Just out: the second edition of McKinsey's State of Organizations report, after the first in 2023. The first three of the nine themes are focused squarely on AI, with the others all shaped by the emerging Humans + AI landscape.
The themes in summary:
⭐ Unlocking the AI-enabled organization
Although 88% of organizations are experimenting with AI, 81% report no meaningful bottom-line gains. To capture real value, leaders must push for a double transformation that reimagines workflows across the entire enterprise rather than relying on fragmented use cases.
Executives should prioritize building flexible technology platforms and an “AI mesh” to scale agentic systems securely. They must empower their workforce by actively managing job replacement fears and embedding clear ethical guidelines to foster deep organizational trust.
⭐ Humans and AI agents: Building a new world of collaboration
As workplaces transition to an AI-hybrid model, roughly 75% of current roles will require reshaping to blend technological fluency with higher cognitive skills. Despite this massive shift, only 25% of leaders expect AI to act as autonomous teammates in the short term, with most still viewing it merely as a support tool.
To unlock the exponential productivity gains anticipated by 55% of executives, organizations must redesign workflows from the ground up around human-agent collaboration. Leaders need to establish robust sensing mechanisms to track adoption progress and establish a culture of continuous learning and experimentation.
⭐ Leveraging AI to rewrite the future of shared services
Traditional shared-services centers are rapidly evolving, with 84% of organizations planning to expand their operational scope over the next two years. However, just 6% of business service leaders are currently realizing the full benefits of advanced technologies across multiple use cases.
Companies must pivot toward AI-native global business services models that are based on orchestration of end-to-end automation, rather than relocation.
