. &ldquo;If you believe in entrepreneurial spirit as core to who we are, then you have to believe this success will continue. But it&rsquo;s not a foregone conclusion. There&rsquo;s a lot that must happen to enable it.&rdquo;
In this episode of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/mckinsey-podcast">The McKinsey Podcast</a>, Kutcher and Senior Partner <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/our-people/olivia-white">Olivia White</a> speak with Global Editorial Director Lucia Rahilly about <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/mgi/our-research/at-250-sustaining-americas-competitive-edge">new McKinsey Global Institute research</a> on what drives the US&rsquo;s competitive edge&mdash;and what leaders need to do to maintain that edge in the AI era.
Theme music composed, performed, and produced by Joy Ngiaw.

Can the US sustain its competitive edge?

Yes, AI is astonishing: fast, powerful,and learning every day. But even as leaders strike up new pilots across their organizations, most still struggle to translate experimentation into enterprise value—and now, agentic AI is raising the stakes. In this episode of The McKinsey Podcast, McKinsey Senior Partner Alexis Krivkovich speaks with Global Editorial Director Lucia Rahilly about what it will take to build an “agentic organization”—from reimagining workflows to reshaping leadership roles, skills, and culture for a future where humans increasingly operate above the loop.

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

Yes, AI is astonishing: fast, powerful, and learning every day. But even as leaders strike up new pilots across their organizations, most still struggle to translate experimentation into enterprise value&mdash;and now, agentic AI is raising the stakes. In this episode of <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/mckinsey-podcast">The McKinsey Podcast</a>, McKinsey <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/our-people/alexis-krivkovich">Senior Partner Alexis Krivkovich</a> speaks with Global Editorial Director Lucia Rahilly about what it will take to build an &ldquo;agentic organization&rdquo;&mdash;from reimagining workflows to reshaping leadership roles, skills, and culture for a future where humans increasingly operate above the loop.
Theme music composed, performed, and produced by Joy Ngiaw.

AI is everywhere. The agentic organization isn’t—yet

Companies backed by private equity (PE) tend to transform faster and more often than public or family-owned firms do, leading to consistently outperforming their peers. Marla Capozzi and Sacha Ghai, McKinsey leaders, researched nearly 300 CEOs across PE and private-capital companies to define their tactics and share their best practices with others. They and their coauthors published the findings in a recent Harvard Business Review article, and in this episode of The McKinsey Podcast, they speak with Editorial Director Roberta Fusaro about lessons from PE that any company can implement.

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

Companies backed by private equity (PE) tend to transform faster and more often than public or family-owned firms do, leading to consistently outperforming their peers. <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/our-people/marla-capozzi">Marla Capozzi</a> and <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/our-people/sacha-ghai">Sacha Ghai</a>, McKinsey leaders, researched nearly 300 CEOs across PE and private-capital companies to define their tactics and share their best practices with others. They and their coauthors published the findings in a recent <a href="https://hbr.org/2025/11/what-every-company-can-learn-from-private-equity">Harvard Business Review article</a>, and in this episode of <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/mckinsey-podcast">The McKinsey Podcast</a>, they speak with Editorial Director Roberta Fusaro about lessons from PE that any company can implement.
Theme music composed, performed, and produced by Joy Ngiaw.

How the best CEOs are meeting the AI moment

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