60 M C K I N S EY Q UA RT E R LY EXHIBIT 4 Automating IT modernization workflows could elevate related roles to focus more on orchestration. Example: People–agent collaboration at a regional bank Sector: Finance (banking) Function: Information technology Workflow: Software application development Position on Skill Change Index¹ Higher-change skill Lower-change skill Workflow stage Agents’ activities People’s activities Relevant skills 1 Planning Modernization planning agent Develops team structures, KPIs, and anticipated timeline based on architects’ inputs Program manager Provides agents with inputs to plan sprints and resources Development operations Agile methodology 2 Module modernization Assessment agent Assesses legacy applications and documents how software operates from reviewing legacy application documentation Functionality agent Synthesizes conversations and creates drafts of functionality and documentation Coding agent Writes drafts of code based on business functionality inputs and assessments from software developers Application architect and product manager Collects informal expertise to cross check with agent-driven outputs and works with users to define modernized app functionality Software developer Directs 20+ agents with functionality requirements and reviews code drafts Debugging Code review Programming languages Software development Troubleshooting Application development Project management User interface 3 Qualify and convert Quality assurance (QA) and testing agents Test functionality based on documentation plans and inputs from QA team QA tester and business team Create testing tasks and validate with business users prior to launch Unit testing Business requirements 1. Based on the McKinsey Global Institute’s (MGI’s) Skill Change Index (SCI). Lower-change skills are in the first and second quartiles of SCI, while higher-change skills are in the third and fourth quartiles. Source: McKinsey Global Institute analysis As AI agents took on repetitive execution, human work shifted toward planning, orchestration, and testing.