Most leaders herald the promise of AI, but many employees see it as a looming threat—a modern echo of Annie Oakley’s classic lines: “Anything you can do, I can do better. I can do anything better than you.” What does it take, then, to lead constructive partnerships between humans and AI agents at work? In this episode of The McKinsey Podcast, McKinsey Senior Partner Alexis Krivkovich and McKinsey Global Institute Partner Anu Madgavkar speak with Global Editorial Director Lucia Rahilly about new research on what AI can and can’t do, where humans will continue to add value, and what needs to happen to help all of us work side-by-side with agents and robots successfully.

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

Most leaders herald the promise of AI, but many employees see it as a looming threat&mdash;a modern echo of Annie Oakley&rsquo;s classic lines: &ldquo;Anything you can do, I can do better. I can do anything better than you.&rdquo; What does it take, then, to lead constructive partnerships between humans and AI agents at work? In 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/alexis-krivkovich">Alexis Krivkovich</a> and McKinsey Global Institute Partner <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/our-people/anu-madgavkar">Anu Madgavkar</a> speak with Global Editorial Director Lucia Rahilly about new research on what AI can and can&rsquo;t do, where humans will continue to add value, and what needs to happen to help all of us work side-by-side with agents and robots 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.