McKinsey & Company

The clean-energy landscape today looks bumpy, marked by broad uncertainties across a fast-changing space. Global decarbonization and European energy independence rely on the deployment of clean-energy technology. Yet geopolitical and technological developments are creating potential disruptions, shifting focus from a rapid energy transition to other priorities, including the race to lead in gen AI, increased defense budgets in European countries, and new trade alliances. Today’s evolving tariff environment piles on…

This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.Why does capital efficiency matter more than ever today? Ishaan Nangia: Capital efficiency matters more today than ever because of the confluence of three forces we’re seeing at play. The first is geopolitical uncertainty, driving huge cost increases and supply chain challenges. For example, some materials categories have grown in cost by 90 percent since 2020. If we look at skilled labor across…

Dilip Shanghvi established Sun Pharma more than 40 years ago, and since its founding, the Mumbai-based company has become the largest pharmaceutical company in India and is active in more than 100 countries across the globe. After four decades, Shanghvi has succeeded in developing the company by approaching bold risks in a calculated way, balancing resilience and innovation. But he hasn’t done it alone—Shanghvi has also prioritized building a collaborative…

I belong. I contribute. I have a future here. When frontline production workers are saying that, companies can rest assured they’re doing something right. Every employer in the production ecosystem should aspire to cultivate these sentiments. And it’s not just a matter of fuzzy feelings—companies thrive when their workers do, and vice versa. Amid today’s incredibly competitive market for frontline production talent, there’s little margin for error. Industry continues to…

This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.Scott Woodruff: We're seeing a range of trends that are changing, and in some cases disrupting, the way companies develop and commercialize products. One trend is the influx of technology. Advances in AI and generative AI are really having an impact across the end-to-end development process, driving faster time to market and better product results. The second trend is packaging rising to the…

This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.What are the most significant impacts of AI and gen AI on supply chain planning and execution? What can we learn from leaders who have successfully scaled these innovations? I think today we’re finally at a time when gen AI is more than just hype. I’ve seen this play out in the supply chain across industries, and there are three important use cases…

The US healthcare system has long been lauded for its innovation and high caliber of talent. But alongside these accomplishments are some major downfalls. Healthcare in the United States is expensive—for individuals and companies—and it’s only getting pricier. The healthcare system has relied on the same organizational structures and processes for treating patients for more than 100 years, even though the world has changed exponentially around it. And although innovative…

As chief people and sustainability officer for Xylem, a global water solutions provider, Claudia Toussaint has helped oversee an operating model transformation that is on track to meet its strategic goals. In an interview with McKinsey Senior Partner Brooke Weddle, Toussaint discusses how analytics and other tools—including tiny robots that can crawl through pipes to warn of potential water breaks—reflect the company’s sustainability principles and bring value to customers. Toussaint…

This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.Amid disruptions, where are the biggest opportunities for improvements in customer service? Services represent 60 percent of the $100 trillion global economy, and they are at a pivotal moment now. For service organizations to stay ahead, there are a few big opportunities they cannot miss. First is the realization that the era of incremental improvements is over. Service institutions have a unique opportunity…

Pickleball, padel—yes, they’re hot. Nevertheless, a third of the world’s adults are inactive—and among youth, inactivity is even more pronounced, according to McKinsey Partner Alexander Thiel. In this episode of The McKinsey Podcast, Alexander joins Global Editorial Director and Deputy Publisher Lucia Rahilly to discuss this year’s whipsawing consumer trends, as well as what sporting goods leaders can do to harness them to combat slowing growth.The McKinsey Podcast is cohosted…

Energy demand in the United States is projected to grow roughly ten times as fast in the coming decade as it did over the past ten years. This is largely driven by electrification, data center load growth, and increased demand from the manufacturing sector. While renewables are expected to make up a significant share of the new supply to meet this demand, they are not enough: To reliably deliver power…

Every chief operating officer (COO) knows this simple truth: Delivering the company’s strategy isn’t just part of the job—it is the job. While there are many paths to achieving that goal, none can succeed for long without increased productivity, the foundation for financial performance and economic growth. Since the 2008 global financial crisis, global productivity growth has largely declined around the world. Even before the crisis, advanced economies’ productivity growth…

The global asset management industry is at a critical juncture. Longstanding tailwinds —primarily in the form of low interest rates and stable GDP growth—have changed direction, compounding ongoing challenges presented by the shift from active to passive and traditional to alternatives. Together, these trends are forcing firms to discover more sustainable pathways to outperformance. After a decade of unprecedented market growth, industry costs have become increasingly sticky and revenues unpredictable.…

Findings from economic geographer Bent Flyvbjerg, editor of The Oxford Handbook of Megaproject Management (Oxford University Press, June 2017), confirm a stark reality: Out of a database of 16,000 projects, only 8.5 percent met their cost and schedule targets, and a mere 0.5 percent achieved all promised benefits. This phenomenon, which he calls the “iron law of megaprojects,” underscores that underperformance is the norm. We agree, as our in-depth review…

For generations, automotive OEMs sought to distinguish themselves in the marketplace through the styling, quality, and performance of their cars. Another front, software development, is now a top priority. As cars have become more reliant on software to enable required systems and functions as well as to create a distinctive customer experience, conventional OEMs have struggled to keep up with development speed, quality, and cost—mainly due to their legacy setup.…

Construction is one of the world’s largest industries, accounting for 13 percent of global GDP. Yet it also struggles with low productivity growth and performance while facing urgent needs for more skilled labor, steadier supply chains, simpler regulations, and predictable commodity and equipment pricing. These would be challenging at any time but are particularly significant today as investment surges amid infrastructure renewal, the energy transition, and increased demand for data…

Once in a great while, a technological innovation comes along that changes the world, and businesses have to adjust—or potentially decline into irrelevance. The Industrial Revolution’s steam engine and the mechanization of production allowed for a shift from largely agrarian to urban lifestyles. The birth of the internet brought us enhanced real-time communication, e-commerce, cloud computing, and more. Now, it’s AI’s turn. This powerful technology is rapidly transforming workflows, driving…

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) transformations are often large and complex investments that can cost millions of dollars and take many years to complete. They are also notoriously difficult to manage, and it is not uncommon for companies to run into delays and cost increases. METRO AG, a multinational food wholesaler based in Düsseldorf, Germany, was facing significant problems with its ERP transformation. In this interview, McKinsey’s Florian Bauer speaks with…

Business leaders have come to a stark revelation: The gap between their companies’ tech workers and their nontech colleagues must shrink. The emergence of digital technologies, especially the rapid rise of AI over the past two years, comes with immense promise to unleash growth and productivity. But companies will not see those benefits if their employees are not up to speed. Achieving the full benefits of digital and AI technologies…

It has been described as “the biggest and most economically significant bilateral trade deal the UK has done since leaving the EU.” On May 6, 2025, the United Kingdom and India signed the historic UK-India Free Trade Agreement (FTA), which both governments estimate will increase bilateral trade by $34 billion a year. This comes on top of a near doubling of the existing trading relationship between the two countries from…

This interview is part of the Leading Asia series, which features in-depth conversations with the region’s most influential leaders on what it takes to lead in Asia today. In this Leading Asia interview, Avinash Goyal, a senior partner at McKinsey, talks to Rajesh Rathi, the chairman and managing director of Sudarshan Chemical Industries Limited. With over 50 years in operation and a presence in more than 85 countries, the business…

This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity. What themes should chief procurement officers (CPOs) focus on to unlock new value sources in a volatile era? Tarandeep Ahuja: We are seeing procurement leaders focus on five key themes to drive sustainable competitive advantage in their organizations today: First, a full adoption of digital and AI, both as a source of identifying new opportunities and also generating efficiencies across the supply…

Addressing the climate transition requires a new way of thinking. On the one hand, if the goal is net-zero emissions by 2050, the world is well short of meeting it. The United Nations has noted that there are big gaps between the targets that countries have committed to and the actions being taken to meet them. At the same time, there are real concerns that taking effective action could raise…

The defense landscape in Europe is evolving fast, with active conflicts and novel hybrid threats affecting countries’ critical infrastructure and economies. Innovation will be a key enabler for Europe’s defense industrial base as the region seeks ways to scale the defense industry, drive more capabilities, and better collaborate to ensure its industrial competitiveness. Having joined Saab in 1985, and having recently been elected as president and chairman of the Aerospace,…

As the world shifts toward a more sustainable future, addressing carbon emissions remains a top priority. Renewable energy sources are rapidly expanding and driving the decarbonization effort, yet certain industries, particularly those with hard-to-abate (HtA) emissions, require additional solutions.HtA industries are sectors with high energy requirements that face significant challenges in reducing their carbon emissions due to the nature of their processes. In 2022, the three main HtA industries—cement, steel,…

A large fashion retailer faces the possibility that much of its supply chain will be subject to 90 percent tariffs depending on how and when geopolitical winds shift. A global industrial-equipment maker needs to quickly redesign a flagship product that keeps malfunctioning because of stronger and more frequent weather events. A consumer-packaged-goods company needs to optimize its coding and product-marketing processes given that gen AI can automate both—and competitors are…

Karlie Kloss, founder of Kode With Klossy (KWK), and Osi Imeokparia, KWK’s CEO, say the process of coding builds more career skills than knowing how to write instructions for a computer. On this episode of At the Edge podcast, they speak with McKinsey Senior Partner Lareina Yee about how KWK’s programs teaching 13-to-18-year-old young women and gender-expansive teens how to code help enable the students to develop critical thinking skills, improve…

The European asset management industry is facing rocky times. Although assets under management (AUM) are at record levels, structural trends are putting pressure on long-term viability. At the same time, the industry is facing an uncertain macroeconomic environment and geopolitical tensions, leading to lower levels of net flows and higher market volatility. European asset managers have also lost ground to US players. In light of these developments, European asset managers…

The future is already here—it’s just not evenly distributed.William Gibson (Cyberpunk documentary, 1990) The dizzying speed at which AI technology is evolving makes it nearly impossible to keep up with the many new ways that it could transform how people work. Yet for most organizations, the gap between what’s possible and what’s implemented is steadily widening. A 2024 McKinsey Global Survey found that nine in ten employees used gen AI for…

The US shale industry has moved through two distinct eras of transformation, and it is now entering a third. After years of rapid growth and a sharp focus on cash, the industry’s boldest chapter may be unfolding, defined by unprecedented scale, geologic uncertainty, macro volatility, and accelerating innovation. Thriving in this new era will be all about leveraging scale: transforming operations and supply chains, elevating and integrating commercial strategies for…

Transformative technologies don’t come along very often, so when they do it pays to act quickly. When gen AI algorithms were launched in 2022, banks wasted little time exploring their potential in core commercial credit activities. But three years later, the results are mixed, with some institutions making good progress in putting the technology to work while others lag behind, a new study from McKinsey and the International Association of…

John Stankey has led AT&T as CEO since July 2020 and was elected chairman of the board in February this year. Over his 40-year tenure, John has held senior leadership roles across the breadth of AT&T’s businesses. These include turns as chief strategy officer and chief technology officer. In this episode of the Inside the Strategy Room podcast, John talks with McKinsey Senior Partner and North America Chair Eric Kutcher on…

As geopolitical tensions persist, global trade dynamics are becoming increasingly complex—and many leaders find themselves on tenterhooks. On this episode of The McKinsey Podcast, Cindy Levy and Shubham Singhal, two global coleaders of McKinsey’s geopolitics work, join Global Editorial Director Lucia Rahilly to discuss how to move forward amid rapidly reconfiguring trade relationships—regardless of the way current tariff talks play out.This conversation has been adapted from our McKinsey Live series. The…

The gap is widening between what is needed from an efficient, effective HR function and what most organizations currently offer. Enhancing employee experience is widely seen as a cornerstone duty of HR, but about 36 percent of employees across Europe and the United States are not satisfied with their current employer. And most HR departments are still far from making full use of the tools and practices available to them,…

Consider a scenario in which state government leaders have three generational transit projects they could invest in but enough capital to support only one. Each project carries distinct benefits as well as unique trade-offs. As they evaluate options, leaders struggle to balance the risks and rewards, given the many competing priorities across the state. Moreover, with each option having a high, irreversible capital cost, making a suboptimal decision is expensive.…

Stepping into the role of chief risk officer (CRO) comes with a lot of questions: Where to start, what to prioritize, and how to make an impact? The way new CROs approach these questions in their earliest months shapes their ability to achieve long-term success.To understand the mindsets, skills, and practices that work best for new CROs, McKinsey conducted in-depth interviews with more than 30 current and former CROs of…

In the modern economy, almost every business is a tech business, with digitization, automation, and data solutions embedded into multiple operations. But with these advancements come risks. One of the most critical risks is that responsibility for technology often does not sit with companies themselves but instead with an array of third-party suppliers, service providers, and subcontractors. By outsourcing IT services, companies can unlock efficiencies and innovation. The downside is…

In this edition of Author Talks, McKinsey Global Publishing’s Raju Narisetti chats with Steve Grove, CEO and publisher of The Minnesota Star Tribune, about How I Found Myself in the Midwest: A Memoir of Reinvention (Simon & Schuster, June 2025). Grove, the former founding director of Google News Lab, left Silicon Valley and his work helping start-ups innovate and returned to his home state of Minnesota to explore a new…

When the business landscape is as unsettled as it is right now, all eyes turn to the CEO. Employees, boards of directors, investors, customers, suppliers, regulators, and other important stakeholders are increasingly looking to CEOs for more context and perspective on the risks and opportunities associated with disruptive trends—geopolitics, generative AI, shifting workplace dynamics, and dozens more. Stakeholders’ influence has only grown over the years as business operations and value chains…

From C-3PO’s polished diplomacy to R2-D2’s battlefield heroics, robots have long captured our imagination. Today, what was once confined to science fiction is inching toward industrial reality. General-purpose robots, powered by increasingly capable embodied AI, are being tested in warehouses, factories, hospitals, and fields. And unlike previous generations of robots, they’re not just performing a single preprogrammed task but adapting to dynamic environments, learning new motions, and even following verbal…