Description
Asutosh Padhi is McKinsey & Company’s Global Leader of Firm Strategy, responsible for shaping the strategic vision, accelerating the firm’s pace of innovation, and evolving the partnership model as McKinsey turns 100 in 2026. He’s currently an active board member of the Aspen Institute, the Brookings Institution, and the Field Museum. We had the pleasure of speaking with him as part of our series, “Back to the Future of Work: Revisiting the Past and Shaping the Future.”
In this conversation with Economic Opportunities Program Executive Director Maureen Conway, Padhi explores the massive potential of scaling technology and generative artificial intelligence (AI) and where many companies have fallen short of realizing these benefits. “I think the promise of technology, particularly AI, is going to be that it can actually help us boost labor productivity…” he notes, “the productivity improvement, that then drives GDP, that drives economic wealth creation in a way that’s inclusive.” However, Padhi emphasizes the importance of thoughtful adoption of technology, scaling, and the social trust necessary to make it happen. Trust, especially concerning misinformation and the ethical use of AI, is a major challenge.
Looking to the future, Padhi underscores the importance of aligning technology with core human values — the need for leaders to reaffirm values as a guiding principle when making decisions about the future of work. While AI holds great promise for improving productivity and economic growth, it will require careful management, trust-building, and a focus on the human aspects of work to ensure a positive and inclusive future.
About the Author
Asutosh Padhi
Senior Partner & Global Leader of Firm Strategy
Padhi is McKinsey & Company’s Global Leader of Firm Strategy, responsible for shaping the strategic vision, accelerating the firm’s pace of innovation, and evolving the partnership model as McKinsey turns 100 in 2026. He is also a part of the Enablement Team, which is the firm’s operational leadership team.
Asutosh is an experienced CEO counselor who works closely with CEOs and management teams of iconic, high-performing companies to help shape and implement bold enterprise transformations. His client work includes a combination of strategic, operational and organizational topics across revenue acceleration, margin and cash flow management, and large-scale operating model redesign.
Asutosh was previously the North America Managing Partner for three years, leading the firm across the United States and Canada. In this role, Asutosh significantly professionalized the firm by enhancing client service risk management and integrating compliance into core processes. Under Asutosh’s leadership, the firm strengthened its expertise in key capability areas like energy transition, technology, and AI, and focused on attracting and growing diverse and distinctive talent. Asutosh’s contributions were critical in driving client impact and shaping the firm’s approach to societal challenges, notably improving the lives of diverse groups including minority business leaders and military veterans.
Asutosh previously led McKinsey’s Advanced Industries sector globally, which includes the automotive, industrial, semiconductor, and aerospace and defense sectors. He is the founder of the McKinsey Center for Future Mobility, which helps companies, investors, governments, and social sector entities transform and prepare for a more autonomous and interconnected future. He also launched the firm’s US Board Forum, an exclusive event series designed for non-executive directors of prominent companies, providing a broad spectrum of board leadership insights. Asutosh is the bestselling author of Titanium Economy: How Industrial Technology Can Create a Better, Faster, Stronger America. The book highlights the future of industrial technology companies and the playbook these companies can use to drive excess shareholder value creation.
Asutosh has been a prominent speaker and his perspectives on industrial technology, macroeconomics, productivity, and leadership have been featured broadly. He also was responsible for leading the firm’s product development and procurement capabilities and helped launch global design-to-value labs, which combine design-thinking with technical insights to drive product creation.
Asutosh has extensive board experiences and was a member of the Shareholders Council, the firm’s equivalent to a board of directors, for five years. He is currently an active board member of the Aspen Institute, the Field Museum, and the Conference Board. Asutosh is a graduate of the Indian Institute of Management and the Indian Institute of Technology. He is a proud member of the Chicago community and travels across the world.
About this Series
This is part of a series called “Back to the ‘Future of Work’: Revisiting the Past and Shaping the Future,” curated by the Aspen Institute Future of Work Initiative. For this series, we gather insights from labor, business, academia, philanthropy, and think tanks to take stock of the past decade and attempt to divine what the next one has in store. As the future is yet unwritten, let’s figure out what it takes to build a better future of work.
About the Future of Work Initiative
The Future of Work Initiative seeks to build and disseminate knowledge rooted in workers’ experiences. We aim to advance policy ideas at the local, state, and federal level, backed by evidence. And we strive to build community and activate leaders to carry these conversations forward across sectors and around the globe. This initiative was founded in 2015. Recognizing the need for a comprehensive approach to building a more inclusive economy, the Future of Work Initiative integrated with the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program in 2021.
