Artificial intelligence is fundamentally changing work. But there are also human skills that machines cannot replace. McKinsey boss Bob Sternfels explains which skills he sees as the three central skills in the AI age.
The number of uses of AI tools has increased enormously in recent years. In 2021 the number worldwide was still around 154 million. By 2025 it had already risen to 346 million.
According to forecasts, this trend will continue in the coming years. Accordingly, the number of users of AI tools could increase to around 1.2 billion people worldwide by 2031.
The world of work is also facing profound change. Because routine tasks are increasingly being automated, which in turn puts a much greater focus on human skills among employees.
McKinsey manager Bob Sternfels also confirmed this in the All-In Podcast during CES 2026. According to this, the management consultancy is specifically looking for three central skills that would make the crucial difference, especially in a working world characterized by AI.
McKinsey: AI agents are shifting task distribution
Consulting companies like McKinsey are considered to be particularly at risk from AI. Because a large part of their daily business is based on data analyzes and market models. These are tasks that AI systems can take on ever faster and more cost-effectively.
This is also noticeable at the consulting giant McKinsey. According to Sternfels, the company saved 1.5 million hours in research and synthesis last year by using AI tools.
The company’s 25,000 AI agents would be excellent at creating charts. In the last six months alone, they created 2.5 million such diagrams.
These automation processes have already led to a significant shift in the corporate structure at McKinsey. The group recently cut 25 percent of jobs in non-customer-facing areas because the activities can increasingly be replaced by AI. According to Sternfels, the use of AI results in a productivity increase of ten percent.
Which skills are still in demand in the AI age?
At the same time, the consulting giant is seeing “unprecedented numbers of new hires as work changes.” While numerous jobs have been eliminated in non-customer-facing areas, the group has increased its customer-facing staff by 25 percent.
When it comes to recruiting, it is no longer so important which large university you graduated from. Rather, human factors such as Leadership skills, judgment and genuine creativity.
Because AI models are not able to develop ambitions. Therefore, employees should focus on define ambitious goals to be able to. It is also important to be able to convince people of these.
That too human judgment play an important role. Because there is no right or wrong with AI models, which is why people should set priorities effectively. “People need to set the right parameters, whether based on company values or societal norms,” says Sternfels.
In addition, AI models are only able to define the next most likely step. Real human creativity is therefore essential because people can think outside of existing patterns and thus develop completely new ideas.
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