The week’s highlights
Article
The CEO’s critical role in building new businesses
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Venture building works best when it’s part of a dual-track strategy—launching new businesses alongside the core—with clear oversight from the CEO on capital allocation, culture, and capabilities.
Article
Escaping the pilot trap: Building HR for the agentic era
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Organizations that create the most effective agentic HR functions don’t just scale pilots. They define the human–agent operating model for the function first, then work backward to implementation.
Article
Global Economics Intelligence executive summary, June 2026
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Geopolitical uncertainty continues to drive energy price volatility, affecting growth, inflation, and sentiment. ECB raises rates by 25 basis points, while Brazil and Russia focus on stimulus with 25-basis-point cuts.
Explainers
AI in five industries: What’s now, and what’s next
The headlines are everywhere. The nuance is more elusive. In these video Explainers, McKinsey partners go sector by...
Lives & Legacies
A hidden figure behind GPS, a cycling champion, and a quiet trucking giant
Our latest obituaries also include a Hollywood animator, a cable industry innovator, and a prize-winning doctor who built a tuberculosis...
Chart of the Week
Burning through the AI budget
As organizations move from isolated AI use cases to enterprise-wide adoption, they are blowing past their AI budgets, according...
Themes
10 books, one big question: What does AI mean for us?
Trying to make sense of AI beyond the headlines? McKinsey’s 2026 book recommendations have got you covered. This year’s list...
Our Latest Survey Research
Survey
Why accelerated resource allocation matters in the age of AI
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In an era of rapid AI disruption, the winners may not be the companies that predict the future most accurately, but those that learn, reallocate resources, and adapt faster than their competitors.
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September 9, 2026, 12:00 p.m. ET / 6:00 p.m. CET
Physical AI: The hidden value pools leaders are missing
Humanoid robots are capturing the headlines, but they’re on track to represent just a sliver of physical AI’s total value. The focus undersells the breadth of the physical AI opportunity and where competitive advantage is forming, in the software, data, and orchestration platforms that let autonomous systems learn from experience and scale, a layer that could reach $330 billion by 2035.
Join McKinsey senior partner Mark Patel and partner Ani Kelkar as they discuss how physical AI’s economics differ from generative AI’s and what business leaders should watch for as the market evolves.
Featured Newsletter
The Weekend Read
Curated picks for your downtime
The CEO Shortlist
Our best new ideas for the C-suite
Leading Off
Essentials for leaders and those they lead
Monthly Highlights
An easy-to-scan monthly roundup of our newest, most distinctive insights
Interviews
Interview
Adapting for America’s next chapter: An interview with CQ Brown
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The former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff describes the value of challenging the status quo, strengthening institutions, and inspiring the next generation of leaders.
Podcast
Is the AI productivity story at a turning point?
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Stanford economist Erik Brynjolfsson reveals where we stand on the J-curve, how leaders can accelerate progress and create new value, and what gives him hope—and keeps him up at night.
Podcast - The McKinsey Podcast
The new advantage in the age of AI: Building in the real world
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As AI accelerates the digital economy, the real constraint is physical: housing, power, and infrastructure. Laura Hines-Pierce, co-CEO of Hines, explains why execution—not capital—will define the next era of value creation.
Interview
Lion Finance: Competing like a fintech, winning as a bank
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Archil Gachechiladze, Lion Finance and Bank of Georgia CEO, describes how focused execution and cultural change have driven the group’s strong financial performance.
McKinsey on Books
Author Talks: The daily practices that lead to exceptional performance
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What separates good from exceptional? Learning Leader Show host Ryan Hawk reveals why disciplined daily habits and purposeful...
Shapers and Founders: The Untold Stories of Asia’s Extraordinary Owner-CEOs
Drawing on rigorous empirical research, interviews, and decades of advisory work, McKinsey experts reveal the leadership strategies...
Rewired, second edition
This updated edition offers brand-new insights into cutting-edge AI solutions—and what it takes to implement them—as...
New from the Quarterly
McKinsey Quarterly: Digital Edition
Agentic AI is such a powerful force that companies are rethinking the very nature of the corporation. What’s coming? A hybrid...
Recent McKinsey Quarterly digital issues
Explore previous digital issues of the McKinsey Quarterly—on gen AI, productivity, growth, and more. All are available with a...
The CEO’s critical role in building new businesses
-
Venture building works best when it’s part of a dual-track strategy—launching new businesses alongside the core—with clear oversight...
McKinsey Institutes
Report - MGI Research
The global balance sheet 2026: Imbalance and divergence
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Several asset classes grew further out of balance with the economy, raising the possibility of corrections through inflation,...
Report - MGI Research
Agents, robots, and us: How AI reshapes work and skills in Europe
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Most skills will still be needed—but how people use them will change as they work alongside intelligent machines.
Report
From access to assets: How early-life wealth building can shape economic mobility
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Investing in children’s financial futures can narrow disparities and expand opportunity. Different scenarios for the new...
Brainteasers
The McKinsey Crossword: Made with AI | No. 266
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Sharpen your problem-solving skills with the McKinsey Quarterly crossword. Each puzzle is created with the McKinsey audience in mind and is built around a subtle (and sometimes not-so-subtle) business theme for you to find.
Data Points
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How well do you know the numbers behind the changes in business, society, and the world? Take the McKinsey monthly quiz to find out.







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