Inside the Strategy Room

Latest Episodes:

327. Four strategy myths holding your company back Oct 23, 2026

Show notes

Today’s disruption has created a critical ‘Strategy Moment’ for organizations navigating a fundamentally changing basis of competitive advantage. Carolyn Dewar, Marcus Jacob and Laura LaBerge join us to debunk four strategy myths and unpack how long-held assumptions are being rewritten to shape foundational strategic choices for a future-focused reality. They also discuss where AI amplifies the challenge—and creates opportunity—and how to determine if your AI investment is pointed in the right strategic direction.

Related insights

Strategy and Value: The Four Foundations That Drive Long-Term Performance

Strategy’s biggest blind spot: Erosion of competitive advantage

Why accelerated resource allocation matters in the age of AI

How to maximize competitive advantage

How top economic performers lean into their competitive advantage to guide their strategy

CEO Excellence

A CEO for All Seasons: Mastering the Cycles of Leadership

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326. M&A heading into Q4: How AI is reshaping value creation Oct 16, 2026

Show notes

As we enter the fourth quarter, we look to where M&A stands and how dealmakers can finish strong. We also explore how AI is rewriting the traditional M&A playbook: success no longer comes from scale alone, but from building intelligent platforms and capabilities that compound over time to drive growth. Benjamin Houssard, Kameron Kordestani, Alex Liu, and Tobias Lundberg walk through how to leverage AI to turn a series of transactions into a self-reinforcing growth engine.

Related insights

2026 M&A trends: Navigating a rapidly rebounding market

Technology M&A: AI enters its industrial phase

Five steps to strengthen M&A capabilities, no matter the starting point

Gen AI in M&A: From theory to practice to high performance

Advanced industries: Geopolitics, economics, and technology drive M&A

Culture in M&A

Using M&A to launch a transformation

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325. Addressing AI Frontier Lab model risks and opportunities Oct 09, 2026

Show notes

As AI models become increasingly sophisticated, organizations and their leaders need to maintain awareness of the opportunities and challenges each new model can present. Specifically, the newest Frontier Lab LLMs are able to chain together and exploit vulnerabilities in even the most sophisticated organizations. Charlie Lewis and Marie-Claude Nadeau join us to discuss the threats posed by these models and how organizations can stay ahead of rapidly emerging cybersecurity challenges while also realizing their benefits.

Related insights

McKinsey Technology Trends Outlook 2026

Cybersecurity and trustworthy systems

The speed problem: How frontier AI exposes weakness in enterprise cybersecurity

Quantum is almost here: Are you and your systems ready?

Deploying agentic AI with safety and security: A playbook for technology leaders

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324. How strategy creates value: The four foundations that drive long-term performance Oct 02, 2026

Show notes

Episode description

Executives have more data, more frameworks, and more advice than ever, and yet their confidence in their strategies keeps falling. Andy West, Tim Koller, and Whitney Zimmerman, authors of our forthcoming book Strategy and Value: The Four Foundations That Drive Long-Term Performance, join us to discuss how winning companies leverage the four foundations that drive long-term performance and value creation

Related insights

Strategy and Value: The Four Foundations That Drive Long-Term Performance

Strategy’s biggest blind spot: Erosion of competitive advantage

How to maximize competitive advantage (podcast)

Ten Timeless Tests: Have you tested your strategy lately?

How top economic performers lean into their competitive advantage to guide their strategy

Valuation: Measuring and managing the value of companies

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323. How to drive transformations with rigor Sep 25, 2026

Show notes

McKinsey research finds that companies executing transformations with rigor are much more likely to meet overall organizational transformation goals. Chris Hagedorn, Preeya Mody, and Michel Morenville join us to discuss what rigor really means in the context of transformation and how to embed it throughout the process, from setting the aspiration to mobilizing to delivering impact.

Related insights

Rigor: What it takes to turn ambition into impact

The power of rigor in transformation (podcast episode)

Wave by McKinsey

McKinsey Insights on Transformation

How to gain and sustain a competitive edge through transformation

Going all in: Why employee ‘will’ can make or break transformations

Seven principles for achieving transformational growth

Beyond transformation: What we now know about driving bottom-line performance

The powerful role financial incentives can play in a transformation

McKinsey Transformation on LinkedIn

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322. Capturing value in real estate’s new terrain Sep 18, 2026

Show notes

Real estate is moving from stabilization to selective acceleration, with value creation becoming more targeted, operational, and execution-led. As capital concentrates in select sectors and strategies, leaders need sharper asset selection, disciplined capital structures, and stronger AI-enabled capabilities. Ben Dimson, Tripp Norton, and Aditya Sanghvi discuss how General Partners, Limited Partners, and real estate operators can turn market complexity into an advantage, drawing on research from their recent article.
Related insights

Real estate builds on new terrain

Real estate’s selective recovery

How agentic AI can reshape real estate’s operating model

2026 Global Private Markets Report : Private equity−clearer view, tougher terrain

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321. M&A integration: PE’s new value creation playbook Sep 11, 2026

Show notes

Private equity is navigating one of its most challenging value creation environments in years, and winning firms are using M&A integration as a competitive weapon. Brian Dinneen and Matthew Maloney join us to discuss three high-impact integration strategies that leading sponsors are using to overcome these headwinds, based on their recent article.

Related insights

How private equity is using M&A integrations to overcome headwinds

Unlocking full potential: Five practices reshaping PE value creation

2026 Global Private Markets Report : Private equity−clearer view, tougher terrain

Beating the odds: How private equity firms can improve exit prospects

Transforming value creation in private equity portfolio companies (podcast)
Private Capital at McKinsey

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320. The digital twin: Reimagining non-financial risk management Sep 04, 2026

Show notes

The risk function’s fundamental purpose has not changed in light of AI. What has changed is the nature and pace of risks amplified by AI, as well as the tools available to manage them. Anke Raufuss, Björn Nilsson, and Laura Webanck join us to discuss the role of the digital twin and how it is changing the future of risk management.

Related Insights

Evolving model risk management in the age of AI

How companies can strengthen their geopolitical risk readiness

Global risk productivity survey: Four themes shaping risk management

The future of risk: How global trends are reshaping risk management

From risk to resilience: New approaches to navigating disruption in Asia

Risk and Resilience on McKinsey.com

McKinsey Risk & Resilience on LinkedIn

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319. Why strategy needs mobilization, especially in this moment Aug 28, 2026

Show notes

As strategy rises to the top of executive agendas, many organizations are struggling to translate bold strategic choices into sustained performance. In this episode, the global coleaders of our Strategy and Corporate Finance Practice, Sébastien Lacroix and Andy West, along with Whitney Zimmerman, a distinguished expert in strategy, discuss why mobilization has become the critical differentiator between strategy success and failure, and how leaders can build the capabilities needed to turn strategy into action in an era of intensified competition, ever-accelerating change, and uncertainty.

Related insights

Strategy and Value: The Four Foundations That Drive Long-Term Performance (our new book, due out in November)

How to maximize competitive advantage

How to ensure your company acts on your strategy

How strategy champions win

Strategy Beyond the Hockey Stick

Fundamentals of strategy and value creation

Have you tested your strategy lately?

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318. Inside the 2026 CFO Forum: How finance leaders are preparing for what's next (bonus episode) Aug 25, 2026

Show notes

In this bonus episode, McKinsey CFO practice leaders Kevin Carmody, Matt Maloney, and Christian Grube share their insights from the 2026 CFO Forum in London.

Their conversation explores how the CFO role is evolving from financial steward to strategic value creator; why leading finance organizations are moving beyond incremental budgeting; how AI can provide the catalyst to fundamentally rewire finance operating models rather than simply automate existing processes; and why talent and capability building will determine which organizations capture the greatest value.

They also discuss how CFOs can reclaim the strategic narrative, strengthen capital allocation, and create the headspace to focus on the bold moves that drive long-term growth.

Related insights

Why accelerated resource allocation matters in the age of AI

CFOs have been concerned about geopolitical impacts for months

The CFO as growth leader: A conversation with Levi’s Harmit Singh

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