This report was produced as part of the McKinsey Global Institute’s overall research on the impact of technology on business and society, and specifically our ongoing research program on the future of work and the potential impacts on the global economy of data and analytics, automation, robotics and artificial intelligence. In this report, we analyse...

Automation is happening, and it will bring substantial benefits to businesses and economies worldwide, but it won’t arrive overnight. A new McKinsey Global Institute report finds realizing automation’s full potential requires people and technology to work hand in hand.

Over the past several years , many companies have avidly pursued the promised benefits of big data and advanced analytics. In a recent McKinsey survey of executives in this field, nearly all of them said that their organizations had made significant investments, from data warehouses to analytics programs.

The Internet of Things (IoT)—sensors and actuators connected by networks to computing systems—has received enormous attention over the past five years. A new McKinsey Global Institute report, The Internet of Things: Mapping the value beyond the hype, attempts to determine exactly how IoT technology can create real economic value.

This report seeks to understand the state of digital data, how different domains can use large datasets to create value, the potential value across stakeholders, and the implications for the leaders of private sector companies and public sector organizations, as well as for policy makers. We have supplemented our analysis of big data as a...