'GenAl is a force multiplier, and India will be the testbed'

Artificial intelligence and generative AI, or GenAI, will inevitably disrupt existing roles, but that will also mean the emergence of new roles. In fact, McKinsey & Co.'s research predicts that technology jobs will grow by 14% across all industries by 2032.

- Leslie D'Monte

For CEOs and other senior corporate leaders, that would mean thinking about the future of work with technology as a core element of everything they do, says Jacky Wright, McKinsey's first-ever chief technology and platform officer. "The question is, how do you make sure everyone is included in that growth," Wright said in an interview with Mint during her recent visit to India. GenAI would play a critical role in making technology available to India's vast population, and work done on AI in India could serve as a proof-ofconcept for the world. "If we can do it here at scale and at speed, and if we can harness the power of GenAI... it would be powerful for the rest of the world," Wright, who is a member of the World Economic Forum's chief digital officer community, said. Edited excerpts: 

What key initiatives are you implementing to drive McKinsey's digital transformation?

It's broadly a three-pronged focusdriving our own transformation to make sure that technology is at the core of everything we do; using the technology we build ourselves and in partnership to drive client impact; and our client engagement advisory. We've been focusing, much like any other firm or company, on Allaunching our pilots and, hopefully, converting those to derive value and make an impact.

Considering the challenges inherent in implementing AI and GenAI, including hallucinations, biases, copyright violations, plagiarism, and privacy and security breaches, would you agree it's crucial to keep humans in the loop?