James Manyika is a senior partner at McKinsey & Company and chairman and director of the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI), the firm’s business and economics research arm.
James is one of the leaders of McKinsey’s Global Technology, Media, and Telecom Practice. Based in Silicon Valley for over 20 years, he has worked with the chief executives and founders of many of the world’s leading technology companies on a variety of issues, including strategy and business transformation and the launch of several market-shaping innovations. James routinely collaborates with business leaders, economists, and policy makers around the world on initiatives and commissions related to inclusive growth, opportunities from technology, and its impact on society. At MGI, James has led research on technology and its impact on business and the economy, future of work, as well as growth, productivity, and global trends. He has published a book on AI and robotics, another on global trends, as well as numerous articles and reports that have appeared in business media and academic journals.
James was appointed by President Barack Obama to serve as vice chair of the Global Development Council at the White House (2012–16) and by Commerce Secretaries to the US Commerce Department’s Digital Economy Board of Advisers (2016–17), as well as the National Innovation Advisory Board (2010–12) as part of the America Competes Act. He serves on the boards of the Council on Foreign Relations, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and the Markle Foundation.
James is interested in the power of technology to positively transform society and is a member of advisory boards of Oxford Internet Institute, MIT’s Initiative on the Digital Economy, Khan Academy, and has been on other university advisory boards. He is on the standing committee for the Stanford-based 100 Year Study on Artificial Intelligence, a fellow at DeepMind, and a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
He is a trustee of the Aspen Institute and Harvard’s Hutchins Center which includes the WEB Du Bois Institute for African and African-American Research. He was on the faculty at Oxford University and a member of the Programming Research Group and the Robotics Research Lab, a fellow of Balliol College, Oxford, a visiting scientist at NASA Jet Propulsion Labs, and a faculty exchange fellow at MIT. A Rhodes Scholar, James received his DPhil. MSc. MA. from Oxford in Robotics, Mathematics, and Computer Science, and his BSc. in electrical engineering from the University of Zimbabwe as an Anglo-American Scholar.
Artificial intelligence and analytics
“Notes from the AI frontier: Tackling Europe’s gap in digital and AI,” McKinsey Global Institute, February 2019
“Reskill the workforce for the age of AI,” Time Magazine Davos 2019 edition, January 2019
Interview in “Architects of Intelligence: The truth about AI from the people building it,” by Martin Ford, November 2018
“Notes from the AI frontier: Applying artificial intelligence for social good,” McKinsey Global Institute, November 2018
“The promise and challenge of the age of artificial intelligence,” Briefing note prepared for the Second Annual Tallinn Digital Summit, McKinsey Global Institute, October 2018
“Notes from the frontier: Modeling the impact of AI on the world economy,” McKinsey Global Institute, September 2018
“Notes from the AI frontier: Insights from hundreds of use cases,” McKinsey Global Institute, April 2018
“What AI can and can't do (yet) for your business,” McKinsey Quarterly, January 2018
“Digitization, AI, and the future of work: Imperatives for Europe,” prepared for the EU Heads of State, Tallinn Digital Summit, McKinsey Global Institute, October 2017
“What's now and next in analytics, AI, and automation,” Briefing note, McKinsey Global Institute, May 2017
“The age of analytics: Competing in a data-driven world,” McKinsey Global Institute, December 2016
The future of work and labor markets
“Automation and altruism,” Stanford Social Innovation Review, November 2018
“Automation and the future of work,” Milken Institute Review, October 2018
“AI, automation, and the future of work: Ten things to solve for,” Briefing note prepared for President of France’s Tech for Good Summit, June 2018
“The false choice between automation and jobs,” co-authored with Nobel Laureate Michael Spence, Harvard Business Review, February 2018
“Jobs lost, jobs gained: Workforce transitions in a time of automation,” McKinsey Global Institute, November 2017
“Technology, jobs, and the future of work,” Briefing note prepared for the Fortune + Time Global Forum in Vatican City, updated May 2017
“What the rise of Uber says about the gig economy,” Fortune, February 2017
“A future that works: Automation, employment, and productivity,” McKinsey Global Institute, January 2017
“Poorer than their parents? Flat or falling incomes in advanced economies,” McKinsey Global Institute, July 2016
“Where machines could replace humans-and where they can't (yet),” McKinsey Quarterly, July 2016
“Four fundamentals of workplace automation,” McKinsey Quarterly, November 2015
“The power of parity: Advancing women's equality in the United States,” McKinsey Global Institute, April 2016
“The power of parity: How advancing women's equality can add $12 trillion to global growth,” McKinsey Global Institute, September 2015
Globalization
“Anger over tariffs obscures a shift in patterns of global trade,” Financial Times, February 2019
“The next era of globalization will be shaped by customers, technology, and value chains,” Harvard Business Review, February 2019
“Globalization in transition: The future of trade and value chains,” McKinsey Global Institute, January 2019
“Defending digital globalization,” Foreign Affairs, April 2017
“We can't undo globalization, but we can improve it,” Harvard Business Review, January 2017
“Digital globalization: The new era of global flows,” McKinsey Global Institute, February 2016
“Global flows in a digital age: How trade, finance, people, and data connect the world economy,” McKinsey Global Institute, April 2014
Productivity, competitiveness, and growth
“What's driving superstar companies, industries, and cities,” Harvard Business Review, October 2018
“Superstars: The dynamics of firms, sectors, and cities leading the global economy,” McKinsey Global Institute, October 2018
“The best performing emerging economies emphasize competition,” Harvard Business Review, September 2018
“Outperformers: High-growth emerging economies and the companies that propel them,” McKinsey Global Institute, September 2018
“Solving the productivity puzzle,” co-authored with Nobel Laureate Myron Scholes, Frank E. Buck Professor of Finance, Stanford Graduate School of Business, Project Syndicate, May 2018
“The US economy is suffering from low demand,” Harvard Business Review, February 2018
“Solving the productivity puzzle: The role of demand and the promise of digitization,” McKinsey Global Institute, February 2018
“Making it in America: Revitalizing US manufacturing,” McKinsey Global Institute, November 2017
“The case against corporate short-termism,” Milken Institute Review, September 2017
“The productivity puzzle: A closer look at the United States,” McKinsey Global Institute, March 2017
“Finally, evidence that managing for the long term pays off,” Harvard Business Review , February 2016
“Putting profits in perspective,” co-authored with Laura Tyson, Professor, Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley, Project Syndicate, May 2016
“The productivity challenge of an aging global workforce,” Harvard Business Review, January 2015
“Competition at the digital edge: Hyperscale businesses,” McKinsey Quarterly, March 2015
“Playing to win: The new global competition for corporate profits,” McKinsey Global Institute, September 2015
“Global growth: Can productivity save the day in an aging world?,” McKinsey Global Institute, January 2015
“Digital era brings hyperscale challenges,” Financial Times, August 2014
Global trends
“No ordinary disruption: The four global forces breaking all the trends,” McKinsey Global Institute, April 2015
VIDEOS, PODCASTS, KEYNOTES, AND PANELS
“The value of digital ID for the global economy and society,” World Economic Forum press conference and panel discussion on digital identity with Jüri Ratas, Prime Minister of Estonia, Nandan Nilekani, Chairman, Infosys; Mary Snapp, Corporate Vice-President, Microsoft Philanthropies; Mike Kubzansky, Managing Partner, Omidyar Network, January 2019
“A conversation with Christine Lagarde,” Women and Foreign Policy Program, Council on Foreign Relations, December 2018
“Tallinn Digital Summit, Plenary session,” The promise and challenge of the age of AI, October 2018
“Has globalization undermined America’s working class?,” Intelligence Squared Debates, with Jared Bernstein, Jason Furman, and Thea Lee, July 2018
“Robotics, AI, and the future of work, SIEPR Economic Summit,” panel and discussion with Reid Hoffman, Susan Athey, and Richard Waters, March 2018
“The economic reach of AI,” New York Times New Work Summit, February 2018
“New Economy Forum: Future of work,” World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund Annual Meetings, panel and discussion with Christine Lagarde, October 2017
“How can governments and innovators effectively partner in solving pressing global challenges,” presentation and panel discussion at UN High-level event on SDG innovation and technology with H.E. Kersti Kaljulaid, President of Estonia; H.E. Lars Løkke Rasmussen, Prime Minister of Denmark; Mitchell Baker, Executive Chairwoman Mozilla (Firefox); Aliko Dangote, Founder and Chair of Dangote Group; Sunil Bharti Mittal, Founder and Chair of Bharti Enterprises; Jimmy Wales, Founder of Wikipedia and WikiTribune, United Nations General Assembly, September 2017
“The future of economy and society,” presentation at EU Heads of State Tallinn Digital Summit Keynote, September 2017
“What problem are we trying to solve?,” A conversation with Tim O’Reilly and Reid Hoffman, October 2016
“The power of gender parity,” Google re:Work, YouTube, April 2016
“Global trends and implications for sustainable development,” presentation at the United Nations” McKinsey & Company, April 2015
TV, RADIO, PODCASTS, AND VIDEO INTERVIEWS
“The world's gone from flat, to fast, to deep,” discussion with the New York Times foreign affairs columnist, three-time Pulitzer winner, and author of Thank You for Being Late, on the impact of connectivity, globalization, digitization, and AI on work, skills, incomes, and prosperity, McKinsey Global Institute, March 2019
“James Manyika: The CEO’s Consigliere,” Podcast conversation with Andrew McAfee, principal research scientist at MIT, November 2018
“How artificial intelligence can be applied to the real world,” Marketplace, May 2018
“Productivity is poised to rise finally,” Marketplace, February 2018
“We need to invest in human capital, Manyika says,” Bloomberg Surveillance, February 2018
“Who’s in control of the gig economy,” interview with Matthew Taylor, McKinsey & Company, October 2017
“The coming robot takeover,” Marketplace, December 2017
“America can bring back factories but few jobs,” Bloomberg Radio, June 2017
“How automation will affect you,” BBC Radio Future Now, May 2017
“Robot proof jobs,” Marketplace, April 2017
“The independent workforce is growing and it's growing fast,” Nightly Business Report, October 2016
“As automation advances, are jobs in danger?,” Science Friday, August 2016
Past experience
Oxford University
Engineering faculty
Balliol College, Oxford University
Research fellow
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Visiting scientist
MIT
Faculty exchange fellow
Education
Oxford University
DPhil, electrical engineering
MSc, mathematics
MA, computer science
University of Zimbabwe
BSc, electrical engineering (first class)