Business, Management, Marketing, Money, Tax, Law, People

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…