McKinsey and General Catalyst execs say the era of ‘learn once, work forever’ is over

If there is one point of agreement among the keynote speakers at CES 2026, it is that AI is reshaping technology at a speed and scale unlike any previous technological revolution.

In a live recording Tuesday of the All-In podcast, co-host Jason Calacanis interviewed Bob Sternfels, Global Managing Partner of McKinsey & Company, and Hemant Taneja, CEO of General Catalyst. Their discussion focused on how AI is transforming investment strategies and the workforce.

“The world has completely changed,” Taneja said of the unprecedented growth of AI companies. He noted that while it took Stripe about twelve years to reach a $100 billion valuation, Anthropic, another General Catalyst portfolio company, rose from a $60 billion valuation last year to a “few hundred billion dollars” this year.

Taneja believes we are about to see a new wave of billion-dollar companies. “That’s not a pipe dream idea with Anthropic, OpenAI and a few others,” he said.

Calacanis asked them what drives this explosive growth. According to McKinsey’s Sternfels, while many companies are testing AI products, non-tech companies remain uncertain about full adoption. Sternfels says the question McKinsey consultants often hear from CEOs is, “Am I listening to my CFO or my CIO?”

CFOs, who see little return on their investments, are calling for a delay in implementation. Meanwhile, CIOs claim it’s “crazy” not to adopt AI because “it will disrupt us,” Sternfels said.

Another major concern is the way AI is reshaping the workforce. “Some people look at AI and are afraid,” Calacanis said, worrying that AI could replace the entry-level jobs traditionally filled by recent college graduates. He asked Sternfels and Taneja for advice on what young people should do in this new landscape.

Sternfels said that while AI models can handle many tasks, good judgment and creativity remain the essential skills people must learn to succeed in an AI-infused world.

Meanwhile, Taneja argued that people need to recognize that “skilling and upskilling” will be a lifelong effort. “The idea that we have to learn for 22 years and then work for 40 years is broken,” he said.

Calacanis agreed that in a world where it takes less time to build an AI agent than it does to train a new employee, people need to find ways to stay relevant. “To stand out, you have to show grit, drive and passion,” he said.

Sternfels gave a glimpse into that future. While he expects McKinsey to have as many “personalized” AI agents as employees by the end of 2026, he noted that the workforce won’t necessarily decrease. Instead, the company changes its composition; the number of employees working directly with customers increases by 25%, while back-office roles are reduced by the same percentage.