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 look at what AI requires of the organization and how geopolitics is redirecting trade. 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

Reshaping the organization for agentic AI. Most companies currently working with AI have yet to turn adoption into financial returns. In McKinsey’s 2026 survey on the state of AI, 80 percent of respondents say AI has improved their individual productivity, but only 37 percent report positive EBIT impact. In a new article, our colleagues describe four shifts that can help leaders redesign their organizations’ roles and workflows around agentic AI: orienting work around outcomes, adapting the talent system, sustaining new behaviors, and giving senior leaders cross-functional authority.

Globalization realigns along geopolitical lines. Global goods trade grew 6.5 percent in 2025 despite the highest US tariffs in 80 years. It now follows two logics: geopolitics and markets. Across major economies, one-quarter to one-third of manufactured imports are exposed to multiple dependencies, and governments are more likely to secure supply chains for these goods with less emphasis on cost. Market logic still governs the rest, weighing cost, speed, and quality. Leading firms are adjusting to the new logics, informed by six emerging patterns.

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.

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