McKinsey & Company has a new kind of hire. It doesn’t need a desk, a laptop, or a holiday party.
According to CEO Bob Sternfels, the firm now runs a combined human-AI workforce of around 60,000. That figure includes approximately 40,000 humans and between 20,000 and 25,000 AI agents.
Roughly one in three members of the McKinsey “workforce” is now software.
From a few thousand to tens of thousands
About 18 months ago, McKinsey had just a few thousand AI agents in operation. It now has somewhere between 20,000 and 25,000.
The figures cover the December 2025 to January 2026 period.
The firm’s stated goal is to pair every human employee with at least one AI agent over the next 18 months. With roughly 40,000 people on staff, that target implies the agent count could keep climbing.
What the agents actually do
McKinsey has put some numbers behind the productivity pitch. Last year, AI agents were credited with saving 1.5 million hours on routine search and synthesis tasks.
The agents also generated 2.5 million charts in just six months.
A reshuffled org chart
Client-facing consultant roles have grown by about 25%. Back-office roles, meanwhile, have shrunk by a similar percentage.
The business model is changing with it
The firm is moving away from traditional fee-for-service arrangements toward outcomes-based engagements.
AI-related projects make up approximately 40% of McKinsey’s overall business. Leading much of that effort is QuantumBlack, the firm’s dedicated AI unit, which has a team of 1,700 professionals driving AI initiatives inside the company.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Diego Almada Lopez. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.