A year and a half ago, management consulting firm McKinsey had just 3,000 of its own AI agents and 40,000 employees, far outnumbering its agents. But in just 18 months, that number has grown by more than 500%, to about 20,000 AI agents supporting the company’s operations, CEO Bob Sternfels said on Harvard Business Review’s Ideacast. The company is currently evaluating how well candidates can utilize its AI tools as part of the interview process.
CaseBasix, a consulting interview preparation firm that helps candidates resolve cases at McKinsey, BCG and Bain, says the company requires candidates to use its in-house AI tool Lilli in tests during the hiring process. CaseBasix said in a blog post that it has gathered information from internal sources that some candidates will be asked to use the company’s AI tools as part of the final round of AI interviews. of financial times It also reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that McKinsey is focusing on business school students who use Lili.
The move comes as the blue-chip company further integrates AI into its operations and seeks skills that go beyond the interpersonal and problem-solving traits typically required of consultants. As technology becomes an integral part of jobs, companies like McKinsey are looking for candidates who are AI-ready from day one.
In an interview with HBR, Sternfels said AI models are developing problem-solving expertise and will “look more at liberal arts majors that have been deprioritized” as potential sources of creativity as the company seeks to find creative solutions that go beyond “logical next steps.” In addition to McKinsey, other executives are also looking to hire liberal arts graduates, such as Ravi Kumar S., CEO of tech company Cognizant Technology Solutions, who says he is hiring candidates with liberal arts degrees.
Try your AI skills
McKinsey isn’t shying away from leveraging AI in its hiring process. The company is encouraging the use of AI in the application process on its career pages, and says candidates can use the technology to refine their resumes and practice interview questions. It warns candidates to use technology responsibly, but says it does not allow the use of technology during assessments, generating interview responses or window dressing.
“We welcome people who share our curiosity about AI and its potential,” the company’s recruitment page says.
But the testing program goes a step further. According to Casebasix, AI interviews can be an additional step in the application process for candidates in the US and North America, alongside case interviews and personal experience interviews.
“In the McKinsey AI interview, you will be expected to instruct the AI, review its output, and apply judgment to generate clear, structured responses,” the Casebasix post states. According to the post, McKinsey is testing soft skills such as collaboration and reasoning that are essential to working at the consulting firm and working with the company’s AI.
A McKinsey spokesperson did not immediately respond. luckThis is a comment request from .
Agent talent to reshape the nature of consulting work
Sternfels predicted that the company will aggressively implement AI in the coming months. “In 18 months, every employee will be supported by at least one agent,” Sternfels said on HBR’s Ideacast. “We’re going to have a human, agentic workforce, and we’re going to have to navigate that.”
The changes could dramatically alter McKinsey’s operations. As AI agents improve the productivity of the company’s employees, Sternfels said the introduction of AI could fundamentally change McKinsey’s model.
“We are moving away from pure advisory work and away from a fee-for-service model,” Sternfels said. “We are moving to a more results-based model, identifying joint business cases with our clients and ensuring results by tying our fees to the impact our work has for them.”
But the human skills that Sternfels says cannot be replaced by AI: creativity, desire, and judgment. “AI models have no truth and no judgment,” Sternfel said. “Humans have to impose those parameters.”
