ibm -人工智能转型宣言 The AI transformation manifesto

April2026

Mcknsey

Quarterly

TheAItransformationmanifesto

TwelvethemesseparatecompaniesthataretrulyrewiredforAIfromtheirpeers.

ThisarticleisacollaborativeeffortbyAlexSingla,AlexanderSukharevsky,EricLamarre,KateSmaje,andRobertLevin,representingviewsfromQuantumBlack,AIbyMcKinsey,andMcKinsey’sTechnologyandAIgroup.

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ThecompaniesthataretrulyinnovatingwithAIaredoingsomethingverydifferentfromtheir

peers:TheyareconceptualizinganddevelopingAIcapabilitiesthatreshapetheirproducts,services,corebusinessprocesses,andorganizationalsystems.

Theseleadingcompanies—manyprofiledinthesecondeditionofourseminalbook,

Rewired:How

LeadingCompaniesWinwithTechnologyandAI

—arealreadyrealizinggame-changingresultsandcreatingcompetitiveadvantage.Theiradvantage,however,doesnotcomefromthetechtheyuse;thosetoolsarebroadlyavailable.Theiradvantagecomesfromhow—andhowfast—theyapplytech-nologytosolvingrealbusinessproblemsatscale.

WesummarizeourperspectiveonhowtheydoitinthisAItransformationmanifesto.Thisdeclara-

tioncapturesthedefiningthemesthatseparatethecompaniesthataresuccessfullytransforming

theirbusinesswithtechandAIfromthosethatarenot.Andwhilethere’snoquestionthatagenticAIispushingtheboundariesofwhat’spossible,thethemesareenduringbecausetheyfocusonwhatittakestoharnesstechnologytodrivebusinessgoals.

ThesethemesareextractedfromthesixcapabilitiesthatarefeaturedinRewired:strategicroad

mapping,talent,operatingmodel,tech,data,andadoptionandscaling.Incallingthesethemes

out,wearehighlightingwhatourworkonhundredsoflarge-scaletechandAItransformationshasshownreallymakesadifference.Thesethemesshouldbecomeachecklistforchangeand

operateasguidepostsalongyourtransformationjourneytovalue.

1.Technologyalonedoesn’tcreateadvantage;enduringcapabilitiesdo.

WhoaretheearlywinnersatAI?Thesamecompaniesthathavebeenwinningbeforeby

buildingcapabilitiesthatallowthemtoharnessanytechnologyeffectively.Wecallthem

Rewiredcompanies.Whenthesenewcapabilitiesarebuilt—andtheytaketimetobuild—thecompanyacceleratesitsbusinesstransformationwithtechnologyandoutperformsitspeers.Thecapabilitiesbecomethecompetitiveadvantage.

Areyoubuildingenduringcapabilitiesforthejourney,ormerelydeliveringone-offsolutions?

2.Economicleveragepointsareyourbestfocalpoints.

Anybusinessmodelhasafewkeyeconomicleveragepointsthatprovidethebiggest

impactwhenimprovedwithAI.Inmining,forexample,processyieldandthroughputisakeyeconomicleveragepoint,andthat’swhere

Freeport-McMoRanachievedgame-changing

impact

.Inautomotive,supplychainintegrationisakeyleveragepoint,andthat’swhere

ToyotahaditsAIbreakthrough.Mostcompanieshavelonglistsofusecases.Successfulonesfocusonachievingdeepbusinesstransformationinthefewareasthatmatter

strategically.That’swheretheydoubledowntobuildAIsystems.

HaveyoudisproportionatelyfocusedyourAIeffortsonyoureconomicleveragepoints?

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3.Ifthevalueyou’recreatingdoesn’tmovethebusiness,you’regettingitwrong.

Westudiedtheimpactachievedby20companiesacrossindustriesthathaveprovedthemselvestobeleadersinAI.Onaverage,theirtechnology-andAI-drivenbusinesstransformations

delivereda20percentEBITDAuplift,reachedbreakeveninonetotwoyears,andgenerated$3ofincrementalEBITDAforevery$1invested.Thesecompaniesconcentratedtheireffortsononetothreebusinessdomains,reinventingthemwithAI.Thatrequiredcreativeproblem-solving,

coordinateduseoftechandnontechlevers,maniacalfocusonthecustomers/users,andclearaccountabilityforthebusinessKPIsthatmatteredmost.Theymadesubstantial,stage-gatedinvestmentsandstillcontinuetoimproveandstayahead.

Willyourbusinesstransformationplanresultingame-changingvalue,orwillthewinsbeincremental?

4.BuildingthetechandAImuscleofyourseniorbusinessleadersshouldbeatoppriority.

Wedon’thaveasinglesuccessstorywhereseniorbusinessleaderswerenotinthedriver’s

seat.ITleaderscansupportthetransformation,ofcourse,butit’sbusinessleaderswhoneed

todriveit.Atleadingcompanies,theyactivelyownthetechagenda—fromdefininghowthe

businesswillbereimaginedwithtechnologytosteeringsolutiondevelopmenttoensuringvaluedelivery.

Theseleaders

,usuallyoneorthreelevelsbelowtheCEO,combinedeepbusiness

domainexpertisewithtechnology,data,andAIknow-howthatmakesthemformidablebusinesstransformers.Theyareconceptualizing,building,andrunningAIsystemsthatpowerkeyaspectsofthebusiness.

Areyourseniorbusinessleaderstech-andAI-capable?

5.EverytechandAItransformationisapeopletransformation.

Leadingcompaniesincreasetheirtechtalentcapabilityanddensitybyfollowingwhatwecall

the“30–70shifts”:morethan70percentoftalentshouldbein-house,morethan70percentofthemshouldbe“doer”engineerswhobuildgreatsoftware-basedsolutions,andmorethan70

percentofthemshouldperformathigherskilllevels(thatis,competentorexpert).Thisproducessmall,highlyskilledteamsthatoutperformlargearmiesoflower-skilledstaff.Onthebusiness

side,leadersevolveintodomainandsolutionowners,accountableforoutcomesandleading

cross-functionalagileteams.Leadingcompanieshavelargelycompletedthistransition,whichresultsinhighertalentdensityandmuchtighterbusinessownership.

AsAIagentstakeonmore

ofthecoordination,execution,androutinedecision-makingwork,humanrolesshiftupthevaluestack.Engineersspendlesstimeonroutinecodingtasksandmoretimedesigningarchitecture,workflows,constraints,andqualitycontrols.Businessandsolutionleadersfocuslessontaskmanagementandmoreonsettingobjectives,defining

successmetrics,andmakingtrade-offs.Theresultisfewerpeopledoinghigher-leveragework,withcleareraccountabilityandfasterlearningloops.

Haveyouprogressedenoughonyourpeopletransformation?

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6.Speedisthedefiningorganizationaladvantage.

Businessesareinaninnovationracewithcompaniesthathaveaccesstothesame

technologies.Companieswinthatracewhentheiroperatingmodelredeploysresourcesmorerapidlytoimportantopportunities,empowersteamstoactwithoutexcessive

dependencies,andreducesthe“latency”frominsighttodecisionanddecisiontoaction.

SpeedrequiresembeddingAIengineering

andotherfunctionaltalentdirectlyinthe

business,maximizingtechnologyanddatareusethroughplatforms,andgoverningwithclearbusinessoutcomesandsustainedfundingtiedtoresults,notprojects.Thisshortenscycle

timesdramatically.Withoutit,nocompanycantrulyinnovatewithtechnologyandAIatscale;theywillsimplybetooslow.

Whatareyoudoingtoincreasethemetabolicrateofyourorganization?

7.Techplatformsarestrategicassets;investinthemthatway.

Platformsdetermineacompany’sexecutionspeed,drivedownitsunitcoststhroughreuse,gettechnologyanddataintothehandsofthepeoplewhoneedthem,andenableAIto

scaleresponsibly.Theyprovidestandardized,safe,andsharedtechanddatacapabilities

thatteamscanaccess.Leadingcompaniesmanagetheirplatformsstrategicallywith

dedicatedteams,roadmaps,budget,targetservicelevels,anduserswhoseneedsshapehowtheplatformevolves.Asaseniorexecutive,understandingyourtechnicalarchitecture,thelatitudeitgivesyou,andhowitdrivescompetitivedifferentiationisnowasessentialtoleadingamoderncompanyasknowingyourprofitandloss.

Areplatformsunderstoodanddiscussedasstrategicassets?

8.Makedataeasytoconsume—andenrichitforadvantage.

AsDavidBaker,winnerofthe2024NobelPrizeinChemistry,observedwhenreflectingonrecentbreakthroughs:“AIneedsmassesofhigh-qualitydatatobeuseful.”Without

good

data,AIbreakthroughs

areimpossible.Yetinmostorganizations,dataoftenstillactsastheconstrainingfactor.ScalingAIthereforestartsbyproductizingdata—makingiteasy

todiscover,access,andconsumeacrossmanyAI-poweredapplications.Thatrequires

investmentsinbuilding

dataproducts

.Overtime,thegameshiftstodataenrichment,

deepeningitsquality,context,anduniquenessforsustainedperformancegainswithAI.InRewiredorganizations,dataisabusiness-ownedperformanceasset.

Canyourteamseasilyconsumeyourdata,oraretheystillwranglingit?

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9.Designforadoptionandbuildforscale.

AIsystemscreatevalueonlywhentheyare

adoptedandscaled

.Thatmaysoundobvious,yetitremainsoneofthehardestchallenges.Adoptionoftenfailsbecauseadjacent

upstreamanddownstreamprocessesareleftunchanged.AnAIsolutionmaypredictequipmentfailuresdaysinadvance,butifmaintenancestillfollowscalendar-basedscheduling,nothinghappens.

Scalingisadifferent,butequallydifficult,challenge.ExpandingAIsolutionsquicklyand

economicallyacrossmarkets,factories,customersegments,orproductlinesrequiresmod-ularsolutionarchitecturesandawell-choreographeddancebetweencentralteamsandthereceivingunits.Theseconsiderations—includingrequiredinvestmentsandruncosts—mustbeaddressedupfront,notretrofittedlater.

CanyourorganizationrepeatedlyadoptandscaleAI,orisitstillrelyingonisolatedheroics?

10.Notrust,norighttodeployAI.

WhenAIsystemsfail,theychallengetrustwithcustomers,regulators,employees,partners,andsocietyatlarge.

Digitaltrust

growswhenstakeholdershaveconfidencethatyour

organizationprotectsconsumerdata,enactseffectivecybersecurity,offerstrustworthy

AI-poweredproductsandservices,andprovidestransparencyaroundAIanddatausage.Thechallengesareonlyincreasingwiththeexpansionofagentictechnologies,requiring

muchmoretimefortestingagenticsystemsandautomatingriskcontrols.It’safast-movingspace,andtheexcitementforagenticAImaybegettingaheadofcompanies’abilityto

managethemorecomplexrisksassociatedwiththetechnology.

WouldyourAIdeploymentswithstandpublic,regulatory,andcustomerscrutinytoday?

11.Agenticengineeringbecomesthenextcapabilitytomaster.

Foundationmodelsarenowcapableofsustained,autonomousworkoverlongperiods,makingitpossibletobuildcomplexagenticworkflows.Nowhereisthismoreevident

thanin

softwaredevelopment

,wheretheproductivitygainshavebeenastonishing.

Leadingcompaniesaremovingquicklytomasteragenticengineering.Theyareingesting

unstructureddata,extendingtheirAIplatformswithagenticcapabilities,automating

guardrailsandcontrols,andrapidlyexperimentingtocodifywhatworksintoarepeatable

agenticplaybook.We’veseenthispatternbefore.Rewiredleadersconsistentlyabsorbnewtechnologiesfasterbecausethey’vebuilttheunderlyingcapabilitiestodoso.

Willagenticworkflowsbeyournextengineeringadvantage—oryournextcatch-upproblem?

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12.(Re)learnlikeyourbusinessdependsonit.

Oneofthereasonsweloveworkinginthisspaceisthatit’sconstantlychanging.Thehalf-lifeofskillsisshorteningasinnovationaccelerates.Theorganizationsthat

learn,unlearn,and

relearnthefastest

havetheadvantage.Takingyourleadershipteamonlearningjourneys

isthemostimportantthingaCEOcandotoeffectivelyacceleratebusinesstransformationwithAI.Aswehaveobservednumeroustimes,thesejourneysarecrucialforthetopteamtoreachthepointofconvictionwhenboththestrategicopportunityandtransformation

pathwaybecomeclear.Atthatpoint,everyC-suiteleaderunderstandstheirroleandthetran