McKinsey now counts up to 25,000 AI agents in a 60,000-strong workforce

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 b...