Trend Shift 3: shared-services centers become AI-native global business services

Summary

McKinsey's third shift concerns the future of shared-services centers. The traditional model, designed around process efficiency and cost reduction, has in McKinsey's view reached its limits. As AI-augmented workforces take shape, organizations need to turn these centers into AI-native global business services that act as strategic partners and hubs for innovation. Such centers rethink workflows, roles, and governance rather than just automating processes, and they can be virtual rather than physical. McKinsey warns that laggards relying on simple relocation for cost savings risk falling behind fast movers already scaling AI-native models.