The serial builder advantage: Why repeat innovators win

More from The McKinsey Podcast

1. 

   23 Jul 2026 · 22 min

   The human advantage in an AI economy

   Could AI transformation be exhausting humans rather than optimizing their performance? As artificial intelligence transforms how we work, organizations face a new challenge: ensuring people have the brain health and skills to cope with the cognitive demands of technology. On this episode of The McKinsey Podcast , McKinsey Partners and Kana Enomoto , and McKinsey Health Institute (MHI) Senior Fellow Jacqueline Brassey, speak with Global Editorial Director Lucia Rahilly about why brain capital is becoming a key competitive advantage in the age of AI—and what leaders can do to build…

2. 

   16 Jul 2026 · 16 min

   What the 2026 World Cup reveals about the next generation of sports fans

   As sports become an even bigger engine of economic growth, the defining challenge isn’t identifying tomorrow’s fans; it’s recognizing that many of them are already filling stadiums, attending World Cup watch parties, and participating in digital communities. On this episode of The McKinsey Podcast , McKinsey Senior Partner Lucy Pérez joins Editorial Director Roberta Fusaro to reflect on McKinsey’s recent research about the growing influence of Latino fans, the brand opportunities for personalized engagement, and the investments that strengthen fandom—from…

3. 

   9 Jul 2026 · 20 min

   The real AI advantage

   The first wave of AI adoption has been all about efficiency gains. But what happens when everyone else, using the same tools, is experiencing the same productivity improvements? Where will competitive advantage come from then? McKinsey research suggests that the companies that outperform with AI will be those that rethink customer experiences, redesign how work gets done, and build operating models that continuously adapt to change. In this episode of The McKinsey Podcast , McKinsey Senior Partner and McKinsey Global Institute Director Tanguy Catlin explains to Editorial Director Roberta…

4. 

   25 Jun 2026 · 11 min

   What it takes to become—and remain—an effective CEO

   Long before someone takes the corner office, they need to build the skills and rapport that will help them thrive once they move in. That CEO journey is the focus of this episode of The McKinsey Podcast with McKinsey Partner Blair Epstein , Senior Partner Carolyn Dewar , Partner Julia McClatchy , and Senior Partner Vik Malhotra . They share their collective insights with Roberta Fusaro, McKinsey editorial director, about how CEOs should prepare for the role, navigate those critical early days, sustain personal and organizational performance, and continue to evolve their leadership styles. A…

5. 

   18 Jun 2026 · 26 min

   AI is turning every company into a software company

   As AI capabilities accelerate, nearly anyone can create software. The real business constraint is no longer code, but judgment: how quickly an organization can learn, adapt, and redeploy talent at scale. In this episode of The McKinsey Podcast , Snowflake CEO Sridhar Ramaswamy joins McKinsey’s North America Chair Eric Kutcher to dig into how AI is industrializing intelligence, supercharging productivity, and forcing leaders to rethink everything from pricing models to workforce strategy. In this recurring series on The McKinsey Podcast , Eric speaks with top CEOs about the practice of…

6. 

   11 Jun 2026 · 25 min

   The world is changing. Can fashion keep up?

   Affordable luxury: It may sound like an oxymoron, but in an uncertain economy, it’s striking a chord with cautious consumers looking for value—and expecting more from the brands they buy. “Brands are actively thinking about the fact that people are shifting their spending,” according to McKinsey Senior Partner Gemma D’Auria . “If they want to stay relevant, they need to meet their customers where they are.” In this episode of The McKinsey Podcast , D’Auria and McKinsey Senior Partner Holger Harreis speak with Global Editorial Director Lucia…

7. 

   8 Oct 2026 · 17 minNew

   The playbook for seeing around geopolitical corners

   Geopolitical surprise has become a permanent cost of doing business—and a one-size-fits-all approach to scenario planning can’t keep pace with it. In this episode of The McKinsey Podcast , Partner and Global Director of Geopolitics Ziad Haider joins Editorial Director Roberta Fusaro to unpack five tools for sharpening foresight: horizon scanning, scenario planning, contingency planning, simulations, and tabletop exercises. They discuss why so few companies use these tools at scale, how AI is starting to reshape geopolitical risk assessment, and why human judgment remains…

8. 

   1 Oct 2026 · 19 min

   The hidden value of physical AI

   Nearly half of all paid work hours are tied to physical tasks, from moving and making things to inspecting equipment and transporting goods. Today, much of that work remains beyond the reach of traditional automation. Physical AI could begin to change that, expanding the range of tasks machines can perform reliably, safely, and economically. That means more than robots that can outpace Usain Bolt; it means intelligent, adaptable systems that “sense, decide, and act based on the physical world around them,” according to McKinsey Senior Partner Mark Patel . And that physical world…

9. 

   24 Sep 2026 · 24 min

   Democratized superintelligence is coming: The world needs to get ready

   What happens when AI agents can reason through problems well enough to complete real work on their own? This episode of The McKinsey Podcast offers answers to that question and more from OpenAI’s chair Bret Taylor, who is also cofounder of Sierra—which helps some of the world’s biggest companies build sophisticated AI agents, including about 40 percent of the Fortune 50. Taylor speaks with Eric Kutcher , McKinsey senior partner and chair of North America, about where AI is already reshaping customer service, sales, and software engineering; why open-weight models will…

10. 

    17 Sep 2026 · 24 min

    Why transformations stall—and where only CEOs make the difference

    The toughest transformation problems aren’t always strategic or operational. They’re human: the instinct to play it safe, protect what’s ours, trust who we know, and wait for change to pass. Individually, these behaviors can seem perfectly rational. Collectively, they can bring a transformation to a standstill. On this episode of The McKinsey Podcast , McKinsey Senior Partner Kurt Strovink and Partner join Global Editorial Director Lucia Rahilly to discuss five collective-action problems that inhibit transformation success, and what leaders need to know to spot them…

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