McKinsey in the media: AI adoption, costs and benefits, workforce training and US manufacturing

By McKinsey & Company · Sun, 8 Nov 2026.

The email is a periodic roundup ("McKinsey leaders in global media") of McKinsey executives' media appearances. It frames the collection as a reflection on US manufacturing resilience, AI adoption, workforce transformation and effective leadership. Only some of the topics deal with AI.

The cost and benefit of AI: McKinsey CFO Yuval Atsmon appears on a Reuters podcast (July 14). He discusses the financial opportunities and challenges of adopting AI and how companies can turn advances into lasting business value. McKinsey recommends "Where AI will create value—and where it won't" as further reading.

The economic impact of AI: a Fortune commentary, "The backwards AI pacing debate and how far business is from the frontier" (September 22), cites senior partner Asutosh Padhi's appearance on CNN. According to the email, AI capabilities are advancing quickly, but turning them into broad productivity gains requires deep changes in how companies operate. Padhi argues for combining technology with human expertise, with a focus on growth, judgment and trust. The suggested further reading is "AI is changing work. Now it has to change the organization".

People and reskilling: in the Wall Street Journal piece "AI job fears grow, tech leaders say reskilling can't wait" (September 18), senior partner Kate Smaje stresses the need to invest in employees. She calls for reskilling, upskilling and change management so that workers can adapt to AI and its full value can be captured. The further reading includes "Your AI agents need performance management, too", a title referring to managing the performance of AI agents. The email gives no further details about that article.

Other topics not directly related to AI: Eric Kutcher speaks with Bloomberg (June 3) about a McKinsey report on the vulnerabilities of US manufacturing. Gautam Kumra, chairman of McKinsey in Asia, talks with CNBC (October 3) about his book "Shapers and Founders: The Untold Stories of Asia's Extraordinary Owner-CEOs".

Event: McKinsey Live on November 12, with Andy West, Whitney Zimmerman and Tim Koller. They will present their upcoming book "Strategy and Value: The Four Foundations That Drive Long-Term Performance".

The email is brief and only lists headlines and excerpts. It includes no figures, data or research findings on AI, so this summary is limited to what the text says.