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 examine two transformations that are quietly reordering competitive advantage: the rise of an enterprise-wide AI operating model and the new commercial reality of quantum computing. We appreciate the opportunity to connect and hope you find our perspectives useful and thought provoking. You can reach us at Alex_Panas@McKinsey.com and Becca_Coggins@McKinsey.com. Thank you, as ever.

—Alex and Becca

Ford’s lesson, applied to AI. In the early 1900s, Henry Ford did not invent a better car—he changed the economics of building them. A similar shift is now underway in the enterprise. Agentic AI can industrialize cognitive work in the way that the assembly line industrialized physical labor, but only if CEOs treat it as a business transformation rather than a technology project. That means redesigning end-to-end workflows so that data, models, and agents flow seamlessly across the organization—a conveyor belt for intelligence, managed by humans focused on the judgments that require creativity and strategic thinking.

Quantum’s commercial moment. For years, quantum computing occupied the horizon—always promising, rarely proximate. That calculus is changing. McKinsey’s fifth annual Quantum Technology Monitor finds that more than 300 organizations are now actively deploying quantum to solve real business problems, with investment in the sector reaching $12.6 billion in 2025—more than six times the prior year’s total. The technology could generate up to $2.7 trillion in economic value by 2035. The window for building a defensible position is open now but narrowing fast as first movers secure talent, intellectual property, and early-application advantages.

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

Share these insights

Did you enjoy this newsletter? Forward it to colleagues and friends so they can subscribe too. Was this issue forwarded to you? Sign up for it and sample our 40+ other free email subscriptions here.