From gen AI pilots to automated supply chains, technology is reshaping how operations leaders create efficiencies, build resilience, and encourage teamwork. On this episode of The McKinsey Podcast, McKinsey Senior Partner Daniel Swan speaks with Editorial Director Roberta Fusaro about how COOs can embed technology, particularly AI, into their company’s culture. It requires balancing the urgency of today with the transformation of tomorrow.

Articles/pieces mentioned:

The hard stuff 2025: Taking stock of progress on the physical challenges of the energy transition

The state of AI in 2025: Agents, innovation, and transformation

Theme music composed, performed, and produced by Joy Ngiaw

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Not all consumer attention is created equal—that’s a critical lesson from McKinsey’s recent report on content creation and monetization. On this episode of The McKinsey Podcast, McKinsey Senior Partner Kabir Ahuja speaks with Editorial Director Roberta Fusaro about something called the “attention equation” and how media players can use it to get a better return on their investments. It’s about quality of focus, Ahuja reminds us, not just quantity of eyeballs.

Articles Mentioned:

The FDI shake-up: How foreign direct investment today may shape industry and trade tomorrow

How Strategy Champions win

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What if a product’s journey didn’t end after its first use? Remanufacturing—restoring preowned parts to perform like new—is transforming automotives, electronics, and other industries. In this episode of The McKinsey Podcast, Senior Partner Inga Maurer and Editorial Director Roberta Fusaro explore how this practice reduces waste while creating more value for companies.

Articles Mentioned:

One year of agentic AI: Six lessons from the people doing the work

The infrastructure moment

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Most leaders set out to be the best—but few make that Mount Everest–like ascent successfully. What do the world’s most iconic CEOs do differently? McKinsey Senior Partners Carolyn Dewar, Kurt Strovink, Scott Keller, and Vik Malhotra break it down in their new book A CEO for All Seasons: Mastering the Cycles of Leadership (Scribner/Simon & Schuster, October 2025), based on research and interviews with executives ranking among the top 200 CEOs across the globe. On this episode of The McKinsey Podcast, the four coauthors join Global Editorial Director Lucia Rahilly to discuss some of the more surprising lessons they learned—and what they’ve changed about their own leadership as a result.

Theme music composed, performed, and produced by Joy Ngiaw

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There is no single definition of “rural America.” It comprises agricultural hubs, manufacturing centers, and fast-growing regions—each a regional archetypes with its own distinct challenges and opportunities. In this episode of The McKinsey Podcast, Senior Partner Nora Gardner joins Global Editorial Director Lucia Rahilly to discuss these archetypes and new research that can help leaders better understand rural communities.

In our second segment, McKinsey Partner Sarah Tucker-Ray speaks with Editorial Director Roberta Fusaro about how rural K–12 education can equip students with the skills needed for advanced manufacturing—and why partnerships with industry matter for the future of rural America.

Theme music composed, performed, and produced by Joy Ngiaw

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Global competition has intensified, and the demand for energy and computing power is growing exponentially as companies embed AI, robotics, and other technologies into their everyday business processes. McKinsey’s annual outlook on technology trends points to 13 “frontier” trends that can help companies get a handle on these and other challenges. On this episode of The McKinsey Podcast McKinsey Senior Partners Lareina Yee, Roger Roberts, and Sven Smit share the latest data and their insights on digital innovation, implementation, infrastructure, and trust with Global Editorial Director Lucia Rahilly.

Articles Mentioned:

How CEOs are responding to geopolitical uncertainty

A CEO for All Seasons: Mastering the Cycles of Leadership

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Chief marketing officers are vital to strategic decision-making, but increasingly, they’re being left out of the discussions that matter most—to the detriment of both customers and growth. “Kelsey and I are on a singular mission to bring CMOs back,” McKinsey Senior Partner Shelley Stewart III said recently, referring to Senior Partner Kelsey Robinson. In this episode of The McKinsey Podcast, Shelley and Kelsey join Global Editorial Director Lucia Rahilly to discuss new research on worsening disconnects in the C-suite, as well as how strengthening alignment between CMOs, CEOs, and CFOs can make a meaningful and sustainable difference in organizational performance. This conversation originally aired as a McKinsey Live webinar following the 2025 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

Theme music composed, performed, and produced by Joy Ngiaw

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Think about your org chart. Now imagine it features both your current colleagues—humans, if you’re like most of us—and AI agents. That’s not science fiction; it’s happening. And it’s happening relatively quickly, according to McKinsey Senior Partner Jorge Amar. In this episode of The McKinsey Podcast, originally broadcast on McKinsey Talks Talent, Jorge joins McKinsey talent leaders Brooke Weddle and Bryan Hancock and Global Editorial Director Lucia Rahilly to talk about what these AI agents are, how they’re being used, and how leaders can prepare now for the workforce of the not-too-distant future.

Theme music composed, performed, and produced by Joy Ngiaw

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