McKinsey’s most-read insights of 2025 reveal how technology advanced—and leadership evolved—to meet the moment.
Across sectors and regions, 2025 was a year of decisive movement. Organizations stopped debating whether to embrace AI and began asking how to scale it responsibly and effectively. McKinsey’s most-read insights reflect that shift, from reimagining productivity and the workforce to unlocking new sources of value. Yet they also reveal something deeper: transformation succeeds when people lead with purpose, adaptability, and conviction. These are the ideas that captured readers’ attention and the lessons that will shape what comes next.
Report
Superagency in the workplace: Empowering people to unlock AI’s full potential
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Almost all companies invest in AI, but just 1 percent believe they are at maturity. Our research finds the biggest barrier to scaling is not employees—who are ready—but leaders, who are not steering fast enough.
Survey
The state of AI: How organizations are rewiring to capture value
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Organizations are beginning to create the structures and processes that lead to meaningful value from gen AI. While still in early days, companies are redesigning workflows, elevating governance, and mitigating more risks.
Report
McKinsey Technology Trends Outlook 2025
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Which frontier technologies matter most for companies in 2025? Our annual tech trends report highlights the latest technology breakthroughs, talent trends, use cases, and their potential impact on companies across sectors.
Report
Seizing the agentic AI advantage
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A CEO playbook to solve the gen AI paradox and unlock scalable impact with AI agents.
Report
Global Private Markets Report 2025: Braced for shifting weather
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Global private markets navigated uncertain conditions in 2024, leading to an uneven recovery across different asset classes.
Interactive
What to read next: McKinsey’s 2025 annual book recommendations
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Each year, we invite a diverse group of leaders to share the books that have resonated with them—or ones they can’t wait to read. This year’s list includes over 90 titles, from timely insights to timeless fiction.
Article
State of the Consumer 2025: When disruption becomes permanent
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Five years after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, consumers’ crisis-era habits have lingered. Here’s what organizations can do to outcompete in the second half of the decade.
Book
A CEO for All Seasons: Mastering the Cycles of Leadership
From McKinsey & Company senior partners and the minds behind the New York Times bestseller CEO Excellence comes a compact, insight-packed guide to navigating the four distinct phases of leadership that every CEO must pass through on their way to mastery.
Explainer
What is an AI agent?
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AI agents are the tools we use to interact with AI. They can automate and perform complex tasks, such as natural language processing, that would normally require humans.
Article
One year of agentic AI: Six lessons from the people doing the work
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Deploying agentic AI successfully isn’t easy. Here’s what we’re learning about how to get it right.
Meet some of our impact partners
Alexander Edlich
New York
Helps private capital and financial services clients achieve superior performance through rigorous focus on value creation and technology innovation
Dave Kerr
London
Leads our software, cyber, cloud, and architecture programs in Asia; engineers new digital products and services with cloud native technologies for Build by McKinsey
Klemens Hjartar
Copenhagen
Leads tech and advanced-analytics performance-based transformations, building capabilities at scale in large organizations in both B2C and B2B environments
Warren Teichner
New York
Coleads our Private Capital Practice globally and brings deep expertise in serving food, beauty, consumer health and wellness, and retail clients
