What McKinsey Says Is the Real Secret to Making AI Profitable

You barely have to spend 20 seconds doomscrolling on LinkedIn to see the two sides.

The conversation about AI in marketing swings wildly between breathless evangelism and gloomy cynicism. Marketers either praise AI as a magic shortcut to effortless leads or warn that algorithms are here to plagiarize, steal our jobs and ruin creativity.

Both are off the mark.

AI puts the “Swiss” in the Swiss Army knife: It's neutral, versatile, and powerful. But ultimately, it’s just a tool. Its value comes down to who uses it and how. The blade, scissors, and can opener are never the star. It's what you craft, shape, or open with it that counts.

The latest McKinsey Global Survey on AI makes this point abundantly clear.

According to the research, 78% of companies now involve AI in their daily operations, and 71% are dabbling specifically in generative AI. But despite this broad adoption, more than 80% of the businesses using Gen AI say they haven't seen a meaningful boost to their bottom line yet. 

At Hypelocal, we’ve repeatedly seen AI deliver real financial results—for both our clients and ourselves. So initially, that "80%" figure was surprising—at least until we dug a bit deeper into McKinsey’s findings.

The report makes it clear that AI only really clicks when companies redesign workflows around it. In other words, you can't just sprinkle AI onto old routines and expect miracles. 

You have to rethink and rewire how your work gets done. Do that, according to the McKinsey report, and your chances of seeing genuine financial gains increase dramatically.

Why? It goes back to what we said at the beginning of this article. Tools alone don't deliver results. Intent and execution do.

AI's real magic isn’t flashy chatbot banter or awkward, uncanny-valley imagery. Its practical value in marketing emerges when teams thoughtfully redesign workflows around AI and intentionally deploy automation to solve specific problems. 

Yet, marketers—at least those begging for attention on LinkedIn—still wrestle with extremes. 

On one side, the aggressive AI influencers promote it as a shortcut to riches, obscuring the required substance needed to make it work. On the other, skeptics dismiss AI as superficial fluff, missing out on its potential to enhance real creativity and productivity.

Here’s a radical thought: Maybe the truth sits somewhere between these camps, quietly generating profitable revenue amidst the shouting matches of the two sides. 

AI isn't your one-click business saviour, but it’s also not an empty gimmick. Once integrated into your workflow, it makes generating content more efficient, offers an incredible sounding board for strategic thinking, and frees marketers from repetitive grunt work, leaving more room for genuine creativity and thoughtful strategy.

Intent matters. Integrity matters. Skill matters. 

Without these, AI is little more than an overextended gimmick waiting to disappoint. But when used thoughtfully—to sharpen strategy, refine creativity, and tackle routine tasks—AI transforms into a powerful partner that elevates every element of work it touches.

Ultimately, the McKinsey report confirms what the LinkedIn debates keep missing: AI isn't magical or menacing. It’s a tool with an impact dependent entirely on how deliberately it’s used.

The marketers and businesses seeing genuine results are quietly skipping the shouting match. Instead, they're thoughtfully integrating AI into their workflows and seeing meaningful returns. 

Maybe that's less exciting to debate online, but according to McKinsey and our experience at Hypelocal, it's far more profitable in practice.