Trend Shift 2: work is redesigned around human-agent collaboration rather than agent insertion
Summary
McKinsey's second shift argues that plugging agents into existing workflows captures little of their potential, and that processes must be decomposed into discrete activities with deliberate choices about what humans do, what agents do, and how the two combine.
Classification
Main topicAI & Computing
Region menusGlobal
Impactscope:global
Time horizon0-3 years (2026-07-26)
Last updated2026-07-29 04:49:52
Evidence 1
- The State of Organizations 2026 McKinsey & Company page=17;section=Technology disruption: Humans and AI agents - Building a new world of collaboration 2026-02 accessed 2026-07-26
Observed signals 14
- Signal53% expect AI to remain mainly a support tool over the next one to two years
- Signal55% expect exponential productivity gains from an AI-savvy workforce
- SignalAI agents in early drug discovery raised wet lab capacity 21 to 30 percent at one company
- SignalAbout 75% of current roles will need reshaping as AI embeds across workflows
- SignalDemand for AI fluency in US job postings grew sevenfold in two years
- SignalGlobal demand for applied AI talent more than tripled between 2018 and 2025
- SignalHitachi commits to developing 50,000 generative AI professionals by fiscal 2027
- SignalInterface design lifted user acceptance of AI claims review to about 95 percent
- SignalMore than 70% of employer-sought skills apply to both automatable and non-automatable work
- SignalMost organizations still plan the workforce every two to three years or annually
- SignalOne in four expects AI as autonomous teammate within two years, with a generational split
- SignalProfessional services and TMT lead in pursuing AI-driven productivity gains
- SignalWalmart plans to hold workforce size steady while every job changes
- SignalWhere generative AI eliminated roles, 54% of leaders upskilled or redeployed the people
Part of issues 1
- IssueRunning after the wave: short-term takeouts crowd out workforce transformation1 trends · 2 signals
Relation types: constitutes · supports
Public id: fm-4cfef726fbe6