McKinsey Boss Says AI Could Mean Golden Age for Consultancy Firm

financialpost.com Jul 15, 2026

McKinsey Boss Says AI Could Mean Golden Age for Consultancy Firm

Curated by Shubham · TechCapsules · Jul 15, 2026

AI-summarised brief · reviewed before publication

McKinsey & Co. Global Managing Partner Bob Sternfels predicts a potential “golden age” for the consultancy firm, driven by surging corporate demand for assistance with artificial intelligence, geopolitical instability, and energy transitions. Speaking to Bloomberg TV, Sternfels stated that problem complexity will increase over the next five years, prompting him to advise staff to expect higher workload volumes. While the broader consulting industry faces disruption, with Accenture shares recently slumping on fears that AI renders professional services redundant, McKinsey is adapting by cutting support staff while hiring more consultants. The firm plans to grow its overall headcount, equipping each consultant with an average of three AI agents to enhance productivity. Sternfels, who is stepping down next year after more than three decades at the firm, recalled being labeled a “hiring mistake” early in his career. He noted that internal jokes now reflect the intense pace of work enabled by AI tools, signaling a shift in how consulting services are delivered and consumed in the current economic landscape.

💡 Why It Matters

· McKinsey’s strategy to expand its workforce while integrating AI agents challenges the prevailing narrative that artificial intelligence will solely reduce the need for human consultants.
· This approach suggests a hybrid model where technology amplifies rather than replaces professional expertise, potentially reshaping industry standards for service delivery and staffing.

AI Agents Capsules Entrepreneurs

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Yes, you can now order DoorDash from the command line

DoorDash has launched a limited beta of its new DoorDash CLI, a command-line tool that allows developers to order food directly from an AI agent. The tool, called “dd-cli,” enables users to search stores, find deals, and check out without using the DoorDash app. Access is currently available by waitlist for U.S. and Canadian macOS developers.

💡 The CLI tool demonstrates how agentic commerce could evolve, letting AI agents handle everyday tasks like food ordering. By opening its platform to developers, DoorDash is enabling new ways to integrate food delivery into custom tools and services.

techtimes.com · Jul 16

OpenAI Codex Micro Ships Today: Agent Keys Only Work With ChatGPT Desktop

OpenAI released its first branded hardware, the $230 Codex Micro macropad, co‑designed with Montreal maker Work Louder. Unlike generic shortcut pads, the device is intended to cut “approval latency” in agentic coding workflows by displaying real‑time status of Codex agents on six RGB “Agent Keys.” The LEDs change color—white, blue, green, amber, red—based on the agent’s thread state, which is streamed from OpenAI’s bidirectional JSON‑RPC App Server to the ChatGPT desktop client. The visual feedback works only when the ChatGPT desktop app is running; users of the CLI, VS Code extension, browser, or JetBrains plugin will see static keys. The product targets power users who manage multiple parallel agents within the desktop environment, offering a hardware cue to accelerate decision‑making after an agent completes a task.

💡 By turning invisible agent states into instant visual cues, the Codex Micro lets developers react faster, potentially shrinking the human bottleneck that slows autonomous code generation.

en.prnasia.com · Jul 16

Futu Unveils Major AI Upgrade, Making Professional Agentic Investing Accessible to All,…

Futu Securities International announced a comprehensive upgrade to its AI capabilities with the launch of "Expert" mode, a self-developed AI agent designed to make professional agentic investing accessible to all users. Powered by a novel "Agentic AI + Skills" architecture, the new system emphasizes simplicity, customization, and security. The launch event, held at Futu’s Causeway Bay flagship store, attracted over 50 guests, including industry experts and professors, while the livestream garnered more than 40,000 views. This upgrade introduces Hong Kong’s first AI solution spanning the entire investment journey, from information gathering to trade execution. Unlike passive Q&A assistants, the new platform acts as an intelligent partner capable of independent thinking and proactive planning. Chief Marketing Officer Joe Yu emphasized the goal of democratizing intelligent investing, enabling retail investors to access professional-grade tools. Head of AI Growth Center Vincent Yao demonstrated how the technology empowers the full investment process through advanced reflection and strategy execution, marking a significant shift in financial technology accessibility.

💡 The transition from passive assistance to autonomous execution lowers the barrier for retail investors to compete with institutional algorithms. By embedding professional-grade decision-making directly into consumer platforms, Futu accelerates the commoditization of sophisticated financial strategies.

techcrunch.com · Jul 16

Ultrahuman’s former hardware VP raises $5.5M for devices that control AI agents,…

Aina, a Bengaluru- and San Francisco-based startup founded by former Ultrahuman hardware VP Apoorv Shankar, has raised $5.5 million to develop AI interface devices. The funding round was led by Redstart Labs and 360 ONE, with participation from MIXI Global Investments, Antler, Blume Founders Fund, and individual investors including Kunal Shah and Razorpay co-founders. Previously known as Project Mirage, Aina is launching Dune, a three-key macro keyboard designed to control AI agents rather than merely record context. While the company initially developed Radiance and Shift, user testing favored Dune, leading to its prioritization. Shankar aims to create action-oriented hardware that triggers workflows using existing device context. The startup plans to test a new, undisclosed device soon, focusing on controlling AI agents instead of passive data capture. This move enters a crowded market featuring competitors like Rabbit, Humane, and Meta, as developers increasingly seek dedicated hardware for AI coding tools and automation.

💡 Aina pivots the hardware narrative from passive surveillance to active agent control, addressing a specific workflow gap for developers using AI coding tools. By prioritizing utility over novelty, the startup challenges the prevailing "always-on" recording paradigm dominating the current AI wearable landscape.

securitybrief.in · Jul 16

AI leaders warn of shadow risks as adoption races ahead

Technology leaders from New Relic, Barracuda, and GitLab used AI Appreciation Day to warn that rapid artificial intelligence adoption is outpacing organizational controls, governance, and data foundations. Executives emphasize that the next phase of AI depends on how companies frame problems, manage security risks, and track AI-generated code. Peter Marelas of New Relic highlighted a shift from conversational fluency to machine reasoning, noting that agents now handle multi-step processes. He argued that value depends on problem framing and treating AI as a collaborative partner rather than a simple tool. While AI currently improves incident response by correlating system signals, the next step involves allowing agents to act autonomously. However, leaders caution that agents are only as effective as their data visibility. Fragmented data leads to incorrect fixes, whereas connected views enable confident action. The industry is now grappling with how much autonomy to grant these systems while maintaining visibility over their outputs and ensuring robust security frameworks are in place to support this accelerated integration into mainstream business workflows.

💡 The shift toward autonomous AI agents exposes a critical vulnerability: without unified data infrastructure, organizations risk automating errors at scale. This forces enterprises to prioritize data governance over speed, as fragmented inputs directly compromise the reliability of self-correcting systems.

semiconductor-digest.com · Jul 16

ChipAgents Helps Whalechip Cut Semiconductor Root Cause Analysis from Days to Minutes

ChipAgents, a leader in Agentic AI platforms for semiconductor design, helped Whalechip drastically reduce root cause analysis time from days to minutes using its AI-powered platform. During a critical chip debugging effort, the platform identified three structural pitfalls and four critical bugs in a 60-hour period. Whalechip’s CEO noted the importance of this capability as 3D stacked die interactions increase debugging complexity.

💡 The ability to isolate and resolve design flaws at speed is becoming a competitive advantage in semiconductor development. ChipAgents’ success with Whalechip shows how domain-specific AI can address a key bottleneck in an industry where time-to-market and design accuracy are critical.