Fewer than 100 companies have scaled enterprise AI from pilots to production to capture great value. Alexander Sukharevsky, who leads QuantumBlack, McKinsey's AI practice, joins Michael Krigsman to lay out the repeatable recipe behind those results and why the winners earn roughly three dollars back for every dollar invested. The conversation covers what capturing AI value really requires, why the CEO and board must own the transformation, and how to lead a hybrid workforce where agents work as colleagues, not tools.
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This episode brought to you by Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo™: https://cxo.news/KGg8XY
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YOU'LL DISCOVER
✅ Why fewer than 100 companies captured two-thirds of AI's value, and what they did differently
✅ The repeatable recipe: focus a few domains, ready your data, rewire architecture, and fix the economics
✅ Why AI transformation must be led by the CEO and board, not handed to the CTO or chief digital officer
✅ How to treat AI agents as accountable colleagues, and who stays accountable for the outcomes
✅ Why reinventing a domain beats bolting AI onto an existing process
✅ How the winners pursue cost savings and top-line reinvention at the same time
✅ Why governance and digital trust belong in from day one, with adults in the room on ethics
✅ How expertise and judgment become more valuable as agents speed up the work
⏱️ TIMESTAMPS
0:00 The repeatable recipe for AI value
8:27 Treat agents as colleagues, not tools
13:42 Why the CEO must own the transformation
18:05 From token maxing to value maxing
22:01 Managing a hybrid team of agents
23:30 A flexible architecture for changing models
26:25 Governance and digital trust from day one
30:59 Cost savings versus reinventing the top line
34:46 Human focus, judgment, and accountability
44:12 Redesign workflows instead of bolting on AI
46:24 Careers and apprenticeship in an agent world
50:47 What real CEO ownership looks like
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💬 Show notes, transcript, and summary: https://www.cxotalk.com/episode/mckinsey-on-agentic-ai-how-to-create-business-value
Episode 922 | Recorded June 19, 2026
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