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Lareina Yee

Senior PartnerSão Francisco

Advises companies on growth, organization, and tech-led transformation; chair of McKinsey's Technology Council, expert in generative AI and emerging technologies

Lareina focuses on advancing technology and diversity outcomes. As a core leader of the Technology, Media & Telecommunications Practice, she has over 20 years of experience shaping the strategies of technology companies. In leading McKinsey’s Technology Council, Lareina examines new technologies and their potential impact on our economy, business, and society. Her most recent published work on these subjects includes the annual “McKinsey Technology Trends Outlook”, “The economic potential of generative AI”, “What every CEO should know about generative AI,” and “Generative AI and the future of HR.”

Lareina is also a leading expert on gender and diversity, serving as McKinsey’s first Chief Diversity Officer. Nearly ten years ago she co-founded Women in the Workplace, an annual research partnership with LeanIn.org that reports annually on the state of women in corporate America. She has coauthored a significant body of research on diversity, including Race in the workplace: The frontline experience, and Delivering through diversity.

In addition to her work with McKinsey, Lareina serves on the board of the San Francisco Ballet and on the advisory councils of the Clayman Institute for Gender Research at Stanford University and the Beyond Barnard program at Columbia University.

Videos & Podcasts

Busting myths about women in the workplace,” McKinsey & Company, January 2024

Middle managers hold the key to unlock generative AI,” blog entry, McKinsey & Company, July 2023

McKinsey Technology Trends Outlook 2023,” McKinsey & Company, July 2023

Women in the workplace: Breaking up to break through,” McKinsey & Company, February 2023

The state of burnout for women in the workplace,” McKinsey & Company, January 2022

McKinsey and Lean In: New details on gender gap,” Wall Street Journal, October 2018

Women face a steeper path to leadership in workplace: Lean In president,” CNBC, October 2017

Lareina Yee at PBWC17,” 2017 Professional BusinessWomen of California, March 2017

Everything You Want to Know About Sales Growth but are Afraid to Ask,” Dreamforce, October 2016

A continuing struggle for ‘Women in the Workplace,’” Bloomberg, September 30, 2016

Ending the gender gap in workplace promotions,” Fox Business, September 28, 2016

Why Do Women Keep Hitting the Glass Ceiling?” Bloomberg, September 30, 2015

Megatrends: What it means for sales,” McKinsey on Marketing & Sales, August 2015

Publications

Implementing generative AI with speed and safety,” McKinsey Quarterly, March 2024

The state of AI in 2023: Generative AI’s breakout year,” McKinsey & Company, August 2023

How generative AI could support—not replace—human resources,” blog entry, McKinsey & Company, July 2023

The economic potential of generative AI: The next productivity frontier,” McKinsey & Company, June 2023

What every CEO should know about generative AI,” McKinsey & Company, May 2023

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Lighthouses 2023,” McKinsey & Company, January 2023

Generative AI is here: How tools like ChatGPT could change your business,” McKinsey & Company, December 2022

Women in the Workplace 2022,” McKinsey & Company, October 2022

McKinsey Technology Trends Outlook 2022,” McKinsey & Company, August 2022

Race in the workplace: The frontline experience,” McKinsey & Company, July 2022

Marketing in the metaverse: An opportunity for innovation and experimentation,” McKinsey Quarterly, May 2022

Women in the Workplace 2021,” McKinsey & Company, September 2021

Race in the workplace: The Black experience in the US private sector,” McKinsey & Company, February 2021

The Questions Companies Should Ask Themselves to Prepare for a New Era of Business,” Fortune, November 2019

Technology and Sales:

Ten trends redefining enterprise IT infrastructure,” McKinsey & Company, November 2017

What enterprise-technology companies must know to drive digital-sales growth,” McKinsey & Company, October 2017

Unlocking the power of data in sales,” McKinsey & Company, December 2016

What sales executives need to get right for digital success,” McKinsey & Company, August 2016

The sales secrets of high-growth companies,” McKinsey & Company, May 2016

Is Your Sales Organization Ready for the Digital Revolution?,” Quotable, May 2016


Women in the Workplace:

Even in the metaverse, women remain locked out of leadership roles,”  McKinsey & Company, November 2022

Weighing the pandemic’s impact on working moms,” ABC News, May 2021

Creating a postpandemic recovery for women in the workplace,” McKinsey & Company, March 2021

For mothers in the workplace, a year (and counting) like no other,” McKinsey & Company, May 2021

COVID-19’s impact on Asian American workers: Six key insights,” McKinsey & Company, May 2021

Women in the Workplace 2020,” McKinsey & Company, September 2020

Ten things to know about gender equality,” McKinsey Global Institute, September 2020

Confronting the early-career gender gap,” McKinsey Quarterly, January 2020

Women in the Workplace 2019,” McKinsey & Company, October 2019

The future of women at work: Transitions in the age of automation,” McKinsey Global Institute, June 2019

One is the loneliest number,” McKinsey Quarterly, January 2019

How to overcome the isolation of women in the workplace,” Wall Street Journal, October 23, 2018

Women in the Workplace 2018,” LeanIn.Org and McKinsey & Company, October 2018

Still looking for room at the top: Ten years of research on women in the workplace,” McKinsey Quarterly, March 2018

How companies can guard against gender fatigue,” McKinsey Quarterly, February 2018

Delivering through diversity,” McKinsey & Company, January 2018

Time for a new gender equality playbook,” McKinsey Quarterly, February 2017

Women in the Workplace 2016,” a study undertaken by McKinsey & Company and LeanIn.Org, September 2016

What It Will Take to Make the Tech Industry More Diverse,” Harvard Business Review, March 15, 2016

Breaking down the gender challenge,” McKinsey Quarterly, March 2016

Women in the Workplace,” a study undertaken by McKinsey and LeanIn.Org, September 2015

Fostering women leaders: A fitness test for your top team,” McKinsey Quarterly, January 2015

Education

Columbia University, School of International and Public Affairs
MA, economic policy

Columbia University (Barnard)
BA, history and political science