The Shortlist: Get real about generative AI

Curated by Liz Hilton Segel, chief client officer and managing partner, global industry practices, & Homayoun Hatami, managing partner, global client capabilities

Twice monthly, we bring you four new insights out of the dozens we publish that we think are worth a second glance from any business leader in any geography. In this edition, we get real about generative AI (gen AI), ascend the career ladder, and find out what makes tech talent tick. We hope you enjoy the read.

—Liz and Homayoun

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What’s new

Gen AI is seemingly everything, everywhere, all at once. The possibilities are limitless. But to get past the moonstruck phase, companies need to know how the gen-AI business system is evolving and which parts of it they can plug into.

Find out by Exploring the opportunities in the generative AI value chain, with our experts Tobias Harlin, Gardar Björnsson Rova , Alex Singla , Oleg Sokolov, and Alex Sukharevsky .

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What’s now

Can AI play a role in building the organization? You better believe it. That’s one of the ten seismic shifts we explored in our State of Organizations 2023 report. Companies are already using AI to create sustainable talent pipelines, drastically improve ways of working, and make faster, data-driven structural changes. But what’s next?

Get smart about the companies of today and tomorrow with The State of Organizations 2023, by Patrick Guggenberger, Dana Maor , Michael Park , and Patrick Simon .

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What’s next

So you wanna be CEO? Join the club. Despite its reputation for being a difficult, lonely place, lots of folks are still clamoring for the top spot. We’ve met many of them over the years at the McKinsey Leadership Forum; 88 out of 300 attendees—or about 30 percent—have gone on to summit the coveted mountaintop. As an aid to aspirants, we’ve analyzed the data to distill eight key lessons on what it takes to become the boss in today’s volatile climate.

Start your ascent with Rising CEOs: Lessons from the McKinsey Leadership Forum, by Meagan Hill, Celia Huber , Ishaan Seth, and Kurt Strovink.

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What’s needed

With all the layoffs, is tech talent in trouble? In a word, no. The world still needs engineers, coders, and developers—and lots of them. But most companies don’t know how to get these coveted workers back to the office and keep them for the long haul. Our latest research has some answers (hint: it’s not just about compensation).

Python, JavaScript, C#, or all of the above? Cracking the code on digital talent, with Todd Horst, Kathryn Kuhn , Stephanie Madner, Paul Roche, and Charlotte Seiler, helps shed some light.

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