McKinsey: AI's value curve and the economics of applying it to existing work

By McKinsey & Company (QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey) · October 20, 2026.

The email is an alert from McKinsey's Artificial Intelligence subscription list. It is signed by Dan Tinkoff and Lieven Van der Veken, introduced as global leaders of QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey, who invite readers to get in touch with them to discuss how these ideas might affect their organization.

The lead piece is titled "The AI value curve: The economics of applying AI to existing work." The email includes only a short introductory blurb, not the full article.

The argument presented in the text is that many organizations are still measuring AI adoption rather than its value. According to McKinsey, the AI value curve helps identify where AI's automation potential can be deployed most profitably.

The email provides no figures, case studies or methodological details about the curve, so it is not possible to summarize beyond this premise.

The "Also Consider" section recommends two related articles: "The cost of intelligence: How CIOs can manage AI demand at scale" and "Where AI agents pay off: A practical guide to the economics of agentic workflows."

For industry context, the second suggested read ties into a current debate within companies: the economic return of agentic workflows and the need to measure the value generated, not just tool usage.