Special episode: McKinsey at CES 2026

Summary

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The McKinsey Podcast

Special Episode: McKinsey at CES 2026

Date: January 9, 2026
Hosts: Lucia Rahilly & Roberta Fassaro
Featured Guests: Bob Sternfels, Bill Wiseman, Steven Fuchs, Martin Kellner

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Episode Overview

In this special edition from the floor of CES 2026, McKinsey’s top leaders and partners discuss the future of innovation in consumer electronics, with a focus on AI, robotics, advanced computing, and mobility. The episode explores how companies can extract value from the latest technologies and what business leaders should prioritize amid rapid technical advancement.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Uniquely Human Capabilities in an AI World

(00:11–01:48)

• Bob Sternfels (Global Managing Partner) highlights three core skills humans bring to the table, despite the rise of AI:
  • Aspiring and inspiring others: “Aspire, set the right aspiration. That's a uniquely human capability.” (00:47)
  • Setting parameters and exercising judgment: “How do you set the right parameters, the architecture based on firm values, based on societal norms?” (01:02)
  • True creativity: “Models are inference models, the next most likely step. How do you think about orthogonal stuff?” (01:15)
• Talent Implications: The traditional focus on credentials is shifting; companies should consider intrinsic skills and practical expertise (e.g., “GitHub profile”) over formal education.

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2. Real-World Applications of AI on Display at CES

(01:56–02:37)

• Bill Wiseman (Senior Partner) describes cutting-edge AI demonstrations:
  • Quantum and advanced computing: Collaborations aiming for breakthroughs in molecular interactions and drug discovery.
  • AI-controlled surgery: “An LLM that was controlling a surgical robot...that was actually a kind of live spine surgery going on on a dummy. It was pretty amazing.” (02:16)

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3. Cost Pressures in Advanced Computing

(02:42–03:07)

• Wiseman continues, emphasizing a shift in tech focus to “cost per token” rather than just hardware or data center expenses.
  • “There was a lot of instruction about...how can you configure a data center differently to affect service levels and therefore bring down cost per token.” (02:51)
  • Takeaway: The cost of advanced compute must decline for widespread adoption.

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4. The Challenge of Scaling AI Systems

(03:07–03:47)

• Steven Fuchs (Senior Partner) voices concern about the gap between AI pilot projects and true system-wide integration:
  • “We are working in a brownfield environment...How do we help the collective transition?...really scaling it is a system change.” (03:21)
  • The industry focus is still mostly on isolated use cases, not on building company-wide ecosystems for long-term value.

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5. Autonomous Mobility’s Leap Forward

(03:59–04:40)

• Martin Kellner (Senior Partner) is struck by autonomous vehicles’ maturity:
  • “So many robo taxis on the road. They are much more assertive, much more human-like, even in adverse weather conditions.” (03:59)
• Success factors for industry leaders:
  1. Get customer traction
  2. Achieve operational efficiency and cost management
  3. Build partnerships for non-core activities (04:28)

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6. The State and Future of Humanoid Robotics

(04:40–05:52)

• Wiseman shares his impressions:
  • “Everybody had a robot. Those robots were moving very slow...almost all the videos...are sped up probably by a factor of 10.” (04:48)
  • Major advances in actuators and tactile sensors, essential for safety and more practical humanoid robots.
  • “Nobody solved the problem of safety when it comes to robotics. That's going to be on display next year as well.” (05:41)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Bob Sternfels on talent:
  “Where you went to school matters a lot less...Let’s actually get to the content. And could that actually start meaning that a wider set of people can enter the workforce with different pathways?” (01:31)

• Bill Wiseman on surgical AI:
  “That was actually a kind of live spine surgery going on on a dummy, not a live person. But it was pretty amazing to see.” (02:27)

• Steven Fuchs on the need for systems change:
  “It’s great to have the use cases, it’s great to have the pilots...But really scaling it is a system change.” (03:34)

• Martin Kellner on robo taxis:
  “They are much more assertive, they are much more human, like driving around even in adverse weather conditions...I now expect the industry to moving to commercial deployment and large scale operations.” (04:02)

• Wiseman on the real state of robotics:
  “Those robots were moving very slow. They were doing interesting things, but they were boring to watch...The other thing that was impressive was...actuators...fingers or elbows or shoulders or legs are going to be able to generate a lot of force and torque...” (04:52–05:16)
  “A lot of talk about safety. Nobody solved the problem of safety when it comes to robotics.” (05:41)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:47 – Bob Sternfels on uniquely human skills in the AI era
• 01:56 – Bill Wiseman: Real-world AI applications at CES
• 02:42 – Wiseman: Advanced compute cost pressures
• 03:21 – Steven Fuchs: The challenge of scaling AI beyond pilots
• 03:59 – Martin Kellner: The rise of assertive robo taxis
• 04:28 – Kellner’s three priorities for autonomous vehicle companies
• 04:48 – Wiseman: Humanoid robots—state of the art and next year’s expectations
• 05:41 – On safety challenges in robotics

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Conclusion

This episode offers a rich snapshot of how the world’s largest electronics show is reflecting and shaping trends in AI, advanced computing, autonomous vehicles, and robotics. While technical progress is palpable, McKinsey’s experts repeatedly underscore the importance of human judgment, the need to build scalable systems, and a focus on practical cost controls. As technology’s promise expands, foundational business and human values—and the wisdom to integrate innovation—matter more than ever.

Transcript

[Narrator]

This is the McKinsey Podcast, where we help you make sense out of our world's toughest business challenges.

[Lucia Rahilly]

Welcome to the show. I'm Lucia Rahilly.

[Roberta Fassaro]

And I'm Roberta Fassaro. What should business leaders focus on this year when it comes to innovation and consumer electronics? We're going to explore that question on this special edition of the McKinsey podcast. Because McKinsey was at the Consumer Electronics show in Las Vegas this week, and of course, all the talk was about what AI can do. But Bob Sternfels, McKinsey's global managing partner, says there are three things that humans can exclusively do, and that is aspire, set parameters and think creatively.

[Bob Sternfels]

Aspire, set the right aspiration. That's a uniquely human capability. So how do you look for the skills about aspiring and getting others to believe in the aspiration, human judgment. And so how do you set the right parameters, the architecture based on firm values, based on societal norms, whatever. How do you build the skills to set what the right parameters are? And then finally, true creativity. The models are inference models, the next most likely step. How do you think about orthogonal stuff? It can take you back to challenging some of your assumptions on where you look for talent. It actually means that where you went to school matters a lot less. And so do you start looking for raw intrinsics? Can you widen the base? Can you actually look at, let's take a tech background, not which university you graduated from, but what does your GitHub profile look like? Let's actually get to the content. And could that actually start meaning that a wider set of people can enter the workforce with different pathways?

[Roberta Fassaro]

Also at CES, McKinsey senior partner Bill Wiseman says people were buzzing about the real world applications of AI.

[Bill Wiseman]

So what am I talking about by that? Saw some quantum companies coming together with advanced compute companies and saying, what can we jointly take on? And that's questions of where you need real physical chemistry and physics simulation to be able to solve problems, molecular interactions, the things like drug, drug discovery that was on display here this year, that's a real problem you can solve with advanced computing. Another one was an LLM that was controlling a surgical robot. So that's not one that you instruct to do surgery. That's one that you train to do surgery and it figures out how to do it. And that was actually a kind of live spine surgery going on on a dummy, not a live person. But it was pretty amazing to see that someone was actually able to demonstrate that.

[Roberta Fassaro]

Bill also says there was a focus on bringing down the cost of computing.

[Bill Wiseman]

On the flip side, I'd say there was a lot of focus this year on cost of advanced compute. And that wasn't about chip cost or data center costs. That was about cost per token. And there was a lot of instruction about, okay, what drives advance per token and how can you configure a data center differently to affect service levels and therefore bring down cost per token. So just there's a clear focus that cost matters and that we need to bring the cost of this down in order to continue to proliferate.

[Roberta Fassaro]

Advanced computer cost was on McKinsey senior partner Steven Fuchs mind as well. And he says that while these experiments in AI are exciting, he didn't hear enough conversation about how to create the systems required to meet this AI moment.

[Steven Fuchs]

We are working in a brownfield environment. Every single company has existing workflows, has an existing set of people. How do we help the collective transition? It's great to have the use cases, it's great to have the pilots, great to have push the thinking. But really scaling it is a system change. And so a lot of the conversations are around the edge case they're not yet around. How do we really create an ecosystem that allows us to extract value at scale?

[Roberta Fassaro]

One ecosystem that's gotten a lot of play is the one involving autonomous vehicles. McKinsey senior partner Martin Kellner was amazed at all the mobility advancements he saw at CES this year.

[Martin Kellner]

I was really shocked when I arrived yesterday. So many robo taxis on the road. They are much more assertive, they are much more human, like driving around even in adverse weather conditions. I now expect the industry to moving to commercial deployment and large scale operations, meaning more cities, more cars on the road, but also more trips per car.

[Roberta Fassaro]

And he says industry leaders need to do three things to be successful this year.

[Martin Kellner]

First one is getting customer traction. Second one, being operational efficient and managing the cost. And third one, also building partnerships around the things they don't want to do themselves.

[Roberta Fassaro]

Bill Wiseman was impressed with the humanoid robots he saw at ces. But he says this time next year he expects even more from them.

[Bill Wiseman]

I think next year is going to be the year where we see real demonstrations of humanoid robotics at scale. Everybody had a robot. Those robots were moving very slow. They were doing interesting things, but they were boring to watch. And you realize that almost all the videos you see of those things are sped up probably by a factor of 10. The other thing that was impressive was the actuators and some of the elements of a robot. Those are the motors that move joints in robots. Whether it's fingers or elbows or shoulders or legs, they're going to be able to generate a lot of force and torque, which is what you need for 3, 300, 400 pound humanoid robots to become real. And the final thing I saw a lot of it was really interesting. I think we're going to see in systems next year are tactile sensors making sure robots know how to touch without breaking and without dropping. And tactile sensors not just in the hands, but in different places of the body so you don't wind up making mistakes. And that's the one thing that I did see a lot of this year, a lot of talk about safety. Nobody solved the problem of safety when it comes to robotics. That's going to be on display next year as well.

[Lucia Rahilly]

Thanks so much for listening to the McKinsey Podcast. I'm Lucia Rahilly.

[Roberta Fassaro]

And I'm Roberta Fassaro.

[Lucia Rahilly]

Find us on McKinsey.com we'll have a transcript of this episode up shortly.

[Roberta Fassaro]

And download the McKinsey Insights app where you can find this podcast and other helpful content updated daily.

[Lucia Rahilly]

If you enjoy the show, we'd love for you to leave a rating and a review.

[Roberta Fassaro]

We'll see you in two weeks.