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

If there’s one point of agreement among keynote speakers at CES 2026, it’s that AI is redefining technology at a speed and scale unlike any other technological revolution.

In a taping of Tuesday’s All-In podcast, 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 changing the way money is made and the workforce.

“The world has completely changed,” Taneja said of the incredible growth of the AI ​​industry. He said that while it took Stripe nearly 12 years to reach a $100 billion valuation, Anthropic, another General Catalyst company, has grown from a $60 billion valuation last year to “multiple billion dollars” this year.

Taneja believes we are about to see a new trillion dollar industry. “This is not a space idea with Anthropic, OpenAI, and several others,” he said.

Calacanis forced them to find out what was causing this terrible growth. According to McKinsey’s Sternfels, while many companies are experimenting with AI products, non-tech businesses remain at the forefront of adoption. Sternfels says the question McKinsey consultants often hear from CEOs is: “Am I listening to my CFO or my CIO right now?”

CFOs, seeing little return on investment, oppose delaying implementation. Meanwhile, CIOs are “crazy” not to adopt AI because “we’re going to mess it up,” Sternfels said.

Another concern is how AI is also changing the workforce. “Some people are looking at AI and they’re scared,” Calacanis said, noting that AI could replace people who just graduated. He asked Sternfels and Taneja for advice on what young people should do in this new environment.

Sternfels said that while AI models can handle many tasks, common sense and creativity are still important skills that humans must bring to succeed in an AI-infused world.

Meanwhile, Taneja said that people should realize that “art and innovation” will be a lifelong work. “The idea that we spend 22 years studying and then 40 years working has been destroyed,” he said.

Calacanis agreed that in a world where it would take less time to develop an AI assistant than to train a new employee, people must find ways to be competent. “To get noticed, you have to show chutzpah, drive, passion,” he said.

Sternfels provided a glimpse into that future. While McKinsey expects to have more AI “helpers” as employees by the end of 2026, he said the number will not decrease. Instead, the company is changing its design; it is increasing the number of employees who work directly with customers by 25% while reducing back office responsibilities by the same proportion.