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

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    She critiques outdated performance metrics: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.

Here are some free gifts for you:

Overall Approach Used in Well-Managed Strategy Studies free download: www.firmsconsulting.com/OverallApproach

McKinsey & BCG winning resume free download: www.firmsconsulting.com/resumepdf

Enjoying this episode? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

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121: Strategy is in the details (Monday Morning 8 a.m. #6)

121: Strategy is in the details (Monday Morning 8 a.m. #6)

Hello everyone! This is Monday Morning 8 a.m., a weekly newsletter where we distill the insights from all of the distractions, articles, and emails that you receive in your inbox every day. In this newsletter, we’re going to focus on four major themes from last week’s news.    To listen to the audio version of this newsletter, search for “Strategy Skills” in any podcast app. To get a written copy with links to mentioned articles sign up here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

30 Nov 202025min

120: Focus only on valuation is shortsighted (Monday Morning 8 a.m. #5)

120: Focus only on valuation is shortsighted (Monday Morning 8 a.m. #5)

Hello everyone! This is Monday Morning 8 a.m., a weekly newsletter where we distill the insights from all of the distractions, articles, and emails that you receive in your inbox every day. In this newsletter, we’re going to focus on four major themes from last week’s news.    To listen to the audio version of this newsletter, search for “Strategy Skills” in any podcast app. To get a written copy with links to mentioned articles sign up here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

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119: How to be a leader (Monday Morning 8 a.m. #4)

119: How to be a leader (Monday Morning 8 a.m. #4)

Hello everyone! This is Monday Morning 8 a.m., a weekly newsletter where we distill the insights from all of the distractions, articles, and emails that you receive in your inbox every day. In this newsletter, we’re going to focus on four major themes from last week’s news.    To listen to the audio version of this newsletter, search for “Strategy Skills” in any podcast app. To get a written copy with links to mentioned articles sign up here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

16 Nov 202028min

118: How to build a pandemic strategy (Monday Morning 8 a.m. #3)

118: How to build a pandemic strategy (Monday Morning 8 a.m. #3)

Hello, everyone! This is Monday Morning 8 a.m., a weekly newsletter where we distill the insights from all of the distractions, articles, and emails that you receive in your inbox every day. In this week’s newsletter, we’re going to focus on one overarching theme—risk—and you’ll see that theme running through all of the big stories this week. So let's see how this new Monday Morning 8 a.m. format goes. Every week we will look at 3-4 themes, or one theme and 3-4 subthemes. What are the big stories and what are the big implications. Let us know if you like or dislike the style. If you're enjoying the Monday Morning 8 a.m., I'd love it if you shared it with a friend or two. You can send them here to sign up. We try to make it one of the best emails/podcasts you get each week, and we hope you're enjoying it. Get written version of Monday Morning 8 a.m. with links to articles we mention: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

9 Nov 202022min

117: Interview with the former CEO of Dunkin' Donuts, Robert Rosenberg

117: Interview with the former CEO of Dunkin' Donuts, Robert Rosenberg

Robert Rosenberg served as chief executive officer of Dunkin’ Donuts from 1963 until his retirement in 1998. For over 35 years! Under Robert's leadership, Dunkin’ Donuts grew from a regional family business to one of America’s best known and loved brands. Robert received his MBA from Harvard Business School, and just weeks after graduating at the age of 25, he assumed the position of chief executive officer. Upon his retirement, Rosenberg had grown the Dunkin’ Donuts chain to over 4,000 stores worldwide with annual system-wide sales in excess of $2 billion. In his book, Around The Corner To Around The World: A Dozen Lessons I Learned Running Dunkin’ Donuts, Robert shares many of the stories behind this historic company and actionable business advice. Checkout out our newsletter "Monday Morning 8 a.m."

6 Nov 20201h 2min

116: What is Netflix’s real strategy? (Monday Morning 8 a.m. #2)

116: What is Netflix’s real strategy? (Monday Morning 8 a.m. #2)

Hi, everyone. This is Monday Morning 8 a.m., a newsletter that goes out—as you guessed it—every Monday. You can listen to the audio version of this Monday Morning 8 a.m. episode by searching “Strategy Skills” in any podcast app! If you want to receive a written version of this podcast, with links to mentioned articles, you can sign up for it on www.firmsconsulting.com/promo   In this newsletter, we have one goal: to help you distill the insights from the noise out there. So here are the big themes we’re noticing in the news this week and the deep insights you should be extracting from those themes.

2 Nov 202032min

115: Tech, pandemics, growth, valuation (Monday Morning 8 a.m. #1)

115: Tech, pandemics, growth, valuation (Monday Morning 8 a.m. #1)

Hi, everyone. This is Monday Morning 8 a.m., a newsletter that goes out—as you guessed it—every Monday. You can listen to the audio version of this Monday Morning 8 a.m. episode by searching “Strategy Skills” in any podcast app or sign up for a written version here!    In this program, we have one goal: to help you distill the insights from the noise out there. So here are the big themes we’re noticing in the news this week and some of the deep insights you should be extracting from those themes.   www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

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114: Design thinking. With IBM Director, Damon Deaner

114: Design thinking. With IBM Director, Damon Deaner

Damon Deaner is a director at IBM. In this interview, we focus on design thinking.  Get sample training episodes from our advanced strategy training programs: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

14 Okt 20201h 2min

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