McKinsey podcast on agentic AI and energy transition

McKinsey senior partners Lareina Yee, Sven Smit, and partner Roger Roberts discussed McKinsey’s research on 13 frontier technology trends on The McKinsey Podcast, focusing on agentic AI, robotics, semiconductors, the energy transition, and digital trust.

• Main announcement/action: McKinsey leaders outlined concrete examples and early outcomes of agentic AI and automation in business—e.g., a sales use case that delivered an 11% increase in lead generation and conversion—while describing how organizations should onboard, train, and manage digital coworkers; they emphasized robotics examples (Schiphol wheelchair, logistics robots) and noted semiconductor and cooling innovations that reduce data-center power intensity (chips claimed to be ~1,000x more efficient in compute density over recent years).
• Background and details: The discussion framed the energy transition as a demand challenge driven by AI and rising wealth, noting the need to double energy capacity with a mix of solar, wind, nuclear, storage, and grid build-outs; McKinsey cited rapid mega-installation build rates in China (“almost every week”), supply-chain and infrastructure constraints, and the need to balance speed and affordability in deployment.