CEO Excellence—two years on

Technology is trending like never before, with gen AI at the crest of the wave. But our decades of experience working with executives have taught us an important lesson: it’s never just about the tech. To get the most out of digital investments, companies need to pull other levers, like leadership, change management, talent, and innovation. In this edition of the CEO Shortlist, we highlight some of the catalysts that can unleash technology’s full value, and we explore the latest on CEO excellence. We hope you enjoy the read.

What’s new

Step away from the grindstone. Nobody likes the admin side of their job. Gen AI can help. The technology is brilliant at handling dull, repetitive tasks, and companies are rapidly installing applications to do them. This creates a critical opportunity for leaders: deploying gen AI to free up employees’ time for work better suited to humans, such as creative, collaborative thinking. Organizations that succeed are likely to build a long-term competitive edge.

Put on your thinking cap with “The human side of generative AI: Creating a path to productivity,” a new article by Aaron De Smet , Sandra Durth , Bryan Hancock , Marino Mugayar-Baldocchi , and Angelika Reich.

What’s now

What got you here may not get you there. In business—and maybe more broadly—innovation is always needed to outcompete in times of uncertainty. But innovation itself needs a shake-up every once in a while. That’s where gen AI comes in. The most innovative organizations have already deployed gen AI tools to help invigorate their creativity and agility—and they’re reaping the rewards.

It’s not too late to give your organization a gen-AI-powered innovation boost. Learn more with “Driving innovation with generative AI,” a new interview with McKinsey’s Matt Banholzer and Laura LaBerge from our Inside the Strategy Room podcast.

What’s next

Picture this. Most companies are thinking about how gen AI chatbots can help produce text. But don’t forget that these new tools can draw too. Almost every company uses some form of industrial design, whether to create widgets or websites. Gen AI tools can open new doors of creativity and speed—but human designers are far from obsolete.

Draw up a chair and read “Generative AI fuels creative physical product design but is no magic wand,” by Bryce Booth , Jack Donohew , Chris Wlezien , and Winnie Wu .

What’s needed

It’s a wide world. Start-ups. Founder-led companies. Portfolio companies. Government organizations. Not for profits. It’s been two years since we published CEO Excellence: The Six Mindsets That Distinguish the Best Leaders from the Rest, and one thing we’ve learned is that the excellent leadership qualities we’ve distilled in this book are applicable way beyond the purely corporate audience we imagined at the outset. Find out more as we catch up with the book’s authors and learn about the journey their international bestseller has taken them on.

Hitch a ride with “The CEO’s secret to successful leadership: CEO Excellence revisited,” by Carolyn Dewar , Scott Keller , and Vikram Malhotra .

We hope you find these ideas inspiring and helpful. See you next time with four more McKinsey ideas for the CEO and others in the C-suite.

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