Founded in 2013, Flexport is a global supply chain technology platform and logistics provider. Flexport describes its technology platform as providing services “from factory floors to customer doors,” helping cargo owners manage and monitor end-to-end shipments via sea, air, rail, and road, with customs brokerage, direct-to-consumer fulfillment, wholesale distribution, and…

Revenues from embedded finance (EF)—the delivery of financial products by nonfinancial entities within their broader offerings—could surpass €100 billion in Europe by the end of the decade, according to McKinsey forecasts. The distribution of financial products and services, such as loans and insurance, in third-party channels is gaining importance as…

Only 36 percent of the 500 largest companies in the United Kingdom are publicly listed, a marked shift that has been under way for many years, so a thorough understanding of today’s UK corporate landscape requires looking beyond the “UK plc”. Our research, which goes beyond publicly listed companies to…

The CFO is a company’s “connector in chief.” No one else in the organization is more important for ensuring that strategy, financial controls, stakeholder management, technology, and personal development link together for value creation. Marjorie Lao, who served as the CFO of the LEGO Group—and before that, as CFO of…

Assisting management in navigating today’s geopolitical complexity has become one of boards’ most important and difficult tasks. In this episode of the Inside the Strategy Room podcast, Ziad Haider, Celia Huber, and Jon Huntsman Jr. discuss how boards can address this challenge. Huntsman spent nearly two decades in US public service…

Alistair Brownlee, two-time Olympic gold medalist, four-time triathlon world champion, three-time Ironman winner, and bestselling author, isn’t one to shy away from making a mantra his own: “If you want to achieve something no one has achieved before, you have to approach the challenge in a way no one has…

With the coming of age of Gen Z—both as customers and new workforce entrants—customer demands are evolving. At the same time, generative AI (gen AI) is transforming how contact centers respond to these demands. Forward-thinking leaders must explore the latest trends, emphasize cohesive support strategies, and take actionable steps to…

Data and AI leaders have been working feverishly on generative AI (gen AI) use cases for more than a year. Their experience has provided promising glimpses of the considerable value at stake in gen AI but has also exposed a variety of challenges in getting to scale. Managing data remains…

A shareholder activist tends to improve a company’s stock price during its campaigns—and sustains those gains for three years after the campaign is announced. But when one considers the period after an activist has exited its position, the picture becomes murkier. We examined almost 170 shareholder activist campaigns worldwide over the…

3D image of people forming the shape of India and organized based on their clothing color creating the pattern of the national flag. India is a place of superlatives. It’s home to the world’s fifth-largest economy. Its population, at over 1.4 billion people, has surpassed China’s to become the largest…

Among tens of thousands of products, millions of customers, and an infinite number of outside forces shaping demand, how does one identify the next “it” beauty product—and get it in shoppers’ hands as quickly as they want it? While those questions were top of mind for Coty before the COVID-19…

The majority of people can now expect to grow older. By 2050, 1.6 billion people will be over the age of 65. The challenge—and opportunity—that comes with increased life expectancy is ensuring that those extra years are as healthy and productive as possible. It’s an attainable goal, asserts British economist…

As publishers of insights, we believe that reading books can be a powerful tool for learning, growing, and navigating the landscape of today’s complex business environment. And books can both illuminate and provide moments of respite from the demands of daily life. McKinsey Global Publishing leader Raju Narisetti returns with…

Today’s insurers are exposed to multiple risks, from financial risks, such as shifting interest rates, changing costs and sources of capital, and increasing claims levels due to consecutive years of significant inflation, to an array of nonfinancial risks, including extreme climate events and generative AI (gen AI). This uncertain environment…

Some technologies are so compelling that they quickly take on a life of their own. Generative AI (gen AI) made the leap from the laboratory to the mainstream in late 2022, when Open AI launched a public beta of its ChatGPT service. Within two months, it had more than 100…

Consumers and businesses looking forward to the fillip of an interest rate cut may have to wait a little longer. Among our surveyed economies, only Brazil’s Monetary Policy Committee (Copom) cut its policy rate in May—but by just 0.25 percentage points, taking the Selic rate to 10.50%.Hopes of imminent interest…

Digitalization of the financial sector has brought significant benefits but has also exposed businesses to rising technology risks, including cyberattacks, system outages, and third-party information and communications technology (ICT) failures. To ensure financial institutions (FIs) remain resilient in the face of these threats, the European Union’s Digital Operational Resilience Act…

To explore how generative AI (gen AI) could transform the future of work globally, and in Singapore particularly, McKinsey partner Sanjna Parasrampuria, an expert in data, artificial intelligence and generative AI,  talked to Terence Chia, assistant chief executive of the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) of Singapore, and to Kathryn…

At a glance Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death for women. Cardiovascular conditions in the United States make up at least a third of the women’s health gap because of inequities between women and men in care delivery, efficacy, and data availability. Addressing heart health at every…

Demographic, regional, and technological shifts all influence the current story of global productivity. On this episode of The McKinsey Podcast, McKinsey senior partners Chris Bradley and Olivia White join editorial director Roberta Fusaro to discuss how best to measure productivity, what’s behind reduced productivity numbers, and what can be done to ramp…

Following a record showing in 2022, the global banking sector continued to exceed expectations during 2023. Global return on tangible equity reached 13 percent in 2023, its highest level since the 2008 financial crisis. Meanwhile, the worldwide Tier 1 ratio hit a ten-year high of 13.4 percent, and net interest…

Since it was founded in the United Kingdom close to two decades ago, enterprise software company Anaplan has been built around the core concept of what it has dubbed “connected planning.” For customers who had long dealt with a messy patchwork of different systems and manual processes, this has meant…

Over the past decade, private-capital firms and insurers have built a symbiotic relationship. Private-capital firms, which typically raise money from institutional investors such as pension funds and sovereign wealth funds, encompass multistrategy private-market firms, private-credit firms, private equity firms, and real estate firms. Tie-ups with insurers have allowed private-capital firms…

At a glance Labor markets in advanced economies today are among the tightest in two decades, not merely a pandemic-induced blip but rather a long-term trend that may continue as work forces age. Tightness means forgone economic output. We estimate that GDP in 2023 could have been 0.5 percent to…

The stock market offers daily lessons in animal spirits and, occasionally, something more. Every so often, investors become obsessed with a small group of companies, and clever analysts give them a name that resonates with the investing public. In the ’60s, we had the Nifty 50; in the 2010s, we…

The changeable nature of fashion extends well beyond its seasonal changes of what to wear. In recent years, one of the industry’s most dramatic changes involves New York City’s position as a global fashion capital. Within the United States, New York City has the country’s highest concentration of fashion sales,…

Soaring temperatures, shrinking glaciers, and rising sea levels provide a constant reminder that climate change is intensifying. Many governments, corporations, and individuals have already attempted to reduce emissions by adopting new green tech and want to expand these efforts to prevent a humanitarian crisis. The McKinsey Platform for Climate Technologies…

Tokenization, the process of creating a unique digital representation of an asset on a blockchain network, has reached a tipping point after many years of promise and experimentation. The benefits—including programmability, composability, and enhanced transparency—can empower financial institutions to capture operational efficiencies, increase liquidity, and create new revenue opportunities through…

As global organizations chart a path to net zero, many are looking to the next frontier of emissions reduction: “Scope 3” emissions. These emissions are not directly produced by a company’s operations, but embedded in its supply chain. They account for the vast majority of companies’ emissions, and a significant…

For a decade, the Indian chemical industry has been a global outperformer in demand growth and shareholder wealth creation. However, global headwinds have recently interrupted this momentum. Chemical companies in India could navigate these challenges and enhance their future prospects by boosting their competitiveness. Indian chemical industry: Interrupted momentum Indian…

The next generation of electrical/electronic (E/E) architecture for software-defined vehicles (SDV) is evolving toward centralization. By 2032, McKinsey analysis estimates that 30 percent of all vehicles produced globally will have E/E architectures with zonal controllers (Exhibit 1). Importantly for the semiconductor industry, this shift will require centralized, high-performance compute units.…

For many years, the Netherlands has enjoyed a robust economy and strong workforce. With a vast active workforce of 9.6 million people (out of a population of 17.6 million), the country has one of the highest employment rates and workforce productivity rates in the European Union. Globally, it ranks fifth…

Thousands of hours spent working closely with CEOs and other leaders of top corporations and nonprofits have revealed a fascinating business phenomenon: many leaders who have mastered all the right executive skills, including financial acumen, strategic and operational management, and system thinking, still struggle to link their aspirations with the…

Credit unions in the United States are at a crossroads. Their membership ranks are aging, and young people don’t always see credit unions’ offerings as a good value. That means credit unions need to work harder to attract younger members, or risk fading into irrelevance. (For more details on credit…

Jennifer Pahlka is the founder of Code for America, served as the United States government’s deputy chief technology officer, and is author of the book Recoding America: Why Government Is Failing in the Digital Age and How We Can Do Better. Jenn joins us to share her personal reflections of…

In this episode of McKinsey on Building Products, a podcast dedicated to the exploration of software product management and engineering, McKinsey partner Rikki Singh spoke to Scott Johnston, CEO of Docker. They discuss the importance of continual experimentation and adaptation in scaling platforms, the role of internal tools and infrastructure,…

A vine of green ivy growing from an aluminum sardine tin on a light blue background. Ever since the Industrial Revolution, we’ve consumed products in largely the same way. A company will extract or collect the resources to create a product, which consumers then buy, use, and ultimately throw away.…

McKinsey spoke with more than 5,000 travelers across geographies and generations as part of a recently published survey that reveals clear differences in behaviors, motivations, and expectations among a diverse set of tourists. On this episode of The McKinsey Podcast, McKinsey’s Margaux Constantin and Jasperina de Vries speak with editorial director Roberta…

Through most advances and innovations in enterprise technology, IT or technology services providers (also known as system integrators [SIs] or managed services providers [MSPs]) have, for the most part, been able to rely on one constant: their customers continuing to look outside their four walls for help stitching together and…

New challenges await payments providers, now that the pandemic-related surge in adoption of digital payments has leveled off. Among them are questions about how the technology and use cases are likely to develop. In this episode of Talking Banking Matters, payments industry expert and McKinsey partner Roshan Varadarajan talks with…