麦肯锡-算法并非优势所在 团队才是 The algorithm isnt the advantage–the team is

October2026

McKinsey

&Company

FinancialServicesPractice

Thealgorithmisn'ttheadvantage-theteamis

FICOCEOWillLansingsaysastrongownershipculture,notasmartercomputationalmethod,willsetthedataanalyticscompanyapartfromcompetitorsinthisAlera.

Creditandfinancial-servicesorganizationsareusingAItoreshapetheirofferingsand

interactionswithconsumers.ButasWillLansing,CEOofFICO,explains,masteringthe

technologyisonlyonepartofabroadertransformationstoryforthecompanyandtheindustry.

“Leadershipcomesfromfollowership,”hesays.“Itcomesfrompeoplebelievinginthemission.”Andthatlevelofcompany-wideconvictioniscriticalifexecutiveswanttosolvesomeofAI’s

hardestproblems:explainability,fairness,andtrust.OnthisepisodeofTheMcKinseyPodcast,LansingspeakswithMcKinseySeniorPartnerandNorthAmericaChairEricKutcheraboutwhatitwilltaketomaintainFICO’s70-yearmissionofenablingimpartiallending,howthecompany

canaddressemergingAIregulation,andhowitcangetthemostfromitsdata.

InthisrecurringseriesonTheMcKinseyPodcast,KutcherspeakswithtopCEOsaboutthepracticeofleadership.

TheMcKinseyPodcastisregularlycohostedbyLuciaRahillyandRobertaFusaro.

Thefollowingtranscripthasbeeneditedforclarityandlength.

Towatchthefull-lengthversionofthisinterview,visitTheMcKinseyPodcastplaylistonMcKinsey’sYouTubechannel.

Unbiasedlending

EricKutcher:TellusalittleaboutwhereFICOstarted.Whatproblemswereitsfounderstryingtosolve,andhowhastheorganizationevolvedintotheFICOoftoday?

WillLansing:MostpeopleknowFICOforFICOScores.Backinthemid-1950s,some70yearsago,amathematicianandanengineergottogetherandsaid,“Let’susedata,let’sapply

analytics,let’strytobemoreobjectiveaboutthisandcomeupwithcreditevaluationdoneinamorescientificway.”

Forthefirst30or40yearsofFICO’sexistence,wewereessentiallyananalyticsconsultingfirm.Bankswouldcometousandaskustobuildproprietaryscorecardssotheycouldevaluate

candidatesforcredit.

In1987,wecameupwiththeideathatinsteadofbuildingscorecardsforbanksonebyone,we’dbuildanindustry-widescorecard.Onethatanybodycoulduse.Sowelaunchedthefirst

industry-wideFICOScore,inpartnershipwithEquifax,oneofthecreditbureaus.

I’dsaythatwastransformationalforfinancialservicesandtheconsumercreditindustryinthe

UnitedStates.Weweretheinfrastructurethatlettheconsumercrediteconomyflourish.Beforethen,creditcardsweren’tmuchofafactor.Revolvingcreditwasn’treallyathing.

EricKutcher:It’samazingthatit’sstoodthetestoftime.It’sstillenablingtheeconomytogrow.

Thealgorithmisn’ttheadvantage–theteamis2

Thealgorithmisn’ttheadvantage–theteamis3

Creditissoimportanttoourconsumer-ledeconomy.

WillLansing:Thecorequestionforbanksoranybodydealingwithconsumercreditis,“IfIgiveyoumoney,areyougoingtopaymeback?”Ifyoucoulduseonlyonedatasettoanswerthat

question,you’dusethecreditbureau’screditpaymenthistory.You’dgointowhat’sessentiallyaledgerthatsays,“Ipaymycreditcardbillsontime.Idon’tgobeyondmylimits.”Thosearethe

kindsofthingsthatinformtheFICOScore.

WhereAIcanhelp—orharm

EricKutcher:Inmanyways,you’vebeenanAIcompanylongbeforepeopleevenstartedtalkingaboutartificialintelligence.HowisAIaffectingwhatyoudo?

WillLansing:We’vebeenanAIcompanyformorethan20years.Whatwe’rereallygoodatis

predictingconsumerbehavior—thatis,takingalotofdataandapplyinganalyticstomakea

particulardecisionabouthowtointeractwithaconsumer.Wedoatrueone-to-oneevaluationoftheoptimalwaytointeractwithaconsumer.Whetherit’ssomeonecomingintoabank

branch,contactingacallcenter—inboundoroutbound—orusingemail,chat,andsoforth,that

interactionshouldbeinformedbya360-degreeviewoftheconsumerandhowthatrelationshiphasevolvedwiththefinancialinstitution.

Thebigchangeabout15yearsagowasmovingfromapplicationsoftware,whereweansweredspecificquestionsaboutoriginations,collections,recovery,andfraud,toamuchbroaderviewofhowtointeractwithconsumers.Thatwasdriveninpartbytheinternetandretailers’moveto

one-to-onemarketing.ThattrendreallyhitfinancialinstitutionsduringtheCOVID-19pandemic,whenpeopleweren’tcomingintobranchesanymore,anditsuddenlybecamefarmore

importanttohaveadigitalrelationshipwiththeconsumer.

Oursoftwarefilledthatgap.Itsays,“Let’sunderstandeverythingyou’veeverdonewiththis

consumerandmakesurethatwhenwetalktothem,wedothingsthatarerelevantandmostlikelytoproducetheoutcomeswewant.”AIhasbeenakeypartofthissincetheearly2000s.We’vegottenfrauddowntoarelativelysmallnumberforourcustomers,andthat’sallbuiltonearlyAIneuralnets.

Webenefit,likeothersoftwarecompanies,fromtheproductivitythatcomesfromnothavingtowritecodebyhand.Ourcostofgoodssold,asapercentageofrevenue,isdecreasing.That’sagoodthing,althoughthecostoftheAIitselfisnotinsignificant.Therealpowerforusisfiguringouthowtodothiseconomicallyforourcustomers.

ThereareotherchallengeswithAIinfinancialservicesbecausewe’resuchaheavilyregulated

industry.Werunintofairlendinglawchallenges.Youcan’tjusthaveAImakethecreditdecision;it’snotthatsimple.Abasicexample:IntheUnitedStates,redliningisillegal.Redliningistheuseofgeographiclocationtoinformacreditdecision.Intheolddays,backinthe’40s,bankers

Thealgorithmisn’ttheadvantage–theteamis4

‘Ourcostofgoodssold,asapercentageofrevenue,isdecreasing.That’sagoodthing,althoughthecostoftheAIitselfisnotinsignificant.Therealpowerforusisfiguringouthowtodothis

economicallyforourcustomers.’

wouldputaredlinearoundaneighborhoodandsay,“Wedon’tlikethisneighborhood;we’renotlendingtoanybodyinit.”

That’sonekindofproblem.Anotheristhatregulatorswanttounderstandhowyoumadethe

creditdecisionyoudid.Theywanttoseethatitisobjectiveandscientific,thatyou’reapplyingthesamecriteriatoeverybody,andthatyou’renotfavoringsomegroupsoverothers.That’s

veryhardtodowithAI.Peopledescribeitasablackbox:Youputinaquestion,andyougetananswer.

We’vedonealotofworkinthisarea.WehavewhatwecallexplainableAI—wehavepatentsonit—whereweuseblockchaintoproduceanaudittrailsowecangobackandunderstandhowtheAImadeitsdecision.Itdoesn’tsolvetheredliningproblem,butitdoessolvetheblackboxproblem.

Theeffectsofagenticcommerce

EricKutcher:Youtalkedaboutunderstandinghowaconsumerpaysbackdebt.Whathappensgoingforward,whentheconsumermaynotbeoperatingontheirownbehalf—whenI’m

effectivelylettinganagentmakepurchasedecisionsagainstasetofcriteriaforme?Howdoesthatchangethebehaviorsyoulookat?

WillLansing:We’vespentalotoftimethinkingaboutthisinthecontextofcreditandfinancialservices.Forthepast30yearsorso,financialinstitutionshavewantedtobetheagentfortheconsumeronallthingsfinancial.That’sbeentheholygrailoftheindustryforalongtime.Nowsuddenly,thatpossibilityisquitereal.Ianticipatethatconsumerswillhavefinancialagentsthatgooutandshopforloansandcreditcardsandfigureoutthebestdeal.

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‘Ianticipatethatconsumerswillhavefinancialagentsthatgooutandshopforloansandcreditcardsandfigureoutthebestdeal.’

EricKutcher:We’realreadyseeingit.Fromtheperspectiveofcreditcardshopping,it’sbeen

fascinating.Theagentmaynotfillouttheapplicationyet,butwe’reprettyclose.Ididthiswithaclientnotlongago.Weaskedthemtotypein,“Iliveinthisarea,I’vegotthisprofile,Ineeda

creditcard,whowouldyourecommend?”Itwasfascinatingtoseewhogotrecommendedandwhy,andhowitdifferedbymarket.Thisparticularcompanyhadn’tthoughtaboutthatatall.

WillLansing:Ithinkmostfinancialinstitutions—certainlythemosttechnologicallyadvanced

ones—arealreadyexploringhowtheiragentsaregoingtotalktoconsumers’agentstomakeadeal.Thatisclearlycoming,anditopensupallkindsofnewpossibilities.

EricKutcher:We’respendingalotoftimeworkingwithfinancialinstitutionstoreimaginethe

underwritingprocess—withinthecontextofthelaws,butwithaveryagent-firstapproach.I’mcuriouswhatyou’reseeingfromtheotherside,sinceagentsmustinteractwithyourmodelsandsoftwaretopullintheinformationneededtodotheunderwriting.Whatarethebigchanges

you’reseeing?

WillLansing:TheopportunitywithAIinunderwriting,withinwhateverparametersregulators

allow,isthatyou’llbeabletoextractsignalsfromdatasetsbeyondtheusualsuspects,andwiththosesignals,youcanunderwriteforabroaderpopulation,potentiallygivingabiggerloanor

betterpricingtopeoplewhodeserveit.

Howdoesthatwork?Ithastodowithaccesstodata.Someofit’sstillproprietary,but

increasinglyyouhaveconsumer-permissioneddata.FICO’screditscoreisbuiltoncreditbureaudata—here’swhopaidontime,here’swhowaslate.Butifwetalktotheconsumerandsay,“Canwelookatyourcheckingaccount?WouldyoubeOKwiththat?”—thatopensupallkindsof

possibilities.Wecanlookintoademanddepositaccount.Wecanseethefrequencyof

overdrafts.Wecanseeregularincomecominginandregularrentalpaymentsgoingout.Therearealotofsignalsinthosecheckingaccounts.ThetricktoapplyingAIinthisenvironmentis

figuringoutwhatdatayoucanaccessandwhatyoucan’tandhowtocapturethesignalsfromallthedatayou’vehistoricallynotreallyhadaccessto.There’sstillplentythatwon’tjustbeoutintheether,butIthinkthepossibilitiesforbetterunderwritingarereal.

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EricKutcher:It’ssuperinteresting;foronce,consumersmightactuallygetpaidforallthedatatheygiveaway,presumablythroughbetterpricingandterms.

WillLansing:That’sexactlywhereitcomesin:Yougetaloanyouwouldn’thaveotherwisegotten,oryougetabetterpriceonyourmortgagethanyouotherwisewouldhave.

Optionalityallowsforbackupplans

EricKutcher:Howdoyouthinkaboutmaintainingaconnectiontoyourlegacy—whothe

organizationhasalwaysbeen—whileinnovating,especiallyatamomentwhenthepaceof

innovationiswhatitisandsomeofthecompetitivemoatsyou’vehistoricallyhadmightnotbethemoatsthatcarryyouforward?

WillLansing:Everybusinessisdifferent,butsomethingsareuniversal.It’salwaysusefulto

figureoutwhatyou’rereallygreatat—whatyoudobetterthaneverybodyelse—andhowtotakethattothenextlevel.That’swhatwe’vealwaysfocusedon.

Havingthebestpeoplematters.It’sacliché,butit’ssotrue.Ifyouhavegreatpeople,theyfigureouttheanswerstoproblemsandthepathforward.

I’dsayakeyfactorforsuccess—dependingonhowfast-movingtheindustryis—isoptionality.Youdoyourforward-lookingplanning,scenarioplanning,andstrategy.Idon’tlikesingularbetsbecauseiftheygowrong,you’rereallyinalotoftrouble.Iliketopreserveoptionality.Aswe’veevolvedourstrategy—whetherit’sdealingwithAIorcompetitorsoranythingelse—wethink

throughthepathwebelieveisright,butwealsoconsiderwhatwe’dfallbackonifthatpathdidn’tworkout.

EricKutcher:I’veheardtheexpression“one-wayversustwo-waydoors,”andI’vereallytakentoit.Youdon’thavetobeoverlythoughtfulaboutatwo-waydoor,becauseyoucangothroughit,figureoutifitworks,andcomebackanddosomethingdifferent.However,youhaveto

understandthecostofthat,andIdon’tjustmeandollarsandcents,buttheorganizationalimpact.Aone-waydoor,I’dbetterbecertainabout,becauseIcan’tcomebackthroughit.

WhathaveyoulearnedasCEOthatyouprobablydidn’tanticipatewhenyoufirststarted?

WillLansing:SomuchofwhatI’velearnedhasbeenabouthowtogetthebestvalueoutofthepeopleIhave.Leadershipcomesfromfollowership;itcomesfrompeoplebelievinginthe

mission,agreeingwithit,andwantingtocontributetoit.Ispendalotofmytimetryingtomakesureeveryoneisonboardwiththestrategyandbelievesinwhatwe’retryingtodo.

WehavethreecorporatevaluesatFICO:Actlikeanowner,delightyourcustomers,andearntherespectofothers.Theysoundlikemotherhoodandapplepie,butinpractice,whenIsitdown

withanewemployeetoexplain“actlikeanowner,”Isay,“Thisisyourbusiness.Youhavestock

Thealgorithmisn’ttheadvantage–theteamis7

‘It’salwaysusefultofigureoutwhat

you’rereallygreatat—whatyoudo

betterthaneverybodyelse—andhowtotakethattothenextlevel.’

inthebusiness.Iwantyoutodoyourjobasthoughthiswereafamilybusiness.Youcontrol

resources,budgetdollars,thetimeofthepeoplewhoworkforyou,andyourowntime.Anytimeyoufeellikeyou’renotdoingtherightthing,you’resupposedtostopandsay,‘Hey,thisisnot

whatweshouldbedoing.Thisisabadidea.’”It’staken15yearsforourculturetoreallyget

there,butI’dsaymostpeopleatFICOactlikeowners.Theybelievethat’swhatweshouldbe

doing.It’stakenalongtimetoinculcatethesevalues,andwe’vepushedstockownershipprettyfarintotheorganizationtomakeithappen.Butitworks.

EricKutcher:Noteveryyounghirehasthatsameorientationtoday.Howdoyoubringthemalong?

WillLansing:There’ssomeextrapressureonyoungcolleaguesthesedays.FICOhasalways

hadthisviewthatwewantthebestpeoplewecanget,wherevertheylive,howevertheywanttolive—thesmartestmathematicians,thesmartestscientists,thebestdatascientists.Wewerea

virtualcompanylongbeforeCOVID-19.Wehadpeoplescatteredallovertheworld:PeoplewholiveinChamonixbecausetheyliketoski,butthey’rebrilliant,sowelikeit,too;andpeoplewholiveintheOuterHebrides.Fortunately,wehaveinternetaccess—thatwasalwaysourthing:Livewhereveryouwant.

DuringCOVID-19,peoplescatteredevenfurther.That’sfineforpeoplewhoarealreadyinvolvedinthecultureandunderstandFICOwell.Butitcanbeachallengeifyoujoinacompanywhile

workingvirtually.Wegooutofourwaytofindtimeforin-personget-togethersthreeorfourtimesayearfordifferentgroups,sopeopleactuallyspendtimetogether.It’shardertoforgeaconnectionwhenpeoplearen’tphysicallytogether.

Thehardpartisbalance

EricKutcher:You’reentrustedwiththisincredibleinstitution—itslegacyanditspathforward.Youhavetobalanceinnovationwiththeresponsibilitythatcomeswithit.Howdoyouthink

aboutthattrade-off?

Thealgorithmisn’ttheadvantage–theteamis8

WillLansing:Ithinktheideaoftheone-wayversustwo-waydoorsisclearlypartofit.WeinvestahugeamountinR&D—asacompany,wepourmoneyintoit.Wehavehundredsofpatents,andwe’reconstantlygettingmore.It’sinournaturetotrytobecutting-edgeonanalytics,so

innovationisn’tthehardpart.ThehardpartisstrikingtherightbalancebetweenR&Dand

runningabusiness:Youhavetoproduceprofitsforshareholders,compensateemployeesfairly,andmakeyourcustomershappy.Anditcan’tallbetheoretical.We’vegottogetitouttomarketinareasonabletimeframe.Alotofenergygoesintothatbalance,especiallywithsoftware

releases:What’sthebalancebetweenfeaturefunctionalityandgettingitoutthedoor?Every

softwarecompanywrestleswiththat,andwedo,too.We’removingtoamuchmorecontinuousreleaseapproachbecausethetechnologynowallowsforit.

EricKutcher:Thepricingmodelsarechanging,too.You’renotdoingperpetuallicenses

anymore.Peopleusedtopayjustonce;nowit’smoreofanannualormonthlyrelationship.

WillLansing:Wewentfromperpetuallicensestotermlicensesandthencombinedvarious

kindsofintellectualpropertylicenseswithausage-basedcomponent.Aswemovedtothe

cloud,wehadcostsassociatedwithrunningit,sowemovedfurtherintousage-basedpricing.Historically,pricinghaschewedupwaymoretimethanitshould;it’sashame.We’removingtoconsumption-basedpricing,whereweprovidetheinfrastructureanddon’trenegotiateevery

timeyouwanttoexpandyouruse.Usewhatyouwant;youknowwhatitcosts.Forasoftware

companywithaland-and-expandstrategylikeours,it’sperfect:Yougetinstalled,andthenthecustomerdecideshowmuchorhowlittletheywanttouse.Ilovethatwe’respendinglesstimenegotiatingthenextdealorthenextchunkofcapability,andit’smuchmoreuptothecustomertopulldownwhatevertheywantastheyneedit.

EricKutcher:WhatdoyouhopeforinFICO’snextchapter?

WillLansing:Ourcoreskillsandcompetenciesincreditaren’tgoingaway—that’sstillgoingtobethecenterofthecompany.It’sagiganticmarket.We’rethecornerstoneoftheconsumer

crediteconomyintheUnite