574: McKinsey Senior Partner, Kate Smaje: Winning in the Age of Digital and AI (Strategy Skills classics)

For this episode, let's revisit one of Strategy Skills classics, where we interviewed Kate Smaje, Senior Partner at McKinsey & Company and Global Leader of McKinsey Digital.

In this episode, Kate offers a clear-eyed and disciplined perspective on what it takes for organizations to succeed in digital transformation. Drawing from deep client work across industries, she outlines a practical, results-focused view of how digital can be embedded into the operating core, not treated as a parallel initiative or buzzword.

Kate Smaje challenges conventional narratives around innovation, urging leaders to look beyond technology adoption and focus instead on talent systems, cultural alignment, and strategic clarity. “We often start with a conversation about tech, but the value comes from the way you bring it all together,” she says.

“If you think digital is the job of the digital team, you’ve missed the point. It’s about how the whole organization behaves.”

Key Takeaways:

• Digital Transformation Must Be CEO-Led and Enterprise-Wide
  Smaje emphasizes that meaningful transformation requires the involvement of the full organization, not just IT or digital teams.
  
  “Digital is everyone’s job. The companies who really succeed have a CEO and leadership team who are actively engaged.”
  
  
  

• Shift Metrics from Volume to Value
  She critiques outdated performance metrics:
  
  “If you’re just measuring lines of code or hours worked or features shipped, you’re not measuring outcomes.”
  
  
  

• Technology Without Architecture Is Just Chaos
  Many companies overemphasize agile practices but underinvest in foundational tech and data coherence.
  
  “You can’t run 300 agile teams and not have an architecture that supports it. It’s like having everyone run at speed but in different directions.”
  
  
  

• Product Ownership and Cross-Functional Clarity Are Essential
  Successful organizations empower teams with clear product mandates while maintaining enterprise-wide alignment.
  
  “The product owner model is about creating real accountability, with multidisciplinary teams who have the context to make decisions.”
  
  
  

• Leadership Behavior Drives Cultural Change
  Where leaders focus their time is a key signal:
  
  “One of the biggest indicators of success is how leadership spends its calendar.”
  
  
  

This conversation is essential listening for senior executives who want to move beyond surface-level digital initiatives and embed durable capabilities that support both innovation and performance. Smaje leaves no doubt: digital excellence is not a side project—it’s a leadership discipline.

Get Kate’s book here: https://shorturl.at/hxqk6

REWIRED: The McKinsey Guide to Outcompeting in the Age of Digital and AI. Eric Lamarre, Kate Smaje, Rodney Zemmel.

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