Inside the Strategy Room

Infrastructure is at a pivotal inflection point: its definition is expanding beyond traditional assets to digital and interconnected systems, demanding a fundamental mindset shift by governments, investors, and operators to plan, fund, and maintain integrated infrastructure that supports future growth and resilience. Alastair Green and Adrian Kwok discuss the latest findings from our 2026 Global Private Markets Report, take stock of the sector's latest trends, and reveal how private capital is responding to an evolving funding landscape

Related insights

2026 Global Private Markets Report

The Infrastructure Moment

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Competitive advantage is becoming much more fluid as market positions shift faster across industries, with advantages eroding and differentiation narrowing. Despite this increased volatility, companies often fail to actively monitor shifts in their competitive edge. Join Matt Banholzer and Laura LaBerge as they discuss their latest research on the erosion of competitive advantage and share what companies can do to maximize their edge over peers.

Related Insights 

Strategy’s biggest blind spot: Erosion of competitive advantage

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

Why accelerated resource allocation matters in the age of AI

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Long-term value creation is foundational to building strong companies and economies, yet many leaders struggle to ensure that well-conceived, well-executed strategies receive full recognition from investors. Senior Partner Ryan Davies and Associate Partner Jacob Marcus join us to discuss how to anticipate investor reactions, assess opportunities to outperform expectations, and embed an investor mindset into decision-making to build greater resilience.

Related Insights

Global Private Markets Report 2026

Private equity 2026 outlook: Clearer view, tougher terrain

Unlocking full potential: Five practices reshaping PE value creation

Transforming value creation in private equity portfolio companies

The coming wave of business transfers

What every CEO can learn from private equity

The CEO’s Guide to the Investment Galaxy

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In today’s tougher exit environment, private equity firms are facing longer holding periods, valuation gaps, and increased pressure to return capital. Kai Vollhardt and Jelena Bauer are joined by Christian Habrich and Frederyk Schroeder as they unpack their latest article on how to drive successful exits. They share strategies that top-performing firms use to improve exit outcomes and turn preparation into premium valuations, including how to translate AI potential into a credible value story.

Related Insights

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

Global Private Markets Report 2026

Private equity 2026 outlook: Clearer view, tougher terrain

Unlocking full potential: Five practices reshaping PE value creation

Transforming value creation in private equity portfolio companies (podcast)

The coming wave of business transfers (podcast)

What every CEO can learn from private equity (podcast)

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Discover how market leaders—Walmart, Builders FirstSource, Progressive, and JPMorgan Chase—achieved exceptional growth from 2019 to 2024, outperforming peers by an average of five percentage points in revenue and seven points in profitability. In this episode, Simon Jones, David Schiff , and Kate Siegel discuss their new article on the three critical characteristics that drive sustained profitable business growth: committed investment strategies, diversified growth engines, and systematic technology integration.

Related Insights

Inspired for business growth: How five companies beat the market

The race takes off in the next big arenas of competition

The granularity of growth

Rewired 2.0: How leading companies are (still) winning with AI?

The ten rules of growth

How innovative companies leverage tech to outperform

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Transformations often falter due to internal dynamics that divide organizations, such as misaligned incentives, siloed efforts, and risk aversion. CEOs are uniquely positioned to address these challenges by tackling the root causes of collective-action problems and uniting their organizations around bold aspirations. Join Meagan Hill, Mathew Lee, and Kurt Strovink as they explore the role of the CEO in driving enterprise-wide transformation and embedding lasting change into the fabric of their organizations.

Related Insights
Collective action, collective success: A CEO’s role in transformations

Courageous conversations: How to lead with heart

A CEO for All Seasons: Mastering the Cycles of Leadership

McKinsey Transformation on LinkedIn

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More than 55 percent of large spin-offs fail to deliver the expected value three years post-spin; this is true for both the parent and the new company. However, even in today’s complex macro environment, there is plenty of spin activity as companies look outside the portfolio in pursuit of more focused strategies, fit-for-purpose operating models, and optimized capital management.

Join us as Jamie Koenig and Anna Mattson, co-leaders of our Global Separations Practice, discuss their recent article on the topic and step through five critical moves that help increase the odds of spin-off success. They also share a wealth of insights gleaned from several decades of deal experience, including what a new SpinCo CEO should expect.  

Related Insights

Beating the odds: What really matters for successful spin-offs

2026 M&A trends: Navigating a rapidly rebounding market

When separating businesses, people are the key to unleashing value

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Today’s board members face growing demands on their time. A challenging macro environment and ever-evolving business risks are increasing meeting frequency and requiring faster decision-making. For executives considering a board role, the developmental opportunity may be clear — but what does the role really involve?

In this episode, McKinsey senior partner emeritus and board director, Celia Huber speaks with Christiana Smith Shi. Christiana is the former President of Nike’s direct-to-consumer division and a seasoned board member with over 14 years of service, including on the boards of Williams Sonoma and Mondelēz International. She currently serves on the boards of Columbia Sportswear and UPS, and as Chair of Habitat for Humanity. In a wide-ranging conversation, Christiana opens the boardroom door to discuss topics including the differences between not-for-profit and corporate boards, the dynamics of CEO transitions, and what drives board effectiveness.

Related Insights 

The Board Perspective

How boards can tackle geopolitical risk

The board’s role in managing emerging AI risks

The AI reckoning: How boards can evolve

CEO Insights: Forging stronger CEO–board partnerships

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Buy-side carve-outs can create significant value for acquiring companies, but they can also present complex challenges. In this episode, we’re joined by Kameron Kordestani, Anna Mattson, and Rui Silva to discuss how leaders—particularly CFOs, integration managers, and CHROs—must balance financial structuring, operational planning, and people management to ensure a value-creating transition.

Related insights

How buyers can successfully navigate integrating a carve-out

The power of goodbye: How carve-outs can unleash value

Solving the carve-out conundrum

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Outperformance in private equity is no longer defined by leverage or multiple expansion; disciplined value creation will be the decisive factor in future investment success. In this episode, AD Bhatia, Robin Ligon, and Jason Phillips are joined by CVC’s John Kelleher to discuss the key shifts in today’s PE environment and share five moves firms are making in response. The path to transforming value creation requires a more disciplined playbook: structured re-diligence, holistic transformation under a dedicated transformation leadership, stronger operating-team talent, and the use of AI as a portfolio-wide accelerator.

Related Insights

2026 Global Private Markets Report 

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

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

McKinsey Strategy and Corporate Finance on LinkedIn

McKinsey Transformation on LinkedIn

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