OUR BEST IDEAS FOR THE C-SUITE

Welcome to the latest edition of The CEO Shortlist, a biweekly newsletter of our best ideas for the C-suite. In this issue, we offer new methods to measure two amorphous but critical quantities: geopolitical value at stake and AI impact on the bottom line. We appreciate the opportunity to connect and hope you find our perspectives novel and insightful. You can reach us at Alex_Panas@McKinsey.com and Becca_Coggins@McKinsey.com. Thank you, as ever.

—Alex and Becca

Making more sense of geopolitics. Rapid geopolitical shifts are exposing multinationals to well-documented risks, but they are also opening new markets and trade corridors. Companies that move quickly can use the forces reshaping the global order—from regional realignments to industrial policies—to expand. Those that delay may see their enterprise value eroded by tariff costs, supply chain and operational disruptions, and other challenges. The conundrum is how to measure the two sides of the equation as conditions rapidly change. Our new research offers a method.

How are you doing on AI? A surprisingly large number of companies can’t confidently answer that seemingly simple question. Why not? Many organizations are deploying AI in ways that are more visible than valuable. Chatbots and copilots improve the employee experience and help people work faster but rarely change the profit and loss. Leaders are using AI to automate end-to-end workflows within specific domains—yet even in these higher-value plays, organizations struggle to prove impact. Our colleagues have designed a new system that helps both kinds of companies, creating an auditable line from model performance to financial impact, valid across industries and all forms of AI. 

We hope you find these ideas inspiring and helpful. See you in a couple of weeks with more McKinsey ideas for the CEO and others in the C-suite.

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