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Make gen AI work for you

On McKinsey Perspectives

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

Gen AI at work

In the news

•

Cautiously optimistic. The demand for gen AI skills is on the rise. On one entry-level job platform, the share of job listings citing gen AI grew more than threefold from 2023 to 2024, Axios reports. At the same time, employers are increasingly willing to prioritize candidates with gen AI experience even if they’re less qualified in other areas. While Gen Z employees are at the heart of this technological shift, many view gen AI with a blend of optimism and caution. [Axios]

•

Change agents. For tech companies and their investors, the effective implementation of AI agents—systems that can independently make choices and then act on them—is crucial to the future. While these agents are likely to boost revenue-generating capabilities and revamp business functions, the Wall Street Journal notes that adoption has been slow. One executive at a company that uses AI agents suggests that leaders should think of them as digital team members who require training and support. [WSJ]

In McKinsey’s latest state of AI survey, a majority of survey respondents feel their organizations aren’t following through on enough gen AI adoption and scaling practices.

On McKinsey.com

•

Your virtual coworker. AI agents are considered the next frontier of gen AI due to their ability to automate complex processes. These agents could eventually become skilled virtual coworkers that collaborate with and support their human counterparts, say McKinsey’s Lareina Yee, Michael Chui, Roger Roberts, and Stephen Xu. Human–machine collaboration also creates the opportunity for workers to augment their existing skills and introduces new roles such as AI ethicist and chief AI officer.

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Playing catch-up. While employees are largely embracing gen AI, their leaders aren’t keeping pace by following good practices for adopting and scaling gen AI. In the latest McKinsey Global Survey on the state of AI, the results show that only about one-third of respondents—at both large and small organizations—report that their organizations are ensuring senior leaders are engaged in gen AI adoption, and only about a quarter say their companies effectively embed gen AI solutions into business processes. Setting bold AI commitments and investing in on-the-job gen AI training could help. To learn more about how leaders can encourage their workers to unleash new levels of creativity and productivity through gen AI, check out a recent edition of the McKinsey Quarterly Five Fifty.

Make AI work for workers

—Edited by Kanika Punwani, editor, Southern California

AI, data centers, and the energy equation: What leaders should know

Amid the AI boom, compute power is emerging as one of this decade’s most critical resources. Join our April 23 McKinsey Live virtual event to learn how business leaders can navigate the rapid build-out of data centers, the emergence of new technologies such as DeepSeek, and potential headwinds from the energy sector.

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by "Only McKinsey Perspectives" <publishing@email.mckinsey.com> - 01:05 - 18 Apr 2025

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