McKinsey & Company and Parloa announced a customer-service AI partnership Wednesday, pairing readiness reviews and agent design as companies face concerns over governance and security for agentic systems.
McKinsey’s teams, including QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey, are expected to assess whether clients are prepared to use agentic AI and help develop solutions. The firms also plan to advise on technology choices, governance structures and talent needs. Parloa said its platform supports building, optimizing and managing AI agents across customer relationships and service channels.
Parloa said it and McKinsey are already advising several large clients together, though it named none. The announcement did not disclose pricing, commercial terms or an implementation timetable. McKinsey Partner Brian Blackader said the collaboration could improve service quality, customer loyalty and revenue. The announcement reported no measured results.
McKinsey’s 2026 AI Trust Maturity Survey gathered responses from about 500 organizations between December 2025 and January 2026. About 30% reached maturity level three or higher in strategy, governance and agentic AI governance. Nearly two-thirds cited security and risk as the leading barrier to scaling agentic AI. The figures do not establish that the other organizations have no governance controls.
Parloa also cited a survey that it said found fewer than 25% of customer-experience operators felt confident designing and evaluating AI agents. Its announcement did not provide the survey’s sample size or field dates.
The new alliance follows a separate arrangement in which clients could contract with Parloa for its platform and hire TELUS Digital for implementation and related services, TELUS Digital said. EconoTimes previously reported on that partnership.
McKinsey Partner Becca Kleinstein is scheduled to speak at Parloa’s WAVE Summit in Brooklyn, New York, on Nov. 4-5.
