The tech-enabled consumer enterprise ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ 

DELIVERING ACTIONABLE INSIGHTS ON THE DAY’S NEWS Brought to you by Alex Panas, global leader of industries, & Axel Karlsson, global leader of functional practices and growth platforms Welcome to the latest edition of Only McKinsey Perspectives. We hope you find our insights useful. Let us know what you think at Alex_Panas@McKinsey.com and Axel_Karlsson@McKinsey.com. —Alex and Axel Transforming consumer businesses In the news • Seeking AI experts. As AI shakes up the US’s $1.2 trillion e-commerce sector, retailers and other businesses are bolstering their teams in response, The Information reports. Given the growing popularity of AI platforms, chatbots and automated AI assistants could eventually replace conventional retail platforms. While AI-powered shopping is still in an early stage, companies are already actively recruiting AI specialists and seasoned commerce professionals to navigate the evolving online landscape. [The Information] • Speedier marketing. More and more consumer brands are using AI to automate their marketing content, refine designs, and enhance the efficiency of campaigns, Consumer Goods Technology notes. One global cosmetics company is transforming its process for creating marketing content; the use of gen AI has already reduced its timeframes for concept creation from weeks to a matter of days. AI-powered branding is also shaping purchasing decisions and even driving impulse buys, per a March 2025 Adobe study that polled 1,000 US consumers. [Consumer Goods Technology] A typical consumer-packaged-goods company could use automation to improve productivity by around 40% in its manufacturing function. On McKinsey.com • Winning through tech. Across industries, tech and automation are increasingly changing the way work gets done. How should consumer leaders reshape their functions, roles, and activities to stay ahead? For those who are still figuring it out, McKinsey Senior Partner Alexis Krivkovich and her coauthors suggest five actions their companies can take, starting with the development of an objective, granular fact base that helps leaders prioritize the use of gen AI and automation. Previous McKinsey research found that consumer-packaged-goods and retail companies that lead in digital and AI see three times greater total shareholder returns compared with their peers. • Enhanced efficiency. By 2030 and beyond, the roles, functions, and required skills and capabilities in leading consumer organizations will look far different than they do today. McKinsey’s new analysis—which forecasts the possibilities for automation across five consumer subsectors, more than 2,000 activities, and 800 roles—finds that by 2030, up to 35% of all current activities across consumer functions could be automated, boosting workers’ productivity in the process. Discover how consumer leaders can transform their companies and turn AI and automation’s potential into real value. Understand the AI advantage —Edited by Belinda Yu, editor, Atlanta Was this forwarded to you? Sign up here. Or send us feedback—we’d love to hear from you. Follow our thinking McKinsey Insights - Get our latest thinking on your iPhone, iPad, or Android. Copyright © 2025 | McKinsey & Company, 3 World Trade Center, 175 Greenwich Street, New York, NY 10007